Thompson Opening Statement at Tax Subcommittee Hearing

(As prepared for delivery)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to all of our witnesses for being here. We appreciate you taking the time to join us.

And Mr. Chairman, I want to say at the start that I know we have some disagreements, but I’ve always appreciated the work we’ve done together – in fact, you and I have a number of bills together, which I will discuss a bit more in a moment, that I think are very relevant to today’s hearing.

Unfortunately, the majority has chosen to use this venue to highlight some of the most extreme and unpopular tax and economic proposals you can find.

Chief among them is the FAIR Tax, legislation from the farthest right fringes of the Republican conference that would continue the long Republican tradition of cutting taxes for the wealthy instead of helping ordinary Americans.

Six years ago, Republicans on this committee passed a multitrillion dollar tax bill that is projected to add over $2 trillion to our deficit.

That bill slashed taxes for corporations, gave tax cuts to business owners earning over $1 million, and made it easier for high-income families to avoid paying taxes on their wealth.

And the $2 trillion price tag I mentioned doesn’t account for any extension of that Republican bill, which I somehow suspect my colleagues in the majority will push for.

The FAIR Tax is more of the same. It represents a massive tax cut for the wealthy, a thirty percent increase in the price of nearly everything, plummeting federal revenues and trillions more in deficits, all while once again making it easier for folks to avoid paying their fair share in taxes.

I’ve said this before and I will say it again – the majority seems to think “programs for the needy” count as government spending but “tax cuts for the rich” do not. That is absurd and it always has been.

Meanwhile, my Democratic colleagues and I have put forth numerous proposals – many of them bipartisan! – to invest in those who truly need the help: American families trying to get ahead.

Democrats on this committee expanded the Child Tax Credit during the COVID pandemic. It cut child poverty in half. We should revive that.

Democrats have proposals to lower the cost of caregiving, boost union workers, reduce the offshoring of American jobs, and invest in American renewable energy. We should advance those.

I know there is bipartisan interest in addressing tax issues facing the business community, especially as regards research and development.

And, Mr. Chairman, you and I have several bills together which I think we agree would have a profound and positive impact on our economy including our bill providing blind and vision-impaired individuals with the assistance they need to join the workforce and our bill injecting billions of dollars into brain and mental health research

It is no hyperbole to say that addressing our mental health crisis is perhaps the single best thing we could do to boost our economy for everyone. I hope we can continue finding ways to work together where possible.

Thank you, and I yield back.