concern that we should understand what the need of the military are. and if this proposal goes forward of giving waivers for individuals with depression, bipolar disorder getting waivers, let me be very clear, i advocate for the full utilization of people and those people who have mental health issues, it is very important as they are recruited into the united states military that all of the resources needed to have them perform at the fullest of their capacity, we must ensure that that happens. that must be our responsibility, because as we look at our veterans and see the sacrifice and see what war means, we need to embrace them solidly and respect them and honor them. thank you for allowing me to share a few thoughts and i'll

simply say you are absolutely right, this tax legislation will be devastating, costly and hard for the country to dig out of the deepening debt that is going to be created. with that, i yield back to the gentleman. mr. veasey: thank you. i appreciate the gentlelady. i'm going to temporarily yield back to you so our colleagues on the other side of the aisle can lay out the rule. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? mr. collins: i send to the desk a pri ledge red port for filing under the rule and i thank the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 616 to provide for consideration of h.r. 2874 to achieve reforms to improve the financial stability of the national flood insurance program to enhance the development of more accurate

dwofments flood risk through new technology and better maps to increase the role of private markets in the management of flood insurance risks and to provide for alternative methods to ensure against flood peril and for providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany h.r. 2810, authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military activities of the department of defense for military construction and for defense activities of the department of energy to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fits call year and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar anded ored printed. -- and ordered printed. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. veasey: thank you, mr. speaker. with that, we're going to continue on with the congressional black caucus special order hour. i'd like to thank my friend and colleague, representative evans from pennsylvania, the quaker state, for being here again.

thank you very much, representative evans, for always offering your insighten these matters and i know that in addition, i'd like -- like the gentlelady from texas, it's open to a broad array of topics and appreciate any insight you want to give us on tax reform or any of the other issues that the american public wants to hear from from their congressional representatives on this day. so again, thank you for your participation. mr. evans: i'd like this to thank my colleague from the great state of texas. he has consistently done a very great job in leading these efforts for the congressional black caucus as well as our chairman, chairman richmond. soy thank the gentleman from texas, he's been fantastic. mr. speaker, this is an interesting time that we are obviously in the country and it is a rather challenging time.

but mr. speaker, i'd like to let you know last year at this time, on november 14, 2016, i was sworn in. so i've been here for one year, mr. chairman. and in that one year when i stood in this well of this house, i talked about the importance of putting country first and moving america forward. i said that at that particular time that i thought it was extremely important we work together. and all my colleagues at that time from pennsylvania stood with me, democrats and republicans alike, and i talked in this well of the house on november 14, 2016, about the need to concentrate on the people first. that i thought it was extremely essential that we understood that people, we should talk about the issues that are most important to people and not --

and that is what is important to us. that we now are in a governing mode, not a political mode. there will be time to have discussions about political next year. but this particular time we need to put people first. so mr. speaker, our country has not seen bipartisan tax reform since 1986. and that was when president reagan was president of the united states and speaker tip o'neill was speaker of this house. i think it's safe to say the u.s. tax code is in need of major facelift. but let me make it very clear when i say, the way the republican party and the trump administration are going about tax reform is all wrong. one of my main priorities in

congress is to help keep moving the city of philadelphia forward. the republican tax bill impedes our ability to move our city forward. at a time when older cities an suburbs are pressed for funding, this destructive tax plan is yet another way the republican party is taking resources from our cities. what do i mean by this? on friday past, mr. speaker, i joined with the mayor of the city of philadelphia, mayor jim kelley, the city council president daryl clark, ouncilmember bob brady and the help usaid, call attention to how our neighborhoods would be hard hit by this republican tax plan. we stood in front of what used to be a school building in philadelphia. but has now been turned into a supportive housing facility

