You can take your seats. We want to take advantage ofg to the opportunity to give the secretary some time for the give and take and the dialog that we are going to embrace here for the next couple ofhink hours. I think we can proceed on the first issue so that we can get so, firs to the chairman, it is of no controversy. Mor so, first, let me call the waysa and Means Committee to order, before turning to our hearing thise morning, the committees aint budget for fiscal year 1974. 2021 in accordance with the congressional budget act, of 1974 in house rules for f, you will find a copy of the letter ininbr front of them, you will receiveubmit it in advance of todays notice the. Thank you for working with me on refl able to wholcan submit a conse document that reflects the a priorities of the ways and n means community. They will consider as open for amendment r at any point, and if there are no amendments i will now recognize mr. Thompson for the purpose of offering a motion. Imat i move that the Committee Report the annual budget views and estimates letter for 2021 for the committee on budget. All those in favor say aye . All oppose, no. Itit isho unopposed. Now, without objection the staff are authorized to make technical changes and with that the Committee Markup is adjourned. It should be that easy for you, miss secretary. Now i want to call to order pursuant that hearing to the proposed fiscal year 2021 with stephen mnuchin. Mister secretary, welcome and thank you for today, we aree here to examine thefits preside an 2021 budget, the proposal that doubles down on republican policy of expanding benefits at the expense of the middle taxes class. The year after the republican tax law went into effect, we sawic tethe sharpest drop in 50e years, and the amountss of incoe taxes corporations pay. Gres on top of the predicted losses, Congressional Budget Office reports the treasury businessen. With will cost them to miss out on the hundred and ten and the tax law that atwas passed here. December 2017, did very little to help middle class americans,n they short have not seen the benefits they are expecting. We they have driven up limited wage growth thatse t we had witnessed,d,to president claime that in 2017 his tax law wouldli cost the economyze to grow by as much ashe 6 . Cono that growth never materialized, and insteadadro grows to barely abovehad the growth of the w suggested, the same rate wero have seen the taxub lecuts. Or izsugar high and the tax cuts wrote off, especially with the spread of coronavirus, shaking world markets. Hopand this moment of crisis ni sound leadership andy. Reassurance from the president , we hope that he will inspire confidence and the governments ability to address this health emergency. This coverage tha the career and the experts to be heard. And now decrease with comprehensive Health Care Coverage that presented in the 2017 health law that was damaging to the Affordable Care act. This development is dangerous as the administration promotes drunk insurance plans that lackh alsorance benefits likeke coverage for health care services, to treat coronavirus. We meet today today not in the midst of a health crisis, but also during tax filing season. E lower income receive less nks income income than their peers. Billions had to wait and manyta mayx still be waiting on theunds refunds for the tax credit, and and the refund will Child Tax Credit. These tax fillers deserve to perceived their refundsg. La immediately after february 15th, and should not face weeks of irsss t delays in processing. Ed last, year the ways and means democrats sought to bring more fairness to the code, and voted toam expand these important tax credits as partrt of my and t legislation. The hes economic mobility act. Stiand pleased to see there is slight increase in irs funding the president budget, but the request falls lower the m agency received a decade ago. It ewe need to provide the irs h thepons resources required to support its work, and we must ensure that it a executes the work hig fairly and responsibly. Low incomes comp tax file or shd not be audited and it is proportionally right because the returns are less complicated. Thethat irs needs to go after tx frauds at every income level. I will note that i was pleased to see that you appointed a new national tax player advocate,pas we expect forward to looking forward as they carry american k tax file or during the season and during them year. There is much work for us to do and i will say that before the administration entertainscrn any proposals for temporary tax cuts,licans the most important y that we can proceed and i think all democrats and many republicans feel the same way,ar four to developuc a stimulus package the sound a switch that is clearly to proceed with aout. Major Infrastructure Initiative that the president hase the repeatedly promised that you and i have had very meaningfulr nu conversations about. With that, i will be recognized for join the Ranking Member acting. At mr. S nunes. Thankkpr you. G iho thank you mister secretaryne for joining us here today. E theco democrats running forande president this year are spreading horrorr stories about the current state of the american economy. Senator Bernie Sanders stated that the average American Worker is not making a nickel more, and inflation accountedoud dollars then four years ago. Biden has reported that the wealthy are thet a only ones do well, and former south bend mayor, acts amr. Buttigieg has d that a lotmpti of the growth ist getting to most of us. Workshy of the facts, democratse attempting toongr convince that they are