On Wednesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan, President Donald Trump’s administration, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee released the “framework” of the tax reform proposal. Ryan appeared with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, and members of the committees to present the framework. These are Ryan’s remarks as prepared.
This is a historic day. This is a day that is a long time in coming. In fact, it was on this day, under this Dome, in 1986 that Congress took the final vote on the last overhaul of our tax code. That long. After the vote, President Reagan said Americans would ‘finally have a tax code they can be proud of.’
It was true then, but things look very, very different today, don’t they? Instead of a source of pride, our tax code has become a constant source of frustration. It’s too big. It’s too complicated. It’s too expensive.
Today we are taking the next step to liberate Americans from our broken tax code. This unified framework delivers a new tax code that is simple, that is fair, that is pro-growth, and pro-family:
- Cutting taxes on hardworking Americans so you can keep more of your own hard-earned paycheck.
- Simplifying the tax code so that you can file your taxes on a form the size of a postcard.
- Reforming our tax system so that businesses—particularly small businesses—can gain a competitive edge on our foreign competitors.
- And taking bold steps to bring jobs and profits from overseas back home to the United States of America.
This is vital to America’s future. And it is urgent. We want the American people to wake up in the new year with a new system. So our tax writers on the House Ways and Means Committee will work with the members of Senate Finance to turn this framework into legislation.
I want to thank our counterparts in the Senate, and in the administration. And I want to especially thank President Trump for his leadership. To him, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that is all about more jobs, fairer taxes, and bigger paychecks for American families.
For all of us, this is a now or never moment. The choice before us is really clear.
We can succumb to the talking heads on TV and the special interests who want to maintain the status quo. Or we can work together to seize this moment and do what the American people sent us here to do.
We can rise to the occasion and write our own future. We can finally get this done for more jobs, for higher wages, for bigger paychecks, for a stronger economy, for our workers, for our children, and for the more prosperous—and the more confident—America that we all deserve. Thank you.