that will soon house 37 veterans and individuals age 55 and older. it's these kinds of investments an transformations that will ve our neighborhoods forward that are at stake under the g.o.p. tax plan. we have a lot to lose under the republican tax plan. you may recall, mr. speaker, that the president at that time candidate trump went to the city of philadelphia. and said specifically targeted to the african-american community, what do you have to lose? that's what he said. he talked abthe schools. he talked about the neighborhoods he talked about all the -- about the neighborhoods he talked about all the challenges we face in urban america, particularly in the african-american community. so mr. president, we have a lot to lose under the republican tax plan. the repeal of private activity

bonds would be devastating for hospitals and i have a number of hospitals in my district. temple university. albert einstein. university of penn. niversity of st. jo. temple. other nonprofits in montgomery county who depend on these bonds and rely on public-private partnerships to address critical ininfrastructure needs. financial value projects ensure affordable housing. the list of harmful provisions in this bait and switch tax bill goes on and on. i just received a letter from the chair of montgomery county, vice man val acuz and chair ken lawrence of the

montgomery county board of commissions. they wrote to me to tell me how residents of montgomery county are alarmed by what is happening in this tax bill. they are extremely concerned about the fate of the state and local tax deductions. without that, taxpayers will feel an extremely hike. let me repeat that. they are extremely concerned about the fate of state and local tax deductions because this will have extreme impact on local government. that is just not right. that is just not right, mr. speaker. and just the other day, i spoke with local labor leaders who expressed their great concerns on this tax scam. that's true, mr. speaker. it is a tax scam. it is something where jobs will continue to go overseas and not to our communities. in a district that has 27%

poverty in the second congressional district, i'm truly concerned about the loss of jobs. there are incredibly -- they are incredibly fearful of what this plan means to the lives of hardworking families across our commonwealth. they know it's going to be to many of their families who are going to be among those hit the hardest. mr. speaker, remember what i said when i got elected and sworn in i said we need to put people first. this tax scam does not put people first. there are the stores. stories. fears and concerns of real people in our neighborhood. these are the people she we should be concerned with. these are the people on the frontline. people who have serious questions about the intentions of this tax plan. what is the republican's response? to push it through for a win.

let me repeat that. to push it through for a win. that is wrong and unacceptable. we're in the business of building a stronger tomorrow for our students, our seniors, our veteran, and hardworking families. and all who call our neighborhoods home. instead of taking away more resources from our cities and suburbs, we should be looking for ways to build, invest, enhance the existing infrastructure our cities have to offer to make them what they re attractive prospect for home buyers and current homeowners. let me repeat that we should be looking for ways to making ways more attractive to prospective home buyers and current homeowners. mr. speaker, we have a real opportunity here to make a difference. and again, i'm happy to be part

of the congressional black caucus under chairman richmond's leadership as well as chairman veasey in leading this effort. because this is the kind of effort that we have to raise the consciousness and convince people they must resist. we must resist no matter what they say the numbers are and we must resist and keep our voices loud so that they can hear that we are not accepting what is taking place here. so mr. speaker, i stand here with my colleagues expressing the concern and the outrage that i have about this tax scam. this is not about the people. this is about the interest groups. we have a chance to make a change, mr. speaker. and we need to work together. i said almost one year ago on this day in this well of this house that the only way we can move america forward is when we

work together. i don't say that just to be saying that. i say it because that's what i did when i was in the pennsylvania legislature. working together make a difference. that's the only way we're going to move the needle. when people work together. so mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time and i thank you for this opportunity. mr. veasey: representative evans, thank you very much for laying out those concerns about the tax plan and you did so very eloquently and again, just always appreciate your participation and kind of building on what you talked about, i want to give the american -- american public out there and the constituents we represent in the congressional black caucus a quick outline of who exactly this plan will hurt. very concerned about this terrible tax plan because it's going to cut rates for the highest 1% of earners and corporations. while increasing the tax burden

on her and middle class families while the republicans are falsely going around claiming that they're going to be helping these individuals and these families. that's just not the case at all. and for example, let me give you one area that has been touched upon that i'm concerned about and that's state and local taxes. you know, you won't be eligible any longer for the deduction which means many individuals end up paying twice the amount of taxes on the same income. the elimination of deductions for student loan payments. we've talked extensively on this house floor on the democratic side about what student loans are doing to this country and the costs of a higher education. we know that a lot of people seek out higher education because of the benefits that it can yield income-wise. everybody is again always trying to see how they're going to live that american dream. they want to be able to pay their taxes, pay their car

