mr. wyden: our core belief is that taxes should not be raised on small businesses and that the wealthiest and the biggest corporations should pay their fair share. this amendment is consistent with that. i'm going to support it. i hope we can do this on a voice vote. the presiding officer: question is on the amendment. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendment is agreed to. mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: to my colleagues, the clerk is no longer going to recount to save us a little time and so -- but i just urge my colleagues to please stay in their seats so we can move this along. and speak up when you're called. is that what you mean? i have no trouble speaking loudly as everyone knows here. mr. hagerty: madam president? the presiding officer: the junior senator from tennessee. mr. hagerty: i call up my amendment 37 # 2. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

mr. wyden: i thank my colleague. and i will be brief. as senator toomey has indicated, he and senator lummis and i have an amendment to the infrastructure bill dealing with cryptocurrencis and taxes. and i'm going to go into some of the philosophical underpinnings of what we are doing. but i with aens -- but i want to note something at the outset. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. wyden: our amendment is bipartisan, ought to be accepted when the author of the underlying provision has said publicly he will vote for it, if the senate gets a chance to vote, as senator toomey and i have indicated. so let me just outline a couple of fundamental propositions about our proposal and start with one that ought to bring the united states senate together. people avoiding taxes they owe on money through cryptocurrencis is a serious issue. it's fundamentally unfair to every working person whose taxes come straight out of their paycheck. now, my view is the senate needs to make sure that

mr. wyden: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: madam president as we have just heard thankfully, construction is almost complete on the infrastructure bill. once infrastructure passes, it's on to the budget resolution, which lays the foundation to pass build back better this fall. the senate finance committee is immersed in this effort. for several months, we've been working with members of the committee on a host of proposals that are included in the resolution. these proposals stem from essential american priorities, making it easier to support a middle-class family, lowering the cost of health care, and addressing the climate crisis. when you focus on those key priorities you build a stronger more fair economy and create good-paying jobs. there's going to be a lot to say about these issues in the hours and days ahead. tonight i'll take just a few minutes to discuss the finance committee's work and why the policies are so important. i'll begin with support for american families. for decades typical working families in oreg

mr. wyden: mr. president, and colleagues, our tax bill will rb progressive even though my friend from iowa told you just the opposite. now, the 2017 trump tax law specifically targeted families in the middle for tax hikes to pay for some of the handouts that republican colleagues wanted to give corporations and the mega wealthy. over here on our side we want to fix that mistake. but my friend from iowa is offering an amendment to lock in those tax hikes on families in the middle. democrats are proposing very substantial tax cuts for working class folks, for the middle class, and what we're going to be doing in our tax bill is working to make the tax code more progressive by ensuring that the mega wealthy pay their fair share. i mean, we've all seen, and this has been documented for quite some time, and my colleague from iowa knows that we expose these mega i.r.a.'s that billionaires have. i hope my colleagues will reject the grassley amendment and when we do, i will offer what is truly a progressive

mr. wyden: mr. president. this amendment strikes the finance committee's entire reconciliation instruction from the budget resolution. colleagues this would prevent the senate from lowering the cost of prescription medicine for all americans. it would prevent fighting the climate crisis with clean energy tax cuts, providing home and community-based services for the elderly and the disabled, prevent us from creating a national paid leave program, and cutting taxes for working families. it would also make it impossible for the subsequent reconciliation bill to be paid for. i will just wrap up. i urge strongly that we oppose this measure because it would stop cold the effort to support policies crucial to the american family and i urge its rejection. mr. romney: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the presiding officer: the yeas are 49, the nays are 50. the amendment is not agreed to. the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i

mr. wyden: the i.r.s. commissioner told the senate finance committee that in his judgment the tax gap, the difference between taxes paid and taxes owed is as much as a trillion dollars a year. current tax gap estimates likely miss a large number of the high flyers who clearly are driving this tax gap up and up. taxpayers acting to conceal this income from tax authorities are going to have a much tougher time. if the congress requires that financial institutions take practical and reasonable steps to require that financial institutions report on financial accounts. our interest on our side is to go after the big guys who generate significant in-flows and outflows of cash and other assets. and we do it in a way that protects privacy and sensitive taxpayer and small business tax information. and this privacy issue has been one of the most important issues in my time in public service. and we're going to make sure that you can get the high flyers, the wealthy tax cheats, without forcing the rights of the littl

mr. president. i want to say a few words about the wyden-lummis-toomey amendment that is ready for the senate to vote on tonight. america is at its core a country of innovators. it's written into our d.n.a. it's why we were the first country to develop a computer, land on the moon, and develop the internet. right now our financial system is evolving before our eyes, much in the same way that the internet first began to find a foothold in the mid-1990's. distributed ledgers, digital assets and other forms of financial technology are in the early stages of transforming the way we share and store value. these technologies have the potential, if implemented properly, to create a vast, new economic opportunity, reduce systemic risk in our economy, and provide for faster payments and create a more inclusive financial system. these are principles that all americans can agree on. america has a heritage of being the global leader in financial services, and this has created enor husband wealth -- enormous wealth and opportunity in this nation. but we must be careful not to rest on our laurels. america's leader