even as my republican friends reconcile a conference committee the problems are far from over and at the heart of b the bill s an idea raising taxes on many millions of middle-class

families. that idea is a problem. it remains a problem for house republicans. it allows families to deduct up to $10,000 in property tax, the pain inflicted on suburban familsuburbanfamilies won't be mitigated. for those housee republicans voting for a conference report is a poisonous vote substantively and politically.

and home values will fall in the districts of the house republicansec in their voting to decrease home values by ten or 8% for every homeowner in their district that is political suicide that is what will happ happen. the last-minute inclusion has republicans and corporate leaders scrambling to figure out who will have the unintended consequence of functionally eliminating the value of the tax credit. republicans needed more revenue to offset a generous pass through. that's what republicans are working on and the hours of last

week. with a kid that has a serious medical expenses not reducing the impact it would have on the deficit. they were busy figuring out how to make tax cuts for the wealthy even more generous. 70% of the pass-through income already flows through the top 1%, not the top 20% or 10%, but the top 1%. 70% of pass-through income goes to the top 1%. the republican tax bill already slashed the rate of several republican senators withheld the vote until he was further. i understand they want to help smaller businesses, but take time and figure out how to help small businesses without helping the hedge funds the big lobbying firms and other wealthy individuals, take the time to figure it out but know that in

the rush they are giving a cake to the wealthy. wrong. very wrong. the inclusion is another reminder that republicans can't have it both ways. you can't cut every conceivable tax on the corporations in the wealthy without blowing up the deficit. if republicans are forced to go back and look at the corporate amt they have to find. revenue elsewhere. wilwhile they listen another corporate tax rate or ask working americans to pay more which they've done in previous iterations on this bill. there are talking points that questioned the legitimacy of the committee on tax from nonpartisan independent scorekeepers of tax legislation

rather than confront the bill won't pay for itself but cost a trillion dollars even with dynamic growth estimates, they asked members to shoot the messenger. the widelypt respected always accepted by both parties all of a sudden is p a pariah in republican circles because it told the truth thatt this bill wouldn't cause the growth of the projected that this bill will increase the deficit far more than republicansth had hoped. republican leadership tried to discredit the empire they had long bee praised and appointed. what a disgrace, and it brings up what happened in the last week or two has been one of the mostin disgraceful in the whole history of the senate. a major bill done behind closed

doors, rushed through and then adding insult to injury the independent republican monitors are discredited because republican colleagues didn't like hearing that the answer. there's stillll time to avert ts bill. my republican friends voted no on the conference though we can do a bipartisan tax reform bill and pursue a better process and product and go so far to heal the senate that has been wounded by partisanship and strike recently aggravated by the majority actions on the tax bi bill. instead of rushing through a tax bill through the b conference, e senate should focus on those confronting us. first and foremost we must reach a spending deal that would have us meet our commitment to support the military and also

urgent priorities here at home like combating the opioid crisis, shoring up the pension plan, supporting veterans health care, relieving student loan debt and building more infrastructure. in previous budget agreements, democrats have always tried to achieve parity between investments in defense and jobs and economic development here at home. it's a continual sticking point with republicans as we go through the negotiations. they want to increase the defense and military but shortchange important domestic programs like infrastructure education, scientific research, things that create jobs, things that help the middle class. we support an increase for the military. but we want to make sure other crucial programs don't get left behind. so we will fight just as hard to ensure that for each dollar we added for defense the dollar is

added for domestic economic development. .. >> i told him to go back to the white house and tell them the domestic side of the ledger needs help as well. spending on the domestic side is lower than it was in 2010. we need to provide funding for health insurance. relief for american still

recovering from national disasters. we must come together on a bipartisan deal for border security measures. it's a lengthy to do list. it will require hard work study cooperation on both sides. last night there is a concern is spectacle on the house floor. they held up a nonrelated vote on the tax bill. there unsatisfied with the republican leadership's plan to keep the government open. house leaders just let the freedom caucus dictate.

negotiations broke off because were at an impasse on the 5050 for parity of defense and on defense. always 5050, it was parity, as we continue to negotiate with their counterpart we hope the republican leadership will avert more of this unnecessary hostagetaking which will only impede serious ongoing bipartisan negotiations. i yield the floor. [inaudible]

[inaudible] morning businesses close. we'll proceed to executive. >> the nomination for the department of homeland security. >> this but it is something remarkable, where she got some important work done, the first overall of our nation's tax code in 30 years.