payment, pay their house note, whatever it may happen to be and when you look at the fact that people won't be able to write off their student loans, to help pay for their education anymore, that's really, really going to hurt and probably convince a lot of young people that they just shouldn't seek out higher education. and we want young people to seek out higher education. even the blue collar jobs out there we know are becoming harder and harder to keep and maintain and they require some form of education, even going to community college for a couple of years after they graduate from high school, almost seems to be something that they have to do and the city, the center for american progress found that 78% of black students in comparison to 57% of white students took out federal loans for their undergraduate studies and in the being able to write those off means that that dream that

everyone has regardless of race, being able to buy their first home, the american dream, they're going to have to put that off because they can no longer pay off these very costly student loan interest payments. these eliminations are going to be very troubling for so many people in the community in light of the fight to build generational wealth. and these trickle-down tactics and we have been talking about it for a very long time. but some of these tactics are proving not to work and it's disheartening to see the finish line just moved again and again over and over again when people think they are doing better and seeing that finish line and

making hard on families, working class to middle-class tax brackets, you know, you are talking about when you look at this very closely, the restructuring will make it so that the tax rates are going to increase from 10% to 12%. the lowest earners out there and some of the poorest will have their tax burden increased and make them for them to climb that economic ladder of opportunity and it's already hard to climb that ladder of opportunity. i mean, just think about it for just a minute. if you have two kids and you have a 10% tax burden and making a small amount of money but out there working hard every day and

trying to get overtime and punching the clock and having grandma to watch the kids so you can work that extra shift to get those hours in or you are a single mom and you are out there busting it each and every day week after week and don't have it. ou are getting rent notice put on the door once a month. it's just so tough and to know we aren't going to be doing anything at all in this body, the republicans aren't going to help these individuals to be able to climb out of that hole and be able and see the light and know that that mom and those kids are going to struggle until the kids leave the house. it's really disheartening. and in addition to that, even

the tax provisions are aimed at helping working families are reserved for the wealthiest few in the committee. white house republicans highlight their child tax credit. many of the lowest income parents will be ell i believe to receive a partial amount of the tax credit if any of the extension at all. according to the center for budget and policy priorities, the g.o.p. child tax credit keeps the lowest income workers to benefit despite numerous studies that child tax credit improves school performance and increasing earnings in adulthood. and refuses to take the interests into consideration ensuring those who are striving

to reach the american dream will simply fall short. and again, just -- there is so much in this bill that is -- that is going to be tough. you talk about repealing the estate tax. even the wealthiest. rockefellers. buff fets and bill gates and others are saying that they are fine paying that and absolutely ok with paying that and figure out what we are going to take away from people so they don't have to pay back estate tax. and you heard my colleagues talk about it earlier, but when you talk about the state and local tax deductions and the student loan deductions that people count on and child tax credits and new marget tax credits, so

many programs and so many things out there that are really helping individuals, helping our economy, and we want to give it back so a few wealthy people don't have to pay estate taxes, it's really sad, mr. speaker, when you think about that. one of the things that i think we ought to do instead of giving is we out to le start thinking about helping grandparents that are raising grandchildren. when i was in the state legislature, i had a principal come up to me on the house floor and i believe it was on the senate floor and there was a picture of the battle that hangs there in austin at the capitol and i was showing the school

children and the principal said thank you for talking about grand parents that are raising grandchildren. 50% of the kids are raised by someone other than their parent and 99% of the time it's the grand parent. instead of giving superrich people, ultrarich people a pass on paying their inheritance tax, why don't we give grand parents a refundable tax credit who serve as primary caregivers for their grandchildren. that would help out so much. because you have to think about what they are facing. they didn't think their pension check was going to have to be used to help pay for supplies school clothes shes ackpacks, school uniforms,

