'This Is A Chance To Help Everybody In America!': Ron Wyden Implores Senate GOP To Support Tax Bill

4 months ago

During remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) urged support for the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. President, in a few minutes the Senate will vote on the Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act.

00:10There has been a lot of discussion and debate this week about it, and I'll make just a few final points.

00:18Republicans are talking a lot these days, trying to convince Americans that they're the ones who support children and families, not Democrats.

00:30Republicans talk about supporting small businesses. They talk about competing with China.

00:38They talk about how terrible it is that nobody can afford a home in America.

00:44And they talk about cracking down on fraud in government programs.

00:49The bill that the Senate will vote on in a few minutes helps with each and every one of these issues.

00:58Now we're going to see whether Senate Republicans really, in fact, do want to help, whether they're offering anything more than talk.

01:08Over the last couple of days, I've read lots of comments from Republican Senators who say that it's really time to wait.

01:18And if Republicans take control of the Senate, they'll write a better bill.

01:25So I would ask, better for whom?

01:30One thing I'm sure of is it won't be a better bill for the 16 million kids who stand to benefit today, today, colleagues, from the proposal we are going to vote on.

01:43And it won't come as any comfort to families who are getting clobbered on rent or the small businesses.

01:48They're going to fail if they don't get help now.

01:53The House of Representatives passed this bill back in January.

01:59It was the product of work with Republican Chair Jason Smith and I.

02:05But it also included a year's worth of negotiations with colleagues here in the Senate.

02:15That bill got 357 votes.

02:20Mr. President, almost an even split between the two parties.

02:24As I've said before, in the House of Representatives at this point, it would be hard to get 357 votes if you were just out ordering a piece of pie.

02:35The only reason our bipartisan bill didn't become law six months ago was because of the delay of Senate Republicans.

02:48I offered to make changes.

02:51Mr. President, I met with a significant number of Senate Republicans personally.

02:58They talked about what their proposed ideas were for compromise.

03:05And I offered them. I offered them.

03:10I said it publicly in the Senate Finance Committee.

03:16It wasn't good enough, although they looked a little bit like the dog that caught the car.

03:23But in old school basketball terms, Senate Republicans just continued the delays.

03:31It was kind of the old four corner offense, stall and drain the clock.

03:37But for the millions of people who are hurting, those folks can't afford for the Senate to just keep waiting.

03:48Now, the reality is when it comes to tax policy debates, this is the easy stuff.

03:57The difficult issues don't get agreement from 357 members of the House of Representatives.

04:05The debate on taxes is sure to get a lot harder when Congress is going to have to deal with trillions of dollars in tax changes coming down the pike.

04:15If Senate Republicans can't work across the aisle or work with a House that produced 357 votes,

04:26it's going to be some very, very heavy lifting next year.

04:32And I'll close with this. Every senator now has a choice.

04:39The results here are not predetermined.

04:43Republicans can choose to side with children and families.

04:48Republicans can choose to side with people who are walking an economic tightrope just trying to pay the rent.

04:58Importantly, Republicans can choose to side with small businesses.

05:03The fact is the problems small businesses are having today to a great extent are due to the single-handed efforts of Senate Republicans

05:19who did nothing to block an effort to derail the research and development credit.

05:29In fact, they were willing to derail the research and development credit in the 2017 tax bill

05:39when everybody said we need this to compete with China.

05:45Senate Republicans said, nah, we're interested in giving tax breaks to people at the top rather than small businesses.

05:54So they gutted the research and development tax credit for small business.

06:00Not a single Democrat voted for it.

06:04And then they promised to fix it in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

06:16All those years, Senate Republicans said they'd get a break for small businesses on the research and development issue.

06:26Now a lot of those small businesses have to go out and borrow to keep their doors open.

06:33So we offered to work that and other issues out, but Republicans said, gee, we're just going to wait around until 2025.

06:46Well, I want to say to my colleagues and I want to say to the country, a lot of these small businesses,

06:52the research and development issue is a lifeline.

06:57I've had them come to me and say, Ron, I'm not even going to be around in 2025 for somebody like the Senate Republicans who wants to wait.

07:07I say we ought to help them now and make no mistake about it.

07:13A Senate that passes this legislation can allow our bill to go to the president of the United States right away, right away.

07:27And help goes out to those 16 million families, the 4 million small businesses that depend on the research and development credit,

07:35the families that got clobbered with disasters.

07:40We have a chance to help those families who, after they got clobbered with disasters, got clobbered by an outdated tax code.

07:49We would fix it. We would fix it today.

07:52And because of Senator Cantwell, hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing could get on the way today.

08:03So Senate Republicans can do those things that I just described.

08:10And the way I say it, Mr. President, you know, if you show up for work around here and you got a chance to help 16 million kids,

08:214 million small businesses, scores of businesses who've been clobbered by disasters, create hundreds of thousands of units of housing.

08:31Doing all that, Mr. President, sounds to me like one hell of a day at the office.

08:38So Senate Republicans can choose to help that way, or they can continue with excuses, empty talk,

08:46and what are sure to be their plans for the future, lock in even more handouts to big corporations and the wealthy.

08:57This is a thoroughly bipartisan bill. 357 votes in the House of Representatives.

09:05Every Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee voted for this bill.

09:11So I say let's help the kids and the families. Let's help the small businesses. Let's help those who need housing.

09:18Let's be there for those who face these disasters.

09:22I say to my colleagues on the Republican side, this is a chance to help everybody in America. Everybody.

09:32I hope my Republican colleagues make the right choice.

09:35I strongly urge them to vote yes and side with the children and families all over the country, and I yield the floor.

'This Is A Chance To Help Everybody In America!': Ron Wyden Implores Senate GOP To Support Tax Bill

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