Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to express support for the Republican leader's legislation on a critical issue that addresses the burdensome cost of compliance with the Tax Code. Senator McConnell's bill is modeled after bipartisan legislation Senator Brown and I introduced earlier this year which would repeal the 3 percent withholding on government contractors that was enacted in 2005 and which mandates that Federal, State, and local governments withhold 3 percent of their payments to private contractors, including Medicare provider payments, farm payments, defense contracts and certain grants. I am deeply disappointed by the fact that the bill received 57 votes on the floor on October 20 but failed to pass the 60-vote threshold. The onerous withholding mandate on government contracts therefore remains before us and must be repealed. The House of Representatives has spoken quite clearly by passing repeal legislation last week by a vote of 405-16 and it is time for the Senate to do the same! This issue originated as a result of very legitimate efforts to address the tax gap--the difference between what is owed in taxes and the amount that the IRS is able to collect. I believe everyone agrees that Americans should pay their taxes in full and none of us supports tax cheats, yet the issue that Senator McConnell's legislation addresses arises from the means of mandating compliance with the Tax Code, the cost of that compliance compared to the revenue collected, and impact on hiring.…”