On the recordNovember 13, 2017
It is with great honor that I rise today to co-anchor this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour. I also want to take the time to acknowledge our chair, the Honorable Cedric Richmond from the State of Louisiana. For the next hour, we have a chance to speak directly to the American people on issues that are important to the Congressional Black Caucus. The issue right now that seems to be of the most importance to the Congressional Black Caucus and the constituents that we represent, and the American public, for that matter, is tax reform, and the plan that is being considered that the Speaker has indicated that he would like for us to vote on this week. We have a few Members here who would like to take the time to also express their interest in this. This is a very big deal, obviously. We don't do tax reform that often. The last time we did tax reform was in the early 1980s, and that was, obviously, something that was very bipartisan. This experience has not been bipartisan whatsoever, and we are concerned also about the effect that it is going to have on our constituencies. Mr. Speaker, I am going to open it up for Members to talk about whatever it is that they would like to, but I did want to let you know that the main topic was going to be tax reform. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Payne for his participation again and for always participating in the CBC Special Order hours. We know that these are very important.…