people said it couldn't be done, it's too hard. with democrats opposing us on every step people said there's too many obstacles in the way and it's impossible to accomplish. people said too many special interest on k street make it impossible for us to figure out the rubrics cued of attack scope. too many moving pieces. people warned us that if you do this you'll take political flak from all sides. to the skeptics and debtors i say, you are wrong. we did get it done. families and job creators woke up the next day after final vote feeling more confident about our nation's fiscal future.

the be lesser down on the government. the breathe a sigh of relief knowing that we are doing our job. of course it took no time for a major victory to be mocked, denigrated or misrepresented sometimes the false rumor spreading it was done deliberately. democrats used to support many aspects of this plan. like lowering taxes for the middle class and illuminated incentives for corporations to ship jobs overseas. i guess you can conclude they are happy with the status quo. stagnant wages they know it's

not a good thing, but they couldn't stand the possibility that we were going to be able to make this major accomplishment on behalf of the american people because they're so bogged down they lost sight of the forest through the trees. we all know it's easier to criticize and contribute. like when many on the other side had outrage over small handwritten tweet tweaks that nd to be made to the bill. back in 2010 there was an amendment called the durbin amendment number 3989. during the course of the debate

it's necessary to make changes. no one thought that was an outrage over about this is sometimes what happens when you're making last-minute changes to legislation. yet, democratic colleagues acted like this was the first time it's ever been done. forty-six senate democrats for the for senator durbin's amendment which included handwritten changes in the text. tell forget, the tax bill was passed last week through regular order. as part of the jargon we use. it means the normal legislative process. unlike the affordable care act those written in harry reid's office and brought to the senate floor without going to the senate finance committee.

like that process this tax bill originated in the senate finance committee, was the product of multiyear studies in groups. a lot of proposals like the camp draft that helped inform her debate. we also knew from the bill those introduced from senator wyden and coates that we are able to glean some of the best elements from those efforts. and, using regular order to give democrats and republicans a chance which we did, and then here on the senate floor to give democrats and senators a chance to get votes. that's what we mean by regular order. pastor friend from arizona rightly called for earlier this

fall. their hearings after hearings. democrats other opportunities to offer their amendments on the floor. you simply can't say honestly, truthfully, as many democrats have that the bill was negotiated behind their back without their participation. it's a false claim. it's not true. the facts show that. it's not just a democratic colleagues that feel this conceptions about the bill we passed. there's a big stir race was going done by the joint committee on taxation. critics of the tax bill latched onto the joint committee finding

the bill would increase economy by .8% over ten years. not enough for the cuts to pay for themselves. that was the claim. i take concerns about fiscal responsibility seriously. we have to know that economic modeling is difficult and can be done in many ways. each model has strengths and weaknesses and provide a range of estimates. none is perfect. we haven't been given the gift of perfect knowledge of the future. the estimate was the tax bill would generate enough growth to offset the price take to $1 trillion.

this is interesting listening to our colleagues across the aisle. they make the audacious claim that tax cuts generate no economic growth. none when the budget committee came up q. week the tax writers one and a half million dollars of spending they claimed it would result in a one and a have joined dollar deficit. they concluded that was not true and that can have a stimulative effect on the economy. they can change human behavior. but it's difficult to estimate with any precision and a giant complex system is not easy to predict.

even small changes can produce and changes in the tax code auto beard collective goal. why should we have to settle for anemic economic growth why should we have to settle for flat wages or jobs being created overseas because the tax code incentivizes that we don't have to settle for that. we have it. this represents our best effort to make sure that wages do go up and jobs do come home to the united states because businesses or incentivize to invest in wages here. i'm optimistic that the economy

can grow by as much as 3%. president council agreed, i'm aware of the saying that that if you stretch the economist in into and you will not reach conclusion. they call it dismal science for a reason. it's modeling to protect the future. in fact, you can't do it. but try to come up with the best guesstimate. it's wrong to look at the texaco when you're looking at our economic future. when we see the sender the new administration with the

overregulation of the economy think we all have a sense that america is coming back as an economic engine in the world we need to do that because we need to learn the way for the world economy. in the standard of living in america continues to be something we can achieve then we have enjoyed that's a legacy we have inherited. in a dangerous world where the former director of national intelligence said in his 50 years he'd never seen a more diverse array of threats than he did today we cannot ignore that.

we have to some of the prosperity for common defense. that's another important thing, agree on a topline spending number for national defense spending. the been trying to cash a peace dividend when there is no peace. for at least pieces threatened at places around the world that the south china sea or syria or north korea or in europe with russia on the much threatening nato and our european allies. we need a strong economy. so wages can increase so we can do what we need to do as a country. i realize the positive analogies

like the tax foundation done entire pacify some of the deficit. i count myself among them. we worried if tax reform will add toward debt to decrease revenue. based on conservative efforts this could result in a hundred and $30 billion in new revenue. here's the problem, the elephant in the room that people ignore or have given up on, revenue is that her biggest problem. it is our spending addiction. 70% of spending that's on autopilot going up five have% a year. we tried to do what we could and

