Big, Beautiful Bill
Floor Speech
MR. MOORE of Utah.
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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be joined by my colleagues this evening to talk about our progress on the reconciliation bill, as well as the importance of supporting our Main Street businesses during National Small Business Week.
I understand some of my colleagues have commitments, and I want to be respectful of their time. So I will have them start us off before I provide some of my own comments.
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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Dakota for her remarks.
I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Stutzman).
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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana for his comments, and I appreciate his work. We share a lot of work together on the Budget Committee, and it has been a very active time.
Hageman). Her State, quite possibly, may be the second-best State out there in the West, second to Utah, of course. I think we have that mantle pretty well locked up, but there are some other good ones in the running.
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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Wyoming for her comments, and I appreciate her being a part of the Special Order this evening.
Our last colleague who is going to address us this evening is a new Member from the great State of Kansas.
He is a good friend.
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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, that is smart.
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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Schmidt), who had excellent points. We all talk about small business. We all use it as a line and a bullet point, and we all say that we support them, and then where does the actual policy come in?
Those are incredibly important points to highlight that they are the lifeblood. We have data that suggests that Utah, which has an incredible economy, strong work ethic, low unemployment, good volunteerism across the board, is ranked high in the economic indicators for the country, and we are heavily tilted toward small business out of Utah. There aren't an enormous amount of global headquarters for big, multinational firms. It is a ton of small businesses. I thank the gentleman for highlighting that.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my other colleagues for being here to discuss the goings-on for this week. We have heard so much about the reconciliation process and the dangers of not getting this done. There is a real threat.
We are working under unique circumstances because there is a time limit set for the end of this year that, if we don't accomplish this piece of legislation, there is no other way to look at it except for the fact that taxes will increase on virtually every American family and business.
We desperately want to create good, strong, predictable tax policy so that our companies and our families can continue to thrive and continue to understand what their landscape is for them to compete and go and create more job growth and actually go and create more revenue for our Nation to become a wealthier nation. This is a priority for Republicans. It is a priority for House GOP leadership, the President, his administration, and we are neck deep in the process of getting this over the finish line.
This bill will deliver on our conservative agenda and make positive changes that we know that Americans want. From a more secure border to stronger domestic energy resources, to more efficient Federal programs, to a tax code that supports families and businesses, this is a once-in- a-generation moment, and I am grateful to be part of this effort on both the Committee on Ways and Means and the Budget Committee.
There is obviously a lot going into this and, on the Committee on Ways and Means, we are trying to find the sweet spot of many considerations at play. We need to ensure the provisions in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act aren't just extended but, where possible, made permanent.
If we don't act, we risk seeing critical policies roll back, such as the child tax credit, which goes back to just $1,000. It was $1,000 prior to 2017. Republicans doubled it. That reverts back to $1,000, and $1,000 in 2026, after the inflation that we have seen over the last 4 years in the previous administration, is a significantly different number than it would be from pre-2017.
While we can't solve the debt crisis with this bill alone, it will drive strong economic growth, bolster GDP--we know this because we have seen this--and it puts us in a better position to address our national deficits. This is probably the most substantive action that I have been a part of, and it has been an honor to have been right in the thick of it.
Over the last few weeks, several committees have passed bills aimed at saving hundreds of billions of dollars, and we are well on our way to making historic savings a reality. As we work through this, we are doing so with a clear focus on the needs of our economy, particularly on small businesses.
This week is Small Business Week, and I am recognizing the hard work of our small business owners as something that we can all support from both sides of the aisle. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, as I mentioned what it means to the State of Utah, and they are critical to every local community across this country.
In this role, I am grateful to get to know as many small business owners as possible and hear their concerns, understand their areas of growth, what their opportunities are, and, most importantly, what their challenges are.
Going back to the reconciliation package--and we are working on, particularly, the tax portion--we are looking to deliver positive results to our small businesses and craft policies that will allow them to thrive.
The 199A, small business, LLC, S corp, deduction from their qualified business expense, a 20 percent deduction, expires at the end of this year. That is a massive tax hike on small businesses, and this is oftentimes a category that gets overlooked because my colleagues talk about corporations and about high-net-worth individuals, but the small businesses are structured in a way that their ordinary income is taxed at what some of the highest income individuals of our society are taxed at.
These small businesses are taxed at a significantly high rate, oftentimes higher than other corporations. We need to make sure that 199A is extended and, if not just extended, made permanent. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made our small businesses more competitive, and we want to continue to pursue policies that provide regulatory relief, economic stability, and the ability to grow and create jobs.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues again for joining me tonight to talk about these important issues, and we will continue to dig into this in the weeks to come.
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