On the recordDecember 20, 2017
I am prepared to close on this side, and I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, so in 1 month we have taken the entire revenue system of the United States without hearing from one expert witness, without having had one public hearing, without using any precedent, and we changed the entire tax system of the country, tilting it clearly to the people at the very top. {time} 1230 When they say, as they certainly will, ``We have been doing hearings for 5 years,'' we never had one hearing on this legislation. Not one. We did not seek testimony from one witness in the conference committee. We got to offer opening statements and no amendments. There was no chance for any input on our side. More than anything else, this is a missed opportunity. This was a missed chance to take a system that we all know to have fallen into competitive failure across the globe. But instead, they decided to go it alone. So here is the way you want to think of this, for those of you who are following this debate: They are borrowing $2.3 trillion for the purpose of cutting the top tax bracket from 39.6 percent to 37 percent and calling that middle class tax relief; They are doubling the exemption on the estate tax to $22 million and calling that middle class tax relief; They are eliminating the alternative minimum tax for people at the very top and calling it middle class tax relief.…
