Tax Reform

Floor Speech

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Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Speaker, what a great opportunity to really stand up here and smile and talk to the American public with the words of constituents from Michigan's First District, because these are not my words. These are their words over the last 2\1/2\ months or so since we passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

You know, in November 2016, the great people of Michigan's First District sent me to Washington with a direct, yet simple, mandate: Get Washington, D.C., out of our pockets and off our backs. For a marine, that is a pretty simple mission-oriented instruction.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was the first major step to accomplishing that goal. Since we passed tax reform, I have travelled throughout many of the First District's 32 counties talking with constituents, business owners, and hearing their individual stories. Farmers, businesses, both large and small, and families are already seeing the benefits that tax reform brings, and we are just getting started.

Many of these small companies said: Well, I don't know yet, but I have got to meet with my accountant around the middle of April, and then we will really see.

But now they are starting to see wage increases and bonuses, and business expansions are all beginning to roll in and take effect, and it is long overdue in our neck of the woods. And when I say, ``our neck of the woods,'' that is not a figurative statement. That is a literal statement.

You know, many families in our district live paycheck to paycheck, and even a small crisis could send them into a tailspin. An extra $100 or $150 in a paycheck in my district is not crumbs. It is not Armageddon. It is a big plus. It gives that family flexibility to live their life and to raise their kids and be a proud community--wage- earning members of that community.

That $1,000 a year may mean a new set of snow tires. And by the way, we only have, roughly, a little over 2 weeks of winter left, but we use our snow tires up there through about mid-May. That is just the way it works.

That money might go for the kids to play on a sports team. Hockey is not a cheap sport to put your son or daughter in. Or it could be, possibly, just saving up in that family rainy day fund for an emergency.

We hear of businesses from Boyne City to Marquette expanding, growing their staff, raising wages, all a result of a fairer and simpler Tax Code.

You know, when I talk to some folks, they say: You know what, I don't mind working. I am proud to work. The dignity of work is what makes me strong as an individual, what makes me strong as a mother or a father.

They just think, in some ways, it is just not fair if you don't earn your wage. So there is a certain sense of pride that goes along with that.

We all know that if you are looking for thanks, running for office probably isn't the field of work you should get into. Yet everywhere I go in the district these last couple of months, constituents have been coming up to me saying: Thank you.

They don't know who I am. We get to talking, and they say: You are the guy on TV. Yeah. Well, thank you for what you did. Thank you for passing tax reform.

Just a few weeks ago, I was at the Home Depot in Petoskey, and a gentleman who was working there pulled me aside and thanked me for getting tax reform done. That allowed him to keep more of his check plus a sizable bonus that was paid by Home Depot.

In the Upper Peninsula, U.S. Special Delivery gave all 200 employees $1,000 bonuses after tax reform passed because of the money that they will save as a company on their taxes this year.

A couple of weeks back, when I was in Traverse City, Traverse City State Bank announced that they are giving out new bonuses.

So many more businesses in the First District are raising wages, adding workers, giving bonuses, and expanding.

We know that this is just the beginning, and Americans can expect much more in the days ahead because of the energy that we have put into the growth of our American economy.

Mr. Speaker, this confirms the very core beliefs that I have and conservatives all throughout the country believe in. If we get the Federal Government off our back, where it is not supposed to be, and out of our pockets, we will unleash unprecedented economic potential for the citizens of our great country.

I would just close with one note, and that is I am Scandinavian, and there is a wonderful delicacy that you can only afford at the holidays, and I think more people are able to afford it now, and it is called a crumb cake, and it is great.

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