On the recordFebruary 13, 2015
I thank the gentleman from New England and oppose his motion. I don't want to deflate anybody's honor today. Let me just clarify what I said about Mr. Camp and his draft. What I said is--because the gentleman is right. He was fully engaged in a very comprehensive way, as were others on the committee with Chairman Camp and me and others. But Mr. Camp had one partner in the Senate that he was working with, a very important one; unfortunately, got sent to China, and at that point all opportunities with the other very important body kind of evaporated. And remember, 4 years-- actually, his start was when he was actually ranking member, he started putting together a comprehensive draft. I think that is important to note. I really appreciate the gentleman's attempt today because, remember, last year, last summer, the gentleman correctly observed that this was a waste of time because we are just going to do this retroactively at the end of the year. We could have broken that cycle last year. It took Chairman Camp and Majority Leader Reid in December to almost do it. They almost got there. They almost broke the cycle. We can still break that cycle. We can still stop this vicious cycle of 1 year here, 2 years there, retroactive here, and provide certainty and get to the business of comprehensive tax reform. We can do all that, but we have to pass this bill first and make it permanent. I oppose the motion. This is simple: permanency versus 1 year. Happy Valentine's Day.…