2011 and put it cap on discretionary's spending. that's been relatively flat since 2011. entitlement spending has gone up because we don't have the political courage to deal with it. deficits can't be eliminated with tax increases. we cannot tax enough to fill the hole. we have to address mandatory spending which keeps growing year after year. nearly doubled during the obama administration are friends across the aisle never really said much but it's real, we ought to go to the root cause and not claim that is making tax cuts to make our economy more

vibrant and to improve the quality of life for more americans. it's easy to see how on a more personal level families and workers will benefit. sometime a more human focuses left out, and that is a mistake. in our bill, rates are reduced for everybody. every tax bracket sees a reduction in the tax rate. the standard deduction for families is double. if you're married couple filing a joint return the first $24000 you are there's a zero tax. then we double the child tax credit. that's something we should do. we need to help those families who have children make sure

their family prospers. the child tax credit is one way we can do that. the obama care mandate which is a tax on low and middle income parents is repealed. that's another form of tax relief. 6.7 million americans had to pay a penalty to their government because they couldn't afford to buy the government mandated insurance because of the way the program was structured. we eliminate that. hopefully those families can use resources to buy insurance policies to meet their needs. we soften the blow of the death tax. something i will work to eliminate. why should we tax income whether

and then when families want to pass it on to their children. whether it's the family farmer small business we tax it again make it sometimes impossible to do. if you want to redo something you tax it. that doesn't apply to the deck tax because death will come no matter what. the reason for washington to prevent washington for passing on the fruit of their labor to their loved ones. the likely result will be that wages will increase by as much as $4000 for the average family. think about that. if we can get the economy growing faster than the 1.9% anemic growth of the obama years, think about that.

the economy is growing 3.2% since world war ii it were being asked to settle for the new normal when the economy grew at 2% or less. we can see wages improve. we'll see family income improve. if we can cut the tax burden known as the obama individual mandate tax, families will be better off. family for will see their tax burden cut by $2200. only talk about chileans of dollars $2200 doesn't seem like a lot of money. for families struggling to meet their obligations paycheck after paycheck $2200 can make a big

difference. they can pay off a mortgage or replace a water heater get a car fixed. or finally take a family vacation. the last claim i have heard is that in mainly benefits corporations at the expense of normal hard-working men and woman. this is false. some portion of our tax rates are always borne by labor. the critics sometimes claim that if you do something for business whether pass-through business or corporation it has no effect on the people who work for. it's wrong. the better off those businesses are more people they can hire

the better the wages are they can pay those help hard-working american families. higher business taxes and fewer jobs paychecks. means were less competitive in the global economy. that's why places are moving their company overseas. this will change under the new bill. 82% said they would increase capital spending for a bill passed. 76% said they would increase hiring. it's true that the business will benefit but we want them to. the end result will be less tax dodging and more jobs coming home.

apart from businesses, families and individuals benefit too. was so bizarre as this is a concept that obama champions and schumer has championed senator wyden has championed. lower corporate taxes because this is a self-inflicted wound because it prevents them from bringing their income back in investing in the united states in jobs and wages. my question is, have you forgotten? i don't think they have forgotten. throughout the tax reform process members of this republican conference work together. i'm grateful for the contribution each of them made.

we knew that was strong had words from our opponents who wanted failure because they like the status quo rather than success, we knew it would be difficult, and it was. but we got it done but were not finished yet. as we go into a conference with the house we have to maintain support in the senate. i hope our friends across the capital understated the senate bill was a fragile compromise in one or two or two or more senators who are not support that bill could jeopardize the house senate conference. we have to continue to communicate and work with each other and not undermine our own

victory. it's a victory for american families and for country standing in the world. when we begin conversations with the house let's work closely together and continue to communicate. let's prove that passing tax reform wasn't just a dream. it was real. now with the ball on the 5-yard line we have to punch it into the end zone. i yield the floor. >> mr. president. >> relief for american families is on the way. last week the senate pastor version of the tax cuts and jobs act. tax reform bill that will provide relief to hard-working americans.

the legislation doubles the standard deduction in the child tax credit. it lowers rates. the family for make and $73000 here c $2200 tax cut were reductions in about 60% under current law. a single parent with one child will see his or her taxes to from around $1865 to $488. a reduction of 75% of what their pain. that's just the beginning. the tax bill will provide immediate relief for hard-working families. it will immediately lower tax bills and me more money in their pockets. the bill is about much more.

