Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chair, I want to thank Mr. Arrington for yielding.

Mr. Chair, 4 years ago, President Trump left Joe Biden a blueprint for success, and then Democrats proceeded to open our borders, undermine American energy, and spend trillions of dollars on handouts to the wealthy.

They created the highest inflation in 40 years that made it impossible for working families to survive. That is why the American people sent Donald Trump back to the White House with a mandate. Now it is up to Congress to deliver on that mandate, to make our economy work again for working families.

The economy isn't just numbers on a chart. It is the farmer who wakes up at 4 a.m., the mom or dad working two jobs just to get by, the shop owner figuring out how to keep the store lights on, and the truck driver working overtime.

Mr. Chair, let me be clear, a vote against this budget is a vote to raise taxes on low-income Americans. Mr. Chair, $2.6 trillion of the tax cuts in this resolution are people making less than $400,000 a year. Democrats campaigned on not allowing taxes to increase on people making less than $400,000 a year. Let us see if their voting cards show up. Extending the Trump tax cuts will give the lowest income families a tax cut of 15 percent, the highest of any income group.

On the other hand, failing to extend these tax cuts means the average taxpayer will see a 22 percent tax hike.

The average family of four making $80,000 a year will see their taxes go up almost $1,700. That is 2 months' worth of groceries.

Americans need certainty that relief is on the way. Workers need certainty that their taxes won't go up.

Mr. Chair, 26 million small businesses need certainty that their tax rates won't rise to 43 percent in a few short months so that they can focus on investing and hiring more workers.

Mr. Chair, 2 million family-owned farms need certainty that they won't be forced to sell their farm to pay an increased death tax. They need to know right now if they should be contacting an estate planner for the massive tax hike that is coming.

Parents need certainty that their guaranteed deduction of $30,000 won't be cut in half and that their child tax credit won't be slashed from $2,000 to $1,000.

Following passage of the Trump tax cuts, wages increased by 4.9 percent, the fastest 2-year growth in real wages in 20 years. Mr. Chair, 5 million new jobs were created. More than 6 million people were lifted out of poverty. Real median household income rose by $5,000. The economy grew a full percentage point higher than CBO's initial forecast, and revenues have remained steady at 17 percent of GDP.

Building on President Trump's tax cuts will deliver a new golden age of prosperity: over 1 million new small business jobs each year, $284 billion in economic growth for more manufacturing, and billions in new investments to revitalize our poorest neighborhoods.

We will reignite our economy with a return of policies like 100 percent immediate expensing and incentives to make sure R&D is happening here and not being outsourced around the globe.

We will deliver on President Trump's commitment to tax relief for tipped workers, help for seniors struggling with inflation, and tax relief for overtime workers.

President Trump's policies will spark an economic recovery, and that recovery starts by passing this budget so we can send one big, beautiful bill to President Trump's desk.

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