WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) delivered the following opening statement at a Committee markup of legislation to modernize the taxation of digital assets, strengthen tax administration and combat identity theft and fraud, expand seniors’ access to lifesaving health care, crack down on forced labor in critical mineral supply chains, and deliver resources for hardworking mothers.
As prepared for delivery.
“Today’s markup builds on the Ways and Means Committee’s efforts to deliver concrete solutions for specific challenges facing the American people: certainty for a growing digital asset economy, sound tax administration, access to lifesaving health care, robust enforcement to block forced labor in our critical mineral supply chains, and vital resources for hardworking mothers.
“During my time as Chairman, I have made it a point to work with Members on both sides of the dais to develop thoughtful solutions and produce legislation that can move forward. This is a historic moment for this Committee: after more than a year of working together, Republican and Democrat Members have come together to establish the first-ever tax framework for digital assets.
“This wasn’t built overnight. Through months of careful study and input from Members, the Committee has worked to create the right rules of the road for an industry that has grown into a more than $2 trillion part of the global economy. The legislation before us today is the product of that work, bringing clarity, parity, and workability to digital asset taxation and helping keep the United States the crypto capital of the world, instead of pushing that innovation, and the jobs that come with it, offshore.
“I want to thank Representatives Yakym, Kustoff, Kelly, Bean, Arrington, and Carey for introducing the thoughtful legislation that the Committee reviewed this summer, most of which makes up the Committee’s final product we are considering today. Additionally, I want to thank Representative Horsford for his commitment to finding a bipartisan path forward on this issue. Each of these Members of our Committee has been a leading voice for modernizing how the tax code treats digital assets, and their efforts have helped build the case for getting this done.
“I want to thank Representative Miller for his leadership in this policy area and for working to address unfairness in the tax code, including through his FULL HOUSE Act. When the Senate amended the One Big Beautiful Bill, it reduced the deduction for gambling losses to 90 percent of winnings, leaving taxpayers owing taxes even when they broke even or lost money overall. This legislation includes Representative Miller’s fix that restores the full deduction for gambling losses, up to the amount of their winnings, so Americans are not taxed on money they didn’t actually keep.
“Next, we’ll look at Representative Estes’ bill which will protect taxpayers from falling victim to identity theft and fraud and help the IRS stop bad actors from taking advantage of unsuspecting taxpayers. Every year, criminals use stolen or compromised Electronic Filing Identification Numbers to file fraudulent returns in other people’s names, stealing those taxpayers’ returns and leaving them to fight the agency to get what they rightly deserve. This bill would require the Treasury to establish a real-time validation program confirming whether an EFIN is active and authorized before it can be used to file a return – giving tax preparers and taxpayers alike more confidence in who is filing on their behalf.
“Then, we will look at three health care bills.
“More than seven million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and for too many families, a diagnosis comes only after the disease has already taken a serious toll. New, cutting-edge blood tests will help detect Alzheimer’s years before symptoms appear, but Medicare rules stand between seniors and access to these tools. Our first health care bill today from Health Subcommittee Chairman Buchanan would modernize coverage for lifesaving screening tests and improve diagnostic tools used for an Alzheimer’s diagnosis during a Medicare Annual Wellness Visit. Through this legislation, Chairman Buchanan is continuing to prioritize policies that improve health outcomes for Americans, informed in part by his own experience caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s, and his legislation would help make sure seniors and their families can benefit from earlier detection.
“We will also consider legislation offered by Representatives McGovern and Malliotakis, which promotes the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda by creating access to healthy, medically necessary, home-delivered meals for Medicare seniors recovering from a hospital stay, improving health outcomes and saving taxpayer money. Representative Malliotakis has been a long-time champion of this idea and has helped build bipartisan support for this worthy cause.
“While over half of our nation’s seniors choose to receive comprehensive Medicare benefits through Medicare Advantage, it is clear the program is in need of oversight to make sure it continues to serve the best interest of America’s seniors and taxpayers. Many seniors choose Medicare Advantage due to its financial protections such as out-of-pocket maximums, premium-free offerings, and supplemental benefits such as hearing, dental, and vision coverage. But there is also no question this program is in dire need of reform. This Committee has led the way in holding insurers accountable for some of its abuses, and in fact this summer, we advanced legislation out of Committee to require insurers to disclose how much of seniors’ premiums go toward actual patient care instead of overhead and profit.
“With his Apples to Apples Act, Congressman Bean would take another step in trying to ensure policymakers have transparent data on the cost of both Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare so that as we consider and make reforms, we can make fully informed decisions about how much both programs cost our seniors and cost taxpayers, as well as about health outcomes for both programs.
“Then, we will go over a bill that protects American families from forced labor hidden deep in our supply chains. Legislation introduced by Representative Chris Smith helps our trade enforcement authorities prevent imports of cobalt and cobalt-containing products that exploit child and forced labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s cobalt mines. More than half of the world’s cobalt reserves sit in the Congo. The overwhelming majority of their mines are controlled by companies from Communist China, and investigators report that many of these mines are hubs for illicit activities.
“And finally, we will turn to a bill from Representative Fischbach that helps pregnant women and new mothers navigate a confusing system of resources and support services in their own communities. The Biden Administration regrettably made this problem worse by creating a state-by-state abortion locator, rather than offering resources for women who choose life and are seeking support during their pregnancies and in motherhood.
“I want to thank our Members on both sides of the aisle for the time and effort they have put into these bills. I look forward to building on that work as we move these policies forward.”