Senators johnson and john cornyn on the republican tax reform bill currently and house and senate negotiations. Senator then talks about the upcoming fcc vote on Net Neutrality. From her than two decades under both republican and democratic president s and republican and democratic congresses the United States adopted a bipartisan light touch approach to regulation. The internet flourished under this approach much to the benefit of American Consumers in the domestic economy. Also made america the world leader in Internet Technology and positioned us to continue that years to come. In 2002 broadband was classified by the fcc, our nations vacation regulator as Information Service under title i of the communications act. This exempted the internet from regulations contained in title to which were designed in the depression era for the old telephone monopolies. Under the Obama Administration we saw attempts to bring the internet under greater government control. In 2015 under the direction of president obama the fcc did at it was told the reclassified Broadband Access services a title to service, subjecting it to onerous rules and opening the door to further regulation, including price regulation. Not surprisingly there came a decline in investment. Weve seen private investment declined over the past two years. This should not be mistaken as a sign that broadband is not needed. The opposite is true. The 34 million americans who lack access at home. In states like south dakota it continues to be critical to ensuring rural areas have the same Economic Opportunity as their urban counterparts. The federal government should not put up barriers to deployment. It should remove them. Cut person the sec should assure for investment regulation. Prior to the 2015 actions to bring broadband under title ii and for more than a decade under the Regulatory Framework of title i, we saw unprecedented growth that revolutionized our daily lives help to stay better connected. Created new jobs and opportunities. Became the greatest engine renovation four times. Despite fear mongering that continues to plague it when the fcc moves forward and restores the internet to its pre2015 regulatory status, will continue to thrive and serve as an engine for future economic growth. I commend the chairman at the fcc for all the hard work over the past year that has gotten us to this point. Also for the transparency. The time in history of the commission under chairmans leadership the public was able to view the restoring Internet Freedom item free wor three wees prior to the vote. Major departure from the previous administrators actions that were often not made public until the last minute. As a result, the public has a benefit not only viewing the item but participating in the process. Despite attempts by those interested in politicizing the issue and distracting the debate, resulted in the most wellinformed record of comments ever submitted to the fcc. Is now wellpositioned to move forward to ensure the internet is open and free. Regrettably the debate is not in there. The outcry of the opponents is that it will fall part without adequate consumer protections. There is immense passion that follows the issue of Net Neutrality. Americans care deeply about preserving a free and open internet. As to why. And so many of my colleagues in the United States senate on both sides of the aisle. As i have stated repeatedly, congressional action is the only way to solve the unless back and forth on Net Neutrality rules we have seen the past several years. My colleagues on the other side of the eye those who claim to support Net Neutrality rules want to enshrine protections for consumers with the backing of the law. I calling you to join me and discuss legislation to do that. We will not agree on everything. Theres much room for compromise. Many of us already agree on many of the principles of Net Neutrality. True supporters of an open internet should be demanding legislative protections today, not posturing while waiting for years for political wins to shift. Republicans and democrats of the support to Work Together in such a compromise, we can enact a Regulatory Framework that will stand the test of time. Ive stood willing to work with any and all supporters of Net Neutrality protections for many years. I continue to stand ready today. It is time for congress to settle this debate. I welcome discussion on ways to ensure a free and open internet for decades to come. Mr. President , its been a good week here in the United States senate. Were getting closer to the finish line attacks reform. That means were closer to real relief for the american people. I legislation will cut tax bills for American Families. It will increase wages, give access to new jobs and opportunities. The tax bill would cut income tax rates for family starting next month. Double the standard deduction, double the child tax credit. That means a lower tax bill for American Families next year. Under the bill family for make and 73000. With the 2200 tax cut. Our build doesnt just provide relief for families. It sets them up for Economic Health in the long term by giving access to higher wages, new jobs and better opportunities. It does this by improving the Playing Field. For individual americans to thrive we need businesses to thrive. They create jobs, provide opportunities, and increase wages and invest in their workers. Her current tax code is not been helping businesses thrive. For years it has left businesses struggling under high tax rates and an outdated system that set a disadvantage. Small businesses employ nearly half the workers in this country. Right now they face high tax rates that makes it difficult to survive much less thrive and expand. Our bill fixes this. It implements a new deduction for the like partnerships and llcs. It allowed them to keep more their money to reinvest in operations hire new workers. The reforms current provisions that frequently leave Small Businesses little cash on hand. Small businesses can recover capital and inventory, machinery much more quickly. This frees up