start just about helping americans today although it will do the, it's about helping americans for the long-term. given americans access to the wages, jobs and opportunities that will set them out for a secure future. in order for individual americans to thrive we need american businesses to thrive. that creates jobs and provide opportunities. our current tax code hasn't been helping businesses thrive. for years the laws left businesses struggling under high tax rates in an outdated system that have left them at a disadvantage. small businesses employ nearly half of the workers create a

majority of the jobs. they face high tax rates to make it difficult to survive much less thrive and expand. our bell fix this. it implements a new deduction for pass-throughs. it will allow them to keep more of their money to reinvest in the operations and hire new workers. reform skirt provisions that frequently leave small businesses with little cash on hand. small businesses can invest in inventory machinery more quickly. in certain cases, immediately. this will free up capital.

legislation includes provisions to simplify accounting roles. it will help reduce tax burden leaving mornings to reinvest in their businesses and workers. in addition to providing relief it will boost american wages and lower the massive corporate tax rate. the tax rate is currently the highest in the industrialized world. it puts the united states at a major disadvantage. reducing the corporate tax rate will enable as this is to compete on a more level playing field. white house council of economic advisers estimates reducing it to 20% as the bill does will

increase wages to u.s. households by $4000 annually. many families can use for retirement, education, replace a vehicle or invest in a new home. will also and the outdated cash framework to keep jobs and profits overseas. our nation operates under worldwide tax system. the pay taxes on the prophet they make at home and i'm part of the prophet they make abroad. the problem set companies are already paying taxes to foreign governments on the money they make abroad. when they bring the money home they might have to pay taxes again and at the top highest tax

rate in the industrialized world. the surprise this discourages people to come back to invest. barbara replaces the outdated worldwide tax system and under this legislation american companies will not face a double taxation that is encourage them to send their investments overseas. instead u.s. companies will have a strong incentive to invest profits at home in american jobs and workers. the tax foundation estimates are bill will create nearly 1 million new jobs and boost the economy by 3.7%. i don't need to tell anybody american families have had a

tough time or our economy has stagnated with weak economic growth. and the lack of opportunity that has become the norm. this tax bill marks the beginning of the end of the obama era economy. let americans humor their earnings and improve their economic situation for the long run. under the spell american companies will compete and win globally and businesses will thrive as a result. i look forward to going to conference with the house of

representatives getting a final comprehensive tax reform bill. we have a once in a generation opportunity to make a difference in the lives of millions of americans. time to get the bill across the finish line. i yield the floor. >> senator from vermont is recognized. president trump and the republican leadership is he just heard her talking every day on television, news conferences telling the american people how

this tax bill that was passed at 2:00 a.m. in the morning on friday night without any hearings, with no serious deba debate, how the tax bill is designed to help the middle class and how it was written for the middle class. unfortunately i suspect i won't shock to many americans by suggesting what president trump has been saying is not truthful. this lets legislation according to numerous studies will provide 62% of the benefits to the top 1%. 62% will go to the top 1% while

increasing taxes and 83 million middle-class households by the end of the decade. the reason is because the tax cuts for middle-class families expire by the end of 2025 while the tax breaks for large corporations are made permanent. we are living in a moment in american history where we have an unprecedented level of income and wealth inequality where the top one tenth of 1% on this much is the bottom 90%. with the top 1% on symbols twice as much wealth as the bottom 90%. if you can believe it, were three of the wealthiest people in this country, on more wealth

than the bottom half of the american population. in the midst of this incredible level of income and wealth inequality my colleagues believe this is a moment and 62% of the benefits of tax reform should go to the top 1% 42% of the benefits should go to the top one tenth of 1%. while tens of millions of middle-class families will and that pay more in taxes. how crazy is that? we have a situation in which the wealthy who need tax breaks

working closely class of this country which need the most help will benefit the least. the president of the united states and my republican colleagues tell the american people that trickle down economics giving huge tax breaks will expand the economy the create new jobs and will bring in so much revenue that it will pay for the deficit it creates. every independent expert who has taken a look at the tax bill has said it will substantially increase the deficit even after

accounting for economic growth. the joint committee on taxation has told us this will increase the deficit by $1.4 trillion over the next decade. first of all, shows the hypocrisy of my republican colleagues who year after year this floor lectured us about the dangers of a $20 trillion national debt and growing deficit. somehow it comes to providing tax breaks to billionaires the concern about the deficit has disappeared. secondly more immediately,