haircuts, prom dresses. the grandparents are really balancing a lot, more than any generation of grandparents have. and we could take the money that we are going to give away to the buffets s and warren and rock fellers and we could give it to these grandparents. people that represent from every congressional district in this country. and you know, oftentimes, you talk about grandparents raising grandchildren and there have been issues with drugs or alcohol in the kids' parents' life or some other reason why the parents can't take care of the kids and the opioids crisis. this is an area that is growing

in all congressional districts, all races and backgrounds. why not give our grandparents out there who are buying backpacks and give them a $500 refundable tax credit to help them make ends meet. they would be able to buy healthier foods, they could buy fruits, vegetables, other things like that that could really go a long way in just helping them maintain their household. nd so that's what i'm eager to do. i want to sit down with colleagues and come up with something that is fair. everybody that i have talked to say they want to work in a bipartisan manner to pass a tax reform bill that is fair and done under regular order, and done with transparency and done

in the light. but the way that this is happening, it's just not right. these trickle-down economics just simply do not work. and we need to start all over. we need to head back to the drawing board and sit down like republicans and democrats when president reagan was in office and tip was the speaker. we know people are very anxious about some of the things -- people from all congressional districts and again, all backgrounds. we in the congressional black caucus, we are concerned about what it is going to have on the african-american communities. so let's just sit down at the drawing board and talk about some of these things and come up with something that is tear --

fair. we are trying to come up with a fairway how to reform our tax code and keep our businesses here and keep a little bit more money in people's pockets at the end of the week or end of the month, so they can take care of their families and buy a home. and do whatever it is they need to do in order to make ends meet. with that, mr. speaker, i thank you very much for this evening. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's apolicy of january 3, 2017, the chair recognizes the gentleman from hio, mr. ryan, for 30 minutes.

mr. ryan: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate the opportunity to be here once again and follow up the gentleman from texas and his remarks that i think hit the nail on the head with regard to working-class families out in the heartland and deep south are facing every single day. i think it's important every policy we push here in the united states congress is a policy that addresses some of those deep concerns that they all have. sometimes i think that this town gets into a little bit of a

bubble, two separate political parties that talk to each other, talk at each other, talk within each other, but we're in the midst of deep change in the united states. and we're in the midst of the kind of structural change we have not seen in our country in a long, long time. we have an economic system, a tax code, a trade regime, that has not, quite frankly, been up to the task to meet the needs of working-class families. we have a health kir system that even though many changes have been made, i think to help people get coverage, to help people afford their health care is still not up to task with the deep needs of our country. and we have an education system that is not quite up to speed. and so the libberations in this

body need to be a little bit deeper and we need to take a little step back. and we have tax reform that's on the dock -- docket this week and have a consistent dialogue with other nations about how we are going to organize our trade relationships with other countries, whether it be in north america, whether it be with china or europe or any other country. d i will just say that after looking at the tax bill that has been presented in both the house and the senate, the congressional budget office has run that this tax bill will a deficit and a long-term debt r our country to the tune of

$1.7 trillion. so this tax reform that our friends on the other side are pushing has a $1.7 trillion it.ar hole in and so what has to happen is that the united states government, because the republicans are going to pass a tax cut, which majority will go to the wealthiest people in the country. and because there will be this hole in the budget now, this country, our taxpayers, are going to have to go to china, go to saudi arabia and say, hey, can you loan us some money. we have this big deficit and we have this debt we are running up in the united states, can you loan us $1.7 trillion? ecause we are going to

because we're going to give that money to the wealthiest people in the country in the hope it stimulates the economy and jobs and -- and creates jobs and wages, and by the way, we tried that in 2001 and 2003 and it didn't work. to me, i think it's difficult for us as a country to say, we're going to give china more power over us. we're going to give china more say in the negotiations that we have with them, whether it's north korea, whether it's them moving bases out into the south china sea where they're actually building islands so that they can put bases on them and project more force in that area of the world. we're going to have less negotiating power with them as they continue to move into africa and extract natural

resources to feed their industrial machine. we're going to go ask them for $1.7 trillion. o give a tax cut that goes primarily to the biggest corporations in the country and the wealthiest people in the country. now that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to most people. sounds like a little bit of a scam. and the $1.7 trillion which you got to watch with $1.7 trillion is we're borrowing it and then we got to pay interest on the money that we're borrowing. so if interest rates go up, we're going to start paying ore. meanwhile, back here in the united states, we've got a number of challenges that we've got to deal with.

