David Perdue: “I wish to thank my colleague from Colorado. I will not tell him what I was doing in 1986, the last time we adjusted the…”

“I wish to thank my colleague from Colorado. I will not tell him what I was doing in 1986, the last time we adjusted the tax rate, but I just want to remind our colleagues today that we are in a moment of crisis in the United States. Today we have a national debt crisis. I have been to this floor many times, and many of my colleagues have as well, to talk about this debt crisis. It affects our ability to do the things that we know are right to do--to deal with the victims of hurricanes, with national security, and with our healthcare situation. Folks, we are losing the right to do the right thing. To solve this national debt crisis, we have to do many things. But one of the ways we can deal with this debt crisis--and one of the first things we have to do--is to grow our economy. The way to grow the economy is to roll back regulations, unleash our energy potential, and, yes, finally, once and for all, fix this archaic tax system, which keeps us from being competitive with the rest of the world. In 1986, we had the third lowest corporate tax rate in history, in the world, and over the next 15 years we benefited from that. But at the same time, the more our economy grew, the lower the tax rates were taken in the rest of the world. Today, American businesses are taxed at one of the highest rates in the developed world: 35 percent. Meanwhile, for example, Japan's statutory corporate rate is just 23 percent; Germany is at 16 percent; Mexico is at 30 percent; the U.K.…”