Floor remarks: LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Madam President, so far this year, 4.3 million Americans have filed to start their own business. That is a 13-percent increase over the same time last year. As these entrepreneurs get underway, their businesses will be able to take advantage of the pro-growth tax reform the Republicans enacted last year in the Working Families Tax Cuts. Because we delivered permanent tax reform, an entire generation of American small business owners, entrepreneurs, and innovators will have a better environment in which to pursue their American dream.

Small businesses are already benefiting from this landmark law. This year, 12 million small business owners saw a lower tax bill, a $7,000 average tax cut. That is the result of lower tax rates across the board, the permanent 199A small business deduction, immediate expensing for new equipment and for factory construction, and the permanent research and development tax credit. These tax policies are helping small businesses across an array of industries as well as family farms and ranches across America.

That is certainly true in my home State of South Dakota. An agricultural co-op in my State says the 199A small business deduction, which Republicans first implemented with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act back in 2017, has allowed them to pass $140 million in tax savings back to South Dakota farmers over the last decade.

A car dealership in Sioux Falls was able to put an addition on and hire 10 new employees thanks to the bonus depreciation provision.

Just to the west, a rancher in Montana said, thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts expensing provisions his ranch ``will be able to upgrade equipment, increasing [its] efficiency without being hit by a huge tax burden.''

U.S. Metal Powders--a manufacturer in Palmerton, PA--has broken ground on a new production line that will allow the business to double the size of its workforce.

A convenience store operator in Denver has said the Working Families Tax Cuts will help him double the size of one of his stores and reopen two others, allowing him to grow job opportunities at his company by 50 percent.

They are not the only ones. Businesses across the country have been able to make investments in new equipment, raise their employees' pay, and create jobs because of the tax policy in Republicans' landmark bill. One thing that business owners invariably bring up when they talk about the Working Families Tax Cuts is what it does for their employees.

They talk about how they have been able to increase pay--not to mention the fact that more of that pay stays in their employees' pockets.

The Working Families Tax Cuts was responsible for no tax on tips and overtime, which allows hard-working people to keep more of their hard- earned money.

And then there are the benefits employers have been able to offer because of this legislation. A business owner in Chicago has made long- term investments in paid maternity leave and a 401(k) matching program.

Another company in Missouri is giving its employees a profit-sharing bonus. A number of employers are pledging to invest in the Trump Accounts that their employees have been able to set up for their children. And provisions in this legislation support employer efforts to offer childcare and help repay their employees' student loans.

I said that the Working Families Tax Cuts provides tax relief that will help small businesses and family farms and ranches for years to come. And on that point, perhaps no policy is as significant as the death tax relief we provided in this bill.

For a lot of family businesses, especially ag families, the death tax has cast a dark shadow over their dream. It is a cause for anxiety, especially among farmers and ranchers, businesses that might look well- off on paper but are actually cash poor.

Their wealth is tied up in land, tractors, combines, and livestock. But because that doesn't matter when it comes to the death tax, many families have had to sell off all or part of their operation just to pay the tax bill when a family member dies.

Eliminating this fundamentally unfair tax has long been a priority of mine, and I am proud that the Working Families Tax Cuts permanently raised the exemption threshold on the death tax, which means that a lot more families will be protected from losing their livelihood when they lose a loved one.

This was an important priority for Republicans last year, and it is encouraging to see farmers and ranchers breathing a sigh of relief with the burden of this tax off of their shoulders.

One farmer in Iowa said:

One of my goals when I started farming was to be able to pass this farm on to the next generation, and I'm doing that. I feel very good about that.

A rancher in Montana said:

Without the estate tax reforms . . . ranches like ours would have likely had to decide whether to sell off cattle or land just to cover the tax bill when it was time to pass it on. Now we have a fair shot at keeping the whole ranch together for the next generation.

Thanks to this bill, family farms and ranches and family businesses have a fair shot at staying in the family for generations to come. These are just some of the results of the Working Families Tax Cuts, and I can't overstate how significant this bill is.

The owners of a small business in Arizona wrote in their local paper last year that if Congress had not passed the Working Families Tax Cuts, they ``would have had to raise prices and cut costs, and over time, the pressure would have only increased.''

We rescinded a number of Biden-era regulations that would have reduced choice and raised prices for Americans. We passed a housing bill that eliminated a lot of redtape that has driven up the cost of home ownership and implemented new measures to drive down prices at the pharmacy counter.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.

The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.