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“Tax reform is working. It’s helping hard-working American families. It’s creating economic growth. It’s giving America the competitive edge that we deserve because of the work that we do.”

Click here  to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor on how tax reform is working by putting American workers and American businesses first.

Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:

“We have finally ended this government shutdown that was produced and directed by Democrats in the Senate.

“The reason the Democrats decided to take this extreme step and shut down the government was because of the narrow issue of illegal immigration.

“Shut down services for citizens of the United States to provide services for people who are not citizens of the United States.

“The Democrats have admitted it was all about this issue of illegal immigration.

“There may have been another reason as well that the Democrats wanted to shut down the government.

“That was so that they could change the subject being debated by people, talked about by friends, noticed by Americans, and making the headlines.

“That subject was the confidence and optimism in the American economy by workers, by people who are paying taxes, by people who realize Republican tax relief legislation is going to help improve their lives personally.

“That scares a lot of Democrats –this success of the Republican tax relief bill scares them because every one of them voted against it.

“Democrats voted against it –the tax cuts that would actually create jobs all across the country.

“They voted against the tax relief that’s going to allow money to be brought back to America so that investments are made in America.

“It was so interesting to listen to what Nancy Pelosi referred to what we were doing here in the Senate and in the House as ‘Armageddon.’

“She said it was the end of the world.

“It turns out that people who work at more than 200 companies in this country have already gotten a raise or some kind of cash benefit or an additional contribution to their retirement because of the tax law.

“Millions of Americans are going to start to see more take home pay in their paychecks just next month.

“That’s because of this tax relief law that the Democrats opposed.

“We’re seeing it not just with American families –we’re seeing it with investments coming in from abroad.

“This law has totally changed how we tax the money that companies earn who sell things to people overseas.

“It used to be that U.S. companies made money somewhere else, they paid taxes there.

“And if the company wanted to bring it back home, they had to pay taxes again –a double taxation.

“Very few countries do that, but the United States was one of them.

“So businesses had to make a decision. It could bring money back home –pay taxes a second time or keep the money overseas, invest it there, and not having to pay that second tax.

“A lot of companies decided it was just too much of a penalty to bring that money back home and invest it in the American economy.

“There’s something like $2.8 trillion that American businesses had been holding in other countries.

“We actually had a tax code that worked to the advantage of foreign countries not to the advantage of the United States.

“It was locking this money out, keeping it overseas, keeping it from helping American workers here at home.

“That’s a very backward way from how the tax code should work, but we changed the law when Republicans voted to change the tax law, give tax payers relief.

“Now the money gets taxed once, not twice.

“That means businesses no longer have this warped incentive to keep their money out of the United States. It’s good for America.

“It gets rid of this crazy tax code that we had, giving other countries an advantage. The second thing this tax relief law has done was actually cut taxes.

“When American businesses had to pay this second tax, the rates were very high. It was adding insult to injury.

“Other countries have actually been cutting taxes for years, but not the United States.

“Here at home, we have one of the highest, most punitive taxes in the world.

“There wasn’t a major country in the world where businesses paid as high of tax as we did in the United States.

“Washington was taxing companies about 35 percent if they tried to bring home some of the profits from overseas.

“Because of the tax law that we passed and President Trump has signed, this rate has now dropped to 21 percent. From 35 to 21 percent.

“Now our tax rates are actually below the average of other countries around the world.

“That puts American businesses at a significantly stronger position to compete around the world. It puts us at a competitive advantage.

“We got rid of the double taxation system, and we cut tax rates significantly as well.

“When you put these two things together, cutting the rates, making it easier to bring money back to the United States and eliminating this double taxation, it is a big help to American workers, to the men and women who work here in America, as well as the businesses who employ those people.

“Businesses are much more likely now to invest in America – put their money back home in American workers and the American economy. We’re seeing it already.

“The tech company Apple recently announced that it was increasing investment in its U.S. operations.

“The total contribution to the American economy over the next five years will be $350 billion. They’re planning to bring home as much as $250 billion in money that right now is parked overseas.

“They’ve been letting that money sit overseas because of this system that lock the money out. But now with the new tax law, it’s going to be much easier to bring that money home, invest it in America.

“It’s not just Apple. We’re seeing it with Fiat, with Chrysler, with Boeing, AT&T, with others.

“They’re increasing investment in the United States and in the workers here at home – and it’s all because of the tax law Republicans voted for and every one of the Democrats voted against.

“There’s been so much economic activity after this has changed that other countries are beginning to become nervous.

“Other countries used to know that they had the upper hand over the United States when it came to investments in the economy.

“These countries knew that the United States tax code was working in their favor. Not anymore.

“Countries like China, the United Kingdom, and Japan are considering changing their own taxes in response to what we have done.

“In Australia, they expect the loss of a significant amount of activity and growth to the United States because of the new tax law.

“Other countries are running scared – because President Trump and Republicans in Congress are doing exactly what we promised the American people that we would do.

“We’re putting American workers first.

“Tax reform is working. It’s helping hard-working American families. It’s creating economic growth. It’s giving America the competitive edge that we deserve because of the work that we do. And we haven’t had it in a long, long period of time.

“So the Democrats seem to be trying to change the subject by putting up a smokescreen.

“Shutting down the government to avoid, and try to deflect from the success that the Republicans have allowed the American people to recognize themselves, because the tax law has changed. And the American people will benefit from it for years to come.

“It’s time for the Democrats to give up the games, come to the table, join Republicans in doing what we know we need to do which is put the American workers first.

“It’s time for the Democrats to join the Republicans and work on behalf all of the American people who have sent all of us here in the first place. And we’re seeing it now with the tax law, the tax relief, the tax cuts that are benefiting people all across this country.”

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