capital they can use to expand and create jobs. Legislation that simplifies accounting rules for Small Businesses to help reduce tax burden leaving more earnings to reinvest in their businesses and workers. In addition, to providing relief another thing it does to boost wages is to lower the massive Corporate Tax rate. The Corporate Tax rate is currently the highest in the industrialized world which puts the United States are businesses at a major disadvantage. Reducing Corporate Tax rate will enable businesses to compete at a more level Playing Field to free up money businesses could use to create jobs and increase wages. White House Counsel and advisors estimates reducing the tax rate to 20 would increase wages by 4000. Thats money families can use to save for retirement, to help pay for education, replace an aging vehicle or invest in their home. Who would boost wages by ending the outdated tax framework thats driving companies to keep jobs and profits overseas. Our nation operates under worldwide tax system. Companies pay taxes on the profits they make as well as part of the prophet they make broad. The problem is that American Companies are already paying taxes to foreign governments on the money they make abroad. Then when they bring it home they can end up paying taxes again. And at the highest tax rate. Its no surprise this discourages businesses from bringing profits back to invest in operations and jobs and increase wages. Our bill replaces are updated worldwide tax system with a territorial system. American companies would no longer face double taxation that encourages them to send things overseas. U. S. Companies that have a strong incentive to invest their profits at home in american jobs and workers. The Tax Foundation estimates that our bill would create nearly 1 million new jobs and boost the economy by 3. 7 . Members of the house and Senate Working on the final draft of comprehensive tax reform legislation. We hope to send a final bill next week to the president. Im thankful to have been a part of this effort. The bill were finalizing represents a once in a Generation Opportunity to profoundly change the american peoples lives for the better. The tax bill will provide real, immediate, trek relief to americans and do it now. Hell give americans access to the jobs, wages, and opportunities they need for secure and prosperous future. The bill were drafting washer in a new era of economic dynamism in this country. It will send a message to the world that america is serious about competing and winning in the 21st century. Im grateful for all the work they have done to put together this legislation. I look forward to the Conference Committee in our final draft to get the bill across the finish line for the american people. High yield the floor could suggest the absence of a quorum. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] mr. President , are we unicorn call . I ask unanimous consent it would be dispensed with. High approach this topic with trepidation. When people make outrageous and outlandish non believable statements i think its best to let them go because when people make these statements they lose their credibility and may be a doesnt bear a particular comment or attempt to refute it but on the subject of tax reform there have been statements that have been made i think they paint an ugly picture and not supposed to be a debate for tax reform policy. I think they would relate more to the nature on what passes for debate at washington, d. C. In matters of important public policy. Theres accusations then it gets repeated on social media, the press picks it up and people assume it must be true since nobody has denied it or offered any contrary narrative. The House Minority leader had a time to pay she felt comfortable calling this tax bill still in the process of being written reconciling the house version the worst bill in the history of the United States congress. She has been busy if she read every bill since 1789. She went further because that wasnt enough for her. Our tax bill is inches poor legislation, its an exit essentials threat that to the nation and possibly the planet. Can you believe that . A threat to the nation and possibly the entire planet. You can see what i was reluctant to address these. Anybody who would make these has lost all credibility. Acting as a prophet or amateur astrologers, were not quite sure she called the prospect of tax return passing, armageddon. Its hard to know what to say or do in the face of that rhetoric. This tax reform bill was a good thing wish our friends across the aisle would join us in trying to make it better. Thats what happened the last time we tried to do a 1986. A republican president a democratic senator from new jersey you had dan as chairman of the house ways and means committee, democrat and other members to try to the tax code. They were successful against all odds. Today you have a different scenario. Republicans seeing the economy is growing at a slow weight and most workers are flat and realizing their current tax code is counterproductive encouraging investment and job creation because we had the highest tax rate in the world for those that do business internationally. We thought we should do something about it. We went about reforming the tax code to simplify the tax code everyone knows how complex it is and how much people spend, secondly it would be important to give hardworking families the tax cuts. So we succeeded in reducing the tax rate for every tax bracket. For example, for lowincome families we have a zero tax bracket. The first 24000 a joint family is no tax at all. Thanks to great work we have doubled the child tax credit. Those are good things. Weve doubled the standard deduction. Fewer people have to itemize to get the full benefit. While maintaining the charitable deduction and working interest for popular items like that. A family earning roughly 70000 a year the Median Income in america of a family of four would see a benefit of trying to run a tax liability. How do we simplify the code and how do we make americas economy