John Thune Touts Study Showing That GOP Budget Reconciliation Bill Would Lower The Debt

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In remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) spoke about budget reconciliation.

Transcript

00:00Mr. President. Majority Leader. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I ask unanimous

00:05consent the quorum call be suspended. Without objection. Mr. President, next year Congress

00:10fails to act, a typical family will face a $1,700 tax hike. Typical family in South Dakota will face

00:18a $2,500 tax hike. Republicans are determined to make sure that that doesn't happen. And later

00:25this week we'll consider our reconciliation bill that will prevent that tax hike by extending the

00:292017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. I say extend, Mr. President, but we're doing a lot more than

00:36just extending the 2017 tax cuts. We're making them permanent. And in some cases, we're even

00:42improving on them. Mr. President, our 2017 tax relief legislation lowered tax rates for every

00:48income group. It doubled the child tax credit. It nearly doubled the standard deduction. The

00:55bill we're voting on this week will make all of that permanent. And it will go even further

00:59when it comes to the child tax credit, increasing it to $2,200 per child and linking it to inflation.

01:06Again, permanently. And we're not stopping there. Our bill suspends taxes on tips, boosting the

01:13incomes of millions of Americans who earn tip income. It suspends taxes on overtime pay for

01:19millions of American workers, meaning police officers, firefighters, nurses and others will be able to

01:25keep more of what they earn when they spend long hours away from their families. And an increased

01:30standard deduction for seniors will allow them to reduce their tax burden even further.

01:34Mr. President, the American people have better uses for their hard-earned money than sending it to

01:40Uncle Sam. And this bill will permanently ensure that Americans can keep more of what they earn.

01:45Mr. President, the other legacy of the 2017 tax cuts is how they boosted our economy by lifting the tax burden on

01:52America's job creators. We lowered tax rates for owners of small and medium-sized businesses, farms and ranches.

02:01We made it easier for them to recover the cost of investing in their businesses, which in turn freed up cash for

02:08them to invest in their operations and their workers. These and other major reforms helped kickstart our economy.

02:14And in the wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, our economy grew at a substantially better rate than projected.

02:21Real wages increased. Unemployment fell to a 50-year low. The poverty rate fell to the lowest level ever recorded.

02:31Business investment increased. Everywhere you looked, there was positive economic news.

02:37Mr. President, we were able to make some of the business tax reforms permanent in 2017,

02:41and now we have an opportunity to make the rest of these pro-growth policies permanent.

02:47That includes lower rates for small and medium-sized businesses. The job creating 199A small business deduction

02:55and full expensing for new equipment and for domestic research and development.

03:01And once again, we're going beyond just making the 2017 tax relief permanent.

03:07We're setting our country up for a brighter future by further advancing a pro-opportunity, pro-growth tax code.

03:15Our bill includes full expensing for new factories and factory improvements, so we can expect to see more growth

03:23and more jobs for American workers and more goods made in America.

03:27It raises the death tax threshold to $15 million and links it to inflation permanently,

03:33which will spare countless family farms, ranches, and small businesses from a potentially devastating tax

03:39and the headaches and expense of planning for it.

03:43And an entire generation of Americans will be able to access new investment accounts when they reach adulthood

03:51that can be used toward their education, to start a business, to buy their first home, and to get a running start on the American dream.

03:59Mr. President, this is a good bill, and it's going to be great for our country.

04:04The Council of Economic Advisers, which accurately predicted the economic growth and higher wages

04:09in the wake of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, released its forecast of the Senate bill this morning.

04:15It contains a lot of good news, starting with as much as 4.9% higher GDP in the next few years.

04:23That means more jobs. It means bigger paychecks, as much as $10,000 per year for a typical family.

04:30It means more opportunity.

04:33And I, and I should say, and believe it or not, it means more revenue.

04:38Revenue that we bring in in the right way, by growing our economy, not by raising taxes.

04:46In fact, the same forecasters that got the effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act right

04:51are estimating as much as $6 trillion in deficit reduction stemming from the bill's pro-growth policies.

04:58This President, we're well on our way to getting this bill passed this week,

05:03which means we're well on our way to a stronger and more prosperous America.

05:08That means Americans keeping more of their hard-earned money.

05:12It means American businesses growing and investing in our country and in our workers.

05:17And it means a thriving economy like we had before the pandemic.

05:23Mr. President, Republicans are ready to deliver.

05:27Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the apples of course.

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