Orrin Hatch: “I rise to say a few words in support of amendment 156 offered by Senator Grassley and myself. This amendment would…”

“I rise to say a few words in support of amendment 156 offered by Senator Grassley and myself. This amendment would strike the tax reconciliation instructions from the budget and, instead, create a deficit neutral reserve fund for pro- growth, revenue-neutral tax reform. The American people have had it with our current tax code. It is too complex. It is overly burdensome. And, it is an impediment to economic growth and our global competitiveness. Members from both parties need to work together to reform our tax code to provide greater fairness and simplicity and to ensure that it encourages growth. In order to do that, we need to work at finding ways to broaden the tax base in order to lower the marginal tax rates. That is how we encourage economic growth. That is how we create jobs. For the first time in many years, there is bipartisan agreement in both the House and Senate on the need to move forward on tax reform. Unfortunately, rather than letting those efforts move forward, the budget before us today would hijack those efforts. Under this budget, the Finance Committee would be instructed to scour the tax code in search of nearly $1 trillion in new revenues in order to pay for new spending. It is bad enough that this budget would greatly increase our Nation's debt. And, it is bad enough that it doesn't balance at any point. But, to add massive tax increases on top of that is simply unconscionable.…”