more competitive were seen investment in businesses fleet to lower Tax Jurisdictions apparently not, instead, what we get is we get these allegations that cause the speaker to lose credibility in any debate we are having. Sometimes a hard time getting to this rhetoric and jumping on the bandwagon. At least its a little closer to them what we recounted. The Washington Post said the tax reform took place behind closed doors. Thats an old rhetoric and talking point. Washington post could come up with Something Better than that. One columnist said that the package benefit donors at the fence of voters. It only modestly addresses the socioeconomic challenge of the time. I wonder what the reporter thinks . I think one of those is for people to pursue the american dream, to find work, to be paid a decent wage and to keep more of what they errands. That isnt good enough for the columnist at the new york times. These charges deserve more attention than the asteroid attack that they too are misguided. When it comes to tax reform the drafting process didnt take place behind closed doors. Why would the Washington Post was so illinformed and ignorant of the process they did not see this 70 Senate Hearings weve had since 2011. The police determines the spirit to see the debate and amendment process that produced the senate bill. Not paying much attention to what were talking to on the senate floor. I guess theyre not paying much attention. Now ornate many are wondering why tax cuts for families are temporary and corporations are permanent. We know businesses need longterm assurances about the tax environment so they will invest and make plans. We want to make tax cuts for individuals permanent that require 60 votes in the senate. Every one of our democratic alex voted against the bill and refers to participate in the process. With only 52 votes to work with were unable to meet that threshold. So they denies the votes we need to make that happen. Its not that we dont want to make them permanent, its the democrats are preventing us from doing so. I agree with my friend and colleague, the junior senator from florida who said when it comes to debating tax reform republicans cant be the country club party. I agree thats not who we are. Thats also not who we should be helping on the spill. We ought to be addressing lowincome and middleclass americans first. We do lower the corporate rate thats been something the democrats have called for. In 2011 they call for reducing the highest Corporate Tax rate in the world and called upon republicans and democrats to make that happen. Wed had others who cosponsored the bill to reduce the tax rate 35 to 24 . We do better by taking it down to 24 but the senator from new york, the democratic leader has also called for lowering the Corporate Tax rate making us more competitive in the global economy. Then well see investment come back to the United States along with the jobs. Who will benefit from that . The people who will really benefit will be the people who performed those jobs, hardworking American Families. The group of 140 economists say they believe the bill will hands efficiency thats economic talk for tax cuts. What about fairness and simplification . Dont we all want a fair tax code . One thats easier to navigate. They said fairness will be reserved on tax differences. That is exactly what we do by doubling the standard deduction. In about three out of ten individual taxpayers itemize. Only one out of ten will now find it necessary to itemize. The truth is the lower tax bills on workingclass americans. That raise them on the working class. By nearly doubling these acrosstheboard the Senate Tax Reform plan will lower taxes for every income group. Its written with working families and mine. Legislation reflects cycle. A family of four earning an income of about 70000 will see a 2200 savings in the tax bill. Each year. Might be easy for folks living in washington, d. C. To shrug that off as a 2200 bucks is no big deal but to the people i represent, 2200 tax savings heres a big deal. The difference of saving for retirement, help a college education, maybe take a vacation for the first time in a long time, thats the money they have earned and were saying you can keep more of it under the spill. Finally, the deficit. For the tax bill increase it . Yesterday had analysis was released. Among the key findings is 1. 8 trillion of additional revenue will be generated over ten years of expected economic growth. These the baseline of 1. 9 economic growth. During the entire Obama Presidency the United States government experienced an unprecedented low rate of growth since the recession of 2008. Historically go back to world war ii, we seen the economy grow at 3. 2 . Why should we settle for 1. 9 , we shouldnt. Her friends have become deficit hawks after seeing the debt double in the Obama Administration. Dont forget the supported learning the same Corporate Tax rates you after year and embraced other parts of the plan which we have incorporated. Thats why there attacks and screams are laughable. And frankly they insult the intelligence of americans who are trying to figure this out. Its hard to figure out whats happening when you have someone prime like chicken little that the sky is falling. Its hard for people to sort it out. As we work on a Conference Committee report to reconcile the differences, our focus will be on those hardworking families i mentioned earlier. People are moderate average income. We are going to make businesses more competitive globally because that will benefit the same families. So you can see while i was reluctant to come and trust these unbelievable claims, ive also learned that if you dont respond or counter falsehood with truth some people would leave the falsehood. I thought it was important to do so. Thats remain clear and get this work done. I yelled before. Hyannis consent to vacate the court call. A number of senators have inquired about the status of the tax legislation in particular the prospect of the real Conference Committee. Its clear republicans are talking among themselves