Welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Wilson for leading the Special Order on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. I will agree with him; the Lord has blessed me with living in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the Fifth District of North Carolina. I am very, very grateful for it.

Last week, tax day was, for once, an occasion to celebrate because this was the last time Americans filed under the broken 32-year-old Tax Code. Next tax season, they will file under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by this Congress last December.

Across the Fifth District of North Carolina, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has already relieved North Carolinians who are cashing bigger paychecks and benefiting from the country's lowest unemployment rate since 2000. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina added 9,000 jobs this February alone. And thanks to lower rates for individuals and small businesses under the new code, North Carolinians are keeping more of their hard-earned money. And as Congressman Wilson points out, it is their money, not the government's money.

This year, married couples in the Fifth District who take the new standard deduction could receive a tax cut to the tune of $1,834. For the over 52,000 taxpayers of the Fifth District who have small business income, these tax savings are not crumbs, as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle falsely assert. A restaurant owner in Mount Airy recently told me that allowing immediate capital expensing under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act empowered her to purchase a new $20,000 piece of equipment for her business.

You spoke of the Business Roundtable. The Business Roundtable reports that 68 percent of business leaders similarly expect their capital spending in the next 6 months to be at its highest in 15 years. This increased purchasing power for the backbone of our economy is evidence that progrowth tax cuts work.

Continued growth is also expected by the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO estimates, for every one-tenth percent increase in GDP, nearly $270 billion is added to revenue over 10 years. After years of malaise under the Obama administration, even modest increases in GDP growth caused by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will substantially contribute to a leveling off of the deficit. And for the first time since 2008, the CBO's budget and economic outlook revised its upward economic potential for 2018. Under current conditions, it notes that 3.5 percent growth is possible.

In further good news, Fifth District businesses share this optimism and are investing more in their employees and communities. Just last week, as part of its initiative to invest in community health with its tax savings, BlueCross and BlueShield of North Carolina gave $1 million to Winston-Salem State University's nursing school. North Carolina is projected to have the second largest nurse shortage in the Nation. This investment will develop the Fifth District's medical workforce and increase access to high-quality healthcare, especially in rural areas.

This is just one of the many examples that illustrates how philanthropy has fostered and communities are developed when the government scales back.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that House Republicans kept our promise to bring about more jobs, fairer taxes, and bigger paychecks for hardworking Americans; but I am more proud of the hardworking men and women in the Fifth District who are seizing the opportunities unleashed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to create wealth and serve their communities.

Again, I thank Congressman Wilson for his leadership on this Special Order and for allowing us to correct the record that has been distorted about this bill and bring to the American people the facts about this wonderful Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Virginia Foxx for her comments. And I thank her, as an educator, for educating the American people and bringing to the attention of the American people the real facts of the benefits of the tax cuts.

Congress today appreciates that Americans should keep their hard- earned tax dollars, and it is shocking to hear the other side of the aisle say that they would repeal the tax cuts if they get a majority in the House come November, resulting in tax increases on American families, destroying jobs. Sadly, I suspect a lot of families and businesses being highlighted today will be shocked--but maybe not so shocked--to hear that Democrats are campaigning on raising taxes, destroying jobs.

I sincerely hope that Americans across the country know that Republicans will continue to do all that we can to our ability to increase take-home pay to families, reduce the tax burdens on seniors, and create more efficient and effective government that works for you and provides opportunities for the young people of America. General Leave

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source