Expressing Support for Tax Policies That Support Working Families

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to hear some of the falsehoods that Democrats are saying about this bill and some of the contradictions they are making.

I just heard the Democrat leader say that Republicans are running from this bill, but then, in the next sentence, he said we are on the floor celebrating the bill. Which is it? Are we celebrating the bill, or are we running from it?

You hear a lot of talk about the name of the bill. Naming is a funny thing here. I get it. The American people don't care what it is named. They want to know what it does for them.

What I have to tell you is that my constituents, my taxpayers, those who have filed taxes in my district, think it is a beautiful bill, and they know it is a Working Families Tax Cut Act because they have experienced it. They have more money back in their pockets after filing their taxes this year. Families are averaging $3,500 in tax cuts. Refunds are up nearly 11 percent.

One of the other things we heard from the Democrats today was talking about specific provisions in the bill. No tax on tips, they have railed against that. Yet, we had a Democrat Member just come to the floor and say he wants to make that permanent. So which is it: do you like it, or don't you like it? In fact, we could have made it permanent had we had any Democrat support when we passed this bill in the first place. Instead, every Democrat voted against no tax on tips, which is very important to people in the hospitality industry in my district and other industries, as well.

Every Democrat speaking today voted against this bill, which prevented what would have been the largest tax increase for working families all across my district and all across the State.

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Mr. SMUCKER. Every Democrat voted against no tax on overtime, which 20 million Americans have taken advantage of.

Mr. Speaker, in the few seconds I have left, I want to address one additional thing we have heard from the Democrat side, that this is regressive. Untrue. Look at the facts.

We already, of all developed nations around the world, have the most progressive taxation system, which means the wealthy pay more than they do in other countries, and it becomes even more progressive after this bill is passed. This year, the wealthy are paying a higher percentage of total taxes than they were in the previous year due to this bill.

Mr. Speaker, this is a great bill for the American people. People in my district know that. I don't understand what the Democrats are saying, but certainly, people believe this is a great bill for them.

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