we've got to rebuild our country. the president, whim he was campaigning, said we're going to do $1 trillion in infrastructure improvements in the united states. i'm a builder, we're going to rebuild the country. it is now november. and we have not heard anything about an infrastructure bill, building roads, bridges, all the rest. in fact we've had a president see a theme d, i developing here, the president also campaigned and said we're going to expand health care. we're going to expand medicare. we're going to expand medicaid. we're going to make it cheaper, accessible, it's going to be beautiful, it'll be easy to do, i can do it. and so goes life. the two bills in both the house nd senate from the republicans

, as analyzed by the congressional budget office, not as analyzed by democrats but as analyzed by the congressional budget office, they're a neutral third party, they're the referee in washington, they just look at the numbers, whatever party is in charge, they always don't like the congressional budget office because they always tell you thing you don't necessarily want to hear. so the congressional budget office said on both of those bills for health care, both the house and senate, 20 million people plus will lose their health care. so we had a campaign saying we're going to rebuild the country. that hasn't happened. campaign saying we're going to give people more health care. that's not happening. then we had a campaign where our president was saying, we got to be tough ton china.

we got to be tough on them. there's all kinds of little quotes i can say from when he was in ohio or he was here, he was there, he was going to be, i'm the tough on china guy. as you can see from this good for good good measure, this is where that outlines chinese trade, foreign trade, and automation have hurt our country and who has been hurt the most. red the hardest hit and then as it move tots more lighter color -- moves to more lighter colors, less so. you can see in the industrial midwest, in the great lakes states, in the south, up in new england, pennsylvania, some out west. devastated by trade. so the president is in china this past week and he says, i

don't blame the chinese. it's not their fault. it's our, it's the united states' fault. now i will say that the united states has not done a great job of being as firm on china as i would have liked. i was one of the original -- the original co-sponsors, original sponsors of the china currency manipulation bill with former representative duncan hunter, father of current representative duncan hunter. so we've been on this for a long time. but this does not gloss over the fact that the chinese intentionally steal our intellectual property. they intentionally skirt global trade rules.

and if we put tariffs up on coming steel tubing into the united states, the chinese will ship it to another country and then from that country send it to the united states to avoid the tariffs we put on because their products, their final product was cheaper than the raw material cost of a company like wheatland tube in my congressional district that's trying to sell the same thing. or valoric in my district that's trying to sell the same thing. we would put tariffs on, they would skirt the rules and come around through another country. so we play this constant game of trying to fission your out where the chinese steel is going to come in from. hat's not our fault.

that's not playing by the rules. that's not playing fair. and so our president needs to recognize, i'm all for being a diplomat, but when you're in the country, you need to be firm with the leaders of that country and tell them to stop hurting american businesses. and putting american steelworkers out of work. especially then you campaigned on doing that. just a year ago. and we're seeing communities completely wiped out. and so back to the tax cut, so we're going to go to this same country and borrow money from them. that doesn't make any sense at all. and what democrats are proposing, and what our side is proposing, is that the people in the country that really need

a break are those people, the gentleman from texas was just talking about. the ones working swing shifts. the ones that take a shower after work. the ones that stand on their feet all day long. making minimum wage or maybe a little bit more. those are the people we should be pushing a tax cut toward. put a little money in their pocket. help them lift up the ladder. here's why i think this makes sense. if you go back to the last time we did tax reform. 31 years ago. 96% of st 31 years, all income growth, 9 % of all income growth, went to the top 10% of the people, wealthiest people in the united states. over 30 years, 96% of growth

went to the top 10%. so now, that's where all the money went. we've seen it. flatline wages across the middle class. 30 years. we know the story. unfortunately. communities gutted. manufacturing base eroded. and so now to say we're going to take this group that's made all the income gains in the last 31 years and give them a tax cut that we're going to finance by borrowing money from china, which is going to increase our national debt so we're going to have to pay more on that, we're going to lose leverage in the world with china, and now they're our banker, even more so than they are right now. so what we're asking is for us

