Saluting Little League Softball World Series

Floor Speech

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Mr. KUSTOFF. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my friend and colleague from Utah organizing our time this afternoon.

In Congress, a lot of times the public focuses on the things we don't get done, which is fair. I think it is good to celebrate the things that we can accomplish that are good for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that last year House Republicans worked with President Trump to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which stopped the largest tax increase that could have happened in American history.

There is no doubt that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is rooted in our Nation's founding principles, and that is limiting Washington's reach into the lives and also the paychecks of Americans, which gives people the freedom to shape their own future, quite frankly, allowing people to keep more of their hard-earned money in their own pockets.

As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I was proud to help secure lasting tax relief and certainty for individuals and for small businesses.

During this August district work period, I was back on the road in west Tennessee, talking and meeting with farmers, manufacturers, small business owners, and people. Time and again, I heard how heavily their decisions depend on a tax code that they can count on and also depend upon.

For a family farm, the tax code affects plans for the next season. On Main Street, the tax code affects the next payroll. Workers' livelihoods depend on decisions that cannot wait for the next vote in Congress.

Mr. Speaker, from no tax on tips to no tax on overtime to a doubling of the standard deduction to lowering tax brackets for everybody at all income levels, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a benefit to working Americans across the board.

One of the most important provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act--and there are a lot--for small businesses was something known as section 199A. It allows eligible small businesses to deduct up to 20 percent of their qualified business income.

Now, for a small business, permanence is paramount. Farmers and local employers can now plan ahead rather than wait for the next congressional deadline.

For everybody who voted ``no'' on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, I will tell them that my Republican colleagues and I worked with President Trump to make section 199 permanent, which delivered substantial relief for small businesses as well as American farmers. I also worked to strengthen the employer-provided childcare credit under something known as section 45F.

Before we passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, I introduced the Child Care for American Families Act to make this credit more useful for employers, especially for small businesses. Language from this bill was included in the final law.

For most employers, the law increased the credit from 25 percent to 40 percent of qualified childcare credit expenditures and raised the annual cap from $150,000 to $500,000. Eligible small businesses can now claim a 50 percent credit with an annual cap of $600,000.

Employers can now partner with outside organizations or other businesses to provide childcare. That is so important because when childcare is reliable, parents can stay in the workforce and employers can retain valued employees.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was a victory for families, for Main Street, and for manufacturers. I am proud of what House Republicans and President Trump were able to accomplish.

We should all pledge to fight for lower taxes and limited government so small businesses can create jobs and people can keep more of what they earn. I am proud of this. We showed that Congress can work with the American people and accomplish a lot under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

I again thank my colleague from Utah for organizing this Special Order hour today.

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