Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon because of the reports that the House and Senate conference committees on the tax plan are nearing an agreement or may have reached an agreement. By all accounts, this would be shaping up to be one of the greatest legislative heists in American history. It is hard to imagine that you could take a tax code that is already stacked in favor of the very wealthy and very powerful special interests and actually make it worse, but that is exactly what we are hearing coming out of the conference committee. This is being worked on, essentially, by our Republican House colleagues and our Republican Senate colleagues. The actual conference committee is a bit of a charade because all the real discussions going on with respect to the tax bill are done behind closed doors, with lobbyists who are putting on the finishing touches. Here is what we are hearing from the reports that are coming out. We have already gotten details; some of the details had been released. From the Associate Press: ``Ample tax cuts for business, wealthy in new GOP tax accord.'' That is the headline about the tax plan that will be coming to this Senate soon. The reality is that any tax cuts for middle-class families are going to be a lot smaller than the tax cuts for the very wealthy, and they are only temporary.…
Share & report
More from Chris Van Hollen
Mr. President, I rise today in pay tribute to the memory of the late Kendolyn Louisa Hodges-Simons, a dedicated public servant and Marylander. Originally from Brooklyn, Mrs. Hodges-Simons was raised in a loving household by her parents and…
Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East... was selling out US national interests for the private gain of his family business.
Mr. President, the bill that Senate Republicans have brought to the floor today and which we will vote on sometime soon is the latest example of the ``great betrayal'' in action. On the campaign trail, Candidate Donald Trump promised that…
Mr. President, I want to start by thanking our colleagues from Virginia, starting with Senator Kaine, who brought us to this debate here on the Senate floor today on a very important question, and to my other colleague from across the…





