Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for the subcommittee’s first hearing of the 113th Congress.  I commend Chairman Camp for his continued efforts to overhaul the tax code and I look forward to working with him to enact comprehensive tax reform.

Today we examine the financial products discussion draft released by Chairman Camp and the Ways & Means Committee in January.  The financial products discussion draft is a starting point for how the Committee can modernize the taxation of financial products as part of comprehensive tax reform.  Simplifying the taxation of financial products is long overdue.  However, it should only be done in the context of broader legislation that, amongst other things, lowers statutory tax rates.  Indeed, these changes would have a different impact on financial products if the draft was enacted as a one-off revenue raiser or tax increase – something that neither Chairman Camp nor I would support.

The changes proposed in the discussion draft have received support from both sides of the aisle.  I’m looking forward to a great bipartisan discussion today.  I thank our witnesses for being here and I now yield to Ranking Member Neal for his opening statement.

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