On the recordDecember 20, 2017
Madam President, last night--I guess, actually, early this morning--was a pretty historic time for us. Our final vote to approve the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was a historic moment for America, and it was clearly a historic moment for my State of Alaska. For the first time in 31 years, since President Reagan was in office, we passed tax reform that will make our Tax Code work better for American families and businesses. After 37 long years--yesterday, I said it was 38. I stand corrected. It was 37 years. That is a long time that we have been working to advance the opportunity to open a small portion of the non-wilderness 1002 area in northeast Alaska, up in our North Slope, to responsible energy development. Many in our State believed this would happen in the early 1980s after Congress specifically set aside the 1002 area for exploration--and it is something we have been fighting for ever since. It is a long time to be working on an issue. It has been decades and, in many instances, generations. Through this bill, we voted to let Americans keep more of their hard- earned dollars. We voted to make our businesses more competitive on a global scale. We voted to strengthen our Nation's energy security. And we voted to create new jobs, new wealth, and new prosperity for a generation to come. One thing we know for sure is that legislation like this doesn't happen by accident. It doesn't happen quickly or with the sleight of hand. It happens with a considerable amount of work.…
Source
govinfo.gov