there's no doubt in my mind that if the republicans are able to pass this bill that will go to conference committee the bill that gives huge tax breaks to the top 1% and raises the deficit by 1.4 trillion. there's no doubt in my mind they will suddenly rediscover their great concern about deficits in the debt and directly within the next few months begin the process of cutting programs desperately needed by the working families of this country, the elderly, the children, the sick, the poor. this is not just bernie sanders speculating. this is what the new york times

said in a front-page article a few days ago. and i quote if the tax cut legislation passed by the senate on saturday is for final approval, republicans are willing to use the swearing deficits made worse by the packaged as a rationale to pursue their long hard vision and doing making government leader of the safety net skimpier. republicans are beginning to express their big dreams publicly. vowing that next year they will move on to changes in medicare and social security. personally missouri rally last

week that will go into the welfare reform. me take this opportunity to translate into english but phrases like entitlement reform or welfare reform really mean. they mean in reality are massive cuts to social security, medicare, medicaid, education, nutrition programs, affordable housing, and other programs desperately needed by a declining middle-class. that means after the passes tax reform bill which would provide a $200,000 tax break to ceos who make over 16 million a year the come back to the floor and fight

for cuts for social security for senior citizens trying to survive in 12 or $13000 a year. coats for millionaires and billionaires. at the same time they want to cut social security for struggling seniors. it means that a time when millions of seniors are splitting their pills in half because they can't afford the high cost of prescription drugs, republicans want massive cuts to medicare. it means when two out of every three nursing home residents this country rely on medicaid to pay for long-term care the

republican ones massive cuts. now, we don't know exactly where four of these cuts will take. there has been discussion among republicans about raising the retirement age 70, face forcing older workers to work more before they can get their earned retirement elephants. maybe the cut back on cost-of-living increases, that's a new formulation which means lower benefits for seniors and millions of disabled veterans. they believe that we have been getting in recent years are too high.

that increase you got a few years ago was much too high we have to change the formula. maybe they'll go back to the long-term dream of privatizing medicare, converting it into a voucher program which will say to the elderly in the country, here is a check for $8000. you go out and find private insurance on your own. i would say, good luck to any elderly person in the country who was struggling with heart disease or cancer and you see what kind of insurance program you'll get with a check of $8000. i remind my colleagues that many

of these proposals were included in the budget resolution the republicans were before. these are issues and i already voted for. they're right in front of her trillion dollar cut to medicaid which would throw 15 million americans off of health insurance. they've already voted to cut medicare in my view, the last thing we should be doing is giving tax breaks for billionaires while cutting programs for the most vulnerable people in our country. during the campaign told tropez a candidate promised he would

not cut social security, medicare and medicaid. he made that promise over and over again. the mature's quote here some of these tweets exactly what he said the campaign trail. said, i was the first and only potential gop candidate to state there be no cuts to social security, medicare, and medicaid. on another occasion he said that i am not a kutcher. i will probably be the only republican that doesn't want to cut social security.

quote, my absolute intention, not be very big about this one. his absolute intention to leave so-so security the way it is. donald trump on march 10, 2016. there's another quote, paul ryan months to knock out social security, not get way down. nordstrom dock welfare way down. you will lose the election. i want to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. want to do many things that will make it better. but i'm not going to cut it and i'm not going to raise ages and

i'm not going to do all the things they want to do but they want to really cut it. they want to cut it substantially. i'm not going to do that. before i move on i want to tell donald trump, he was right. this is what he said on marc march 29. he said the republicans wanted to cut social security well, you're right that is now what usc in a few weeks. another some republicans would be fine to weather and die on the vine is not unreasonable for

people who paid into the system for decades to expect to get their money's worth. that's not an entitlement, that's honoring the deal. there is, candidate donald trump said over and over again that he would not cut social security here not cut medicare or medicaid. he predicted the republicans to try to do exactly that. now i like to talk directly five might to the president of the united states. i would say on the campaign

trail you said over and over again that you are not cut social security and medicare or medicaid. today i'm asking you nothing more than to keep your word. don't lie to the american people, millions of people voted for you because you said you would not cut social security, medicare, medicaid. keep your word. tell senate leader mcconnell tell the house speaker that you will veto any legislation that cuts the programs. with that, i yield the floor.

>> is not too late to enter. a deadline is january 18, where asking students to choose the u.s. constitution demonstrating why this is important too. 's grades six through 12, $100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded. the grant price for more information go to our website, student camp.org. >> next, transportation

secretary and jackie spear among the participants at a 4 liters ship. this event was hosted by political in washington. >> please welcome political life vice president and general manager, alexis william. >> good morning. they have -- welcome to the fifth annual summit.