not working. But under the leadership of tra, republicans in congress who have adopted specific policies lower taxes, growth fo modernize trade, balanced regulationon that has sparked pt historic Economic Growth,io to including real wage growth for th brackets. Thesee much better position to face global headwinds. Thater is why oured economy aloe strong strongly, well other co. Groups falter and that is whyto we will be able toda sustain the challengeses posed by the novelb coronavirus. While the democrats will say d our phonesef are not working, workers are seeing past the n defeatist rhetoric, today, workers enjoy one of the economies in our nations history. Ourrepublican tax reform has changed the trajectory of our economy. Is evidenced in a recent baseline report from the proCongressional Budget Office that says the economy is growing, creating jobs, and generating all times high and regimen. Economic growth has been expectations made by theseuldnk nonpartisan scorekeepers two years in a row. Butbers this is where i agree wh my democratic colleagues, we should not just look at the top line numbers, because what is happening at the microeconomic level is even more historic. Income inequality has declinedti in allon metrics, for the first time in decades, according to the bureau of labor statistics Current Population survey. Throughout 2019, wages grew byl th 5. 2 for low income workers, increase this means on ercentile, while wages for those at the top sawdn a modest increase of 1. 9 . This means, on average, factory workers voting today, seeing california saw a 3500 dollarswtr more in their paychecks last bachel year. Egrenon supervisory workers ared seeing higher wage growth in theirrmost managers. And those with just a bouncer degree the are seeing faster wa growth than those with advancedm degrees. Most importantly, the poor areeo gaining the most. According to the White House Council of economic advisers well for the at tbottom 50 of workerss is up nearly 47 , while those at the top it is up only 13 . Thisl, wage growth points to wha Consumer Confidence is so high. Day overall, economic confident trak clocked by americans is at a 20 year peek, gallup found that really in the years that gallupt has tracked public ratings of economy, since the early 1990s, have americans at higher confidence in the economy than they do now, the strength of the u. S. Economy depends on the foundation of a strong working class, and under the Trump Administration workers are reaping the benefits of policies that put their needs first. Hat republicans and you mister secretary continue to elevate s policies that will continue this historic street. A new north american trade pact was just signed into law, an o issue trail between us and china, we ovthe worlds second largest economy was recently implemented and we overhauled our nations retirement system to make it easier for families to save for the future while blood where l businesses to offer retirement plans. This growth can continue, andoo whiled Congressional Democrats th brewed with their obsessionican. With ousting President Trump, its good to see you are staying focused on the big things that matter the most thea American People. Thell naysayers can continue to we mustality with the incredible success of this economy is actually beyondrovin dispute. The path forward is clear, we must extend and deepen the tax cuts, continue improving our trade relationship to benefitst american. Workers, and expandnd efforts to help main streeton higher, expand and h invest. Api look forward to a productive with tha discussion today, on how we can yi best make that happen. With that, thank you chairman and i yield backd your. Thank you mr. Nunez. We appreciate your presence here entitoday, we have received your written testimony and we will be part suof the officialo record in its entirety. Uchihank you very much. Chairman neal, acting Ranking Member nunes, and members the start by summarizing remarks in five minutes. Thank you very much, actinger acting member nunes, im pleased to be with you today to discuss the president s 2021 budget and the Treasury Departments Top Priorities. Cts i first want to note the supply administration is closely monitoring the coronavirus and coordinating w Public Health, as well asit any effects on supply chains, markets and the broader economy. Theorni administration is coordinating with International Organizations and counterparts in other countries, this a town hall with centralrk Bank Governors to do everythingency to limit the sprd of the virus and the harm it causes. We stand ready to work closely on the emergency president trus funding package, and any other. Related issues. Turning to our broader priorities, im pleased to report that President Trumps economic agenda is working. Gtax cuts, regulatory relief and better trade deals are improving the lives of labor for hardworking americans, rates amg unemployment remains the historically low, with 3. 6 , 83, generates labor forceye participation,ar rates amongecot primates adult reach 83. 