On the recordDecember 19, 2017
I want to thank my colleague Ron Wyden for the excellent job he has done in leading the opposition to this bill. I am incredulous that someone on the other side of the aisle said that this will decrease the deficit. That is just amazing. The lack of factual fidelity for what is in the bill and what the other side is saying is unparalleled--unparalleled. I want to thank Senator Wyden for his valiant efforts in pointing that out. I want to thank Senator Sanders and Senator Cantwell as well, the ranking members of our committees, who worked so hard on this bill. In closing, very soon the Senate will vote for the final time on the Republican tax bill. When future generations look back at the short and messy history of the Republican tax bill, its most enduring lesson will be what it has taught us about how not to legislate. After only a few months of frantic, backroom negotiations by only one party, we are left with a product as sloppy and as partisan as the process used to draft it. Even today, three provisions of the bill were found to violate Senate rules. So now, all of a sudden, the House will have to vote again tomorrow. That is a perfect microcosm of the hasty and reckless process--can we have order? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will be in order.
