Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this should be an easy one. It is simply an amendment that says that here in the Senate we should have better information to be able to legislate better. By the way, it is information that the House of Representatives already has. Surely we would want to have the same information in the Senate that the House of Representatives as they pursue tax reform. This says the Congressional Budget Office should provide the Joint Tax Committee macroeconomic analysis of tax reform. It only applies to tax bills over a certain amount, $5 billion a year. I worked with the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office to ensure this would not require more work because the analysis is already done, but it is not provided to us. Under a 2003 rule in the House, it is provided to the Ways and Means Committee. It is required to be provided but not to us. We heard a lot of discussion over the last several days about the need for tax reform--Democrats and Republicans agree on that--and we agree it ought to be progrowth. The President called for it. This would enable us to legislate more wisely. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.”