, this body, take a time out to stop the process, to reach across the aisle to democrats, to say that you've got to figure out this disparity that's happened over the last or 30 years between capital and between labor. and all the gains have been on the capital side. nd yet capital gets taxed at a lower rate than wages. warren buffett said it a million times. he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary pays. is that fair? is that right? it's not. of course it isn't. and the argument that, because we've been adopting this system one form or fashion or another

for most of the last 30 years since reaganomics is that that's been the same time that all this has happened. so we need a new -- we need a new way of doing this. his is not working for people. and the tax code is an opportunity for us, i think, to ask those people who have been doing pretty well over the last 30 years who make their money through capital gains, to pay the same level as a guy working the second shift at general motors-lourdstown. i think that's only fair. with that revenue we can start rebuilding the country. we -- let me just say lastly hat there's no evidence, and i

know in washington that most things aren't based on evidence, but there is no evidence that cutting taxes for the wealthiest people in the ountry somehow makes it down to improved wages for middle class people. there just isn't any evidence of that. george w. bush, i was here for the second round of these tax cuts. he cut primarily for the top 1%. threw little crumbs to the middle class folks. they got 300 bucks. and that was supposed to create jobs, stimulate the economy, grow wages and everything else. that was the slowest decade of growth in modern american history, going back othe great depression. -- back to the great depression. where we had a more stable line

of growth was the bill clinton budget in 1993 in which we asked the wealthiest to pay a little more, we balanced the budget, reinvested back into the country and created 20 million new jobs. every income group from top to bottom saw wages go up. and every -- in every income group. and when he walked out of this capitol and george w. bush came in, i think there was like a $5.6 trillion projected surplus . surplus. and so i hate to say it but we were having the debate about what we're going to do with the surplus you may remember, al gore was campaigning saying, we got to take that surplus, put it in a lockbox and make sure we support medicare and social security and extend the life of those programs. george bush was saying we want

to give it back in a tax cut. so jorbling bush won, it went back in a tax cut. the only benefit, supposed benefit is that at least we didn't necessarily borrow that money. we were projected to have that money come in and then we gave it back in a tax cut as the country collectively, some of us weren't for that. ut now we got to go borrow the money. then, we give that $5.6 trillion to the top 1%, have a slow decade of growth. we ended up in two wars, put that on the credit card, too and complete economic collapse and we are climbing our way back. this isn't the time to borrow more money from china and give it back to the wealthiest.

we have a lot of investments atlanta home. we need to create an economic system that is working for the itple in this country, which isn't now, and we have jobs, but have stagnant wages. we have jobs but wages are low. we have jobs but people losing their pension. we do have jobs and people still don't have the kind of health care that they need. we can do better than this, and it starts i think now with us rejecting the republican tax bill and saying to them, reach across the aisle, work with democrats and do something that is bipartisan here and something revenue s this a enhancer or at the very least revenue neutral by asking and increasing the rates on capital

and not borrowing $1.7 trillion, if not more, with increased interest rates from china. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. does the gentleman have a motion? mr. ryan: i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house stands

tomorrow you're on c-span -- more live coverage of the house tomorrow on c-span. week as c-span this congress debates turks are formed. live coverage on c-span. listen to live coverage of tax reform using the free c-span radio app. >> tonight on c-span, house and senate minority leaders nancy pelosi and chuck schumer on the tax reform proposals. they had a discussion on manufacturing in the u.s. the democratic leaders chuck schumer enacted closer spoke -- nancy pelosi spoke to reporters. ,