1 , and 11 your high. Americas economic strength is a bright spot in the world as nations experience headwinds. The president growth 2021 budgetr the Treasury Department makes m clear that we continue to prioritize we Economic Growth s well as our Critical Role innclg National Security matters. A particular matters we are requesting 12 billion dollars for the irs. Thisms includes funding to implement the Taxpayer First act and the third year of integrated Business Systems modernization plan. We will continue to bring theo n irs into the 21st century by updating systems, using better analytics and otherimes technologies. We aalso remain focused on improving Customer Service for taxpayers, by reducing call and wait times and enhancing thed t irs Online Service capabilities. I am pleased to be here with you today, thank you very much and i look forward to answering your questions. Thank youur w mister secretai without objection, each memberbe will be recognized for four minutes to question our witness today so that we may ensure that all members of thecomm communityit has an opportunity o at the inquire before the scheduleel c requires that he. Leave consistent with committeeg practice, i will recognize those numbers present at the mr. Secret time of the gavel coming down in order of seniority. Let me begin by recognizing messages o myself. Ronamister secretary, its fairo say that theth American People received mixed messages on theut coronavirus from the the administration. One key economic adviser saidth that theis m coronavirus is containedcontra and last friday president th called it a hoax. Wan this message is in complete unkt contrast to what the career be Public Health officials have said. Warning the public that there unknown and thatat americanhe daily lives may be disrupted. Empl the whistleblower still wag reported that the department of health and Human Services may have exposed certain employeessn and the public to coronavirus, a and we are still waiting for hhs to respond to our questions allegation, the current deployment of non Public Health staff. S we hope you and others on the Coronavirus Task force willdoing help us get to the bottom of these allegations. Can you share what theso thaT Administration is doing toican bring forward factual and non bias information so thattion congress and the American People can understand the potential risks and challenges, and what does the administration ask of congress to respond to this outbreak . Thank you. Om o situation rooined the task force, we have been meeting every day. Re we spent five hours in ther medl situation room on saturday. Let me say the i could not be m work of our the medical professionals across the administration. I have theo utmost of confidence that we have the best medical priori system in the world and we will do everything we can acting combat this. I assure you it is a majorhere r priority. We look emergency wifunding fromll b coa and im sure there will be bipartisan support on these issues. We hope there will be a to speedy response to the whistleblower complaint as well i would have no reason to expect otherwise and has been saidls on the testing we arere aware that there havepr been no issues tothe those medical pret professionals, which is our utmost priority. The president chief of staff said that the president is considering another round of reduction in Corporate Tax rates after the 2017 law already cut it to 21 lower than ever contemplated based one stock buybacks, do not stimulate the economy. Stimulate theon economy is a strong infrastructure that you and icos have had several meaningful conversations on. We have presented on our side a bold infrastructure package and the committee has had two hearings on this topic, we have tried to Work Together successfully after passing u. S. Ncaa, on a bipartisan manner, and i hope that we will continue to Work Together on this package this year. Uld were hoping that the president s leadership asin i finding appropriate offsets will help us with thatchairman, endeavor. Can you give us an update on the administrations thinking as it relates to infrastructure . Mister chairman, thank youo f again and u i have very muchyoue appreciated the multipleis. Meetings andyo a telephone calls that the two of us have had. We look forward to working with you and the community on this. This is a priority of the president and i appreciate your comments earlier, particular only if there is a need to stimulate the economy as a result of the coronavirus, infrastructurel is a priority for the president. I also want to ask you,on because ive been following thei discussion that ison o related o yo Service Taxes and your prettn negotiations at oecd on taxationsly additional economi. You know that last week i objected pretty strenuously tomi the french president s decision to go on a loan and i would likewe to get some idea of what you think thatsue Congress Might be on this issue toto make sure l these proposals are taken into consideration, american concerns about digital. Taxes. Assureter chairman, i can you that there may be all other areas where there is not d bipartisanig support. This is ann absolute bipartisan support. S weat oppose Digital Service tax, weve been working on theseo issues at theu. Oecd to see if e canside come up with a proposal acceptable to, us congress and to u. S. Businesses. The president has d been involved in conversations with president others to delayrticipate in implementation and collection of these taxes. P la there are about 10 million participate in multi Employer Pension Plans, at about 1. 3 million of them are on planes that are running out of money. This is a topic that you and i have discussed before. Working people need our helpacts and they need a fast. And i believe that the last mane standing rule is being severelyn introduced in n as we meet this morning. To address this crisis, thewevt house passed the lewis act on a bipartisan basis, introduced in the senate with a bipartisanoriy cosponsors. Weve talked about the urgencyi. Of multi Employer Pension Plan crisis,king and then addressing secretary mn this crisis the priority must remain, and if so, wha