WASHINGTON, D.C. – Top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) blasted Democrats’ crippling $3.5 trillion tax hike and spending package during the full committee markup:

 

“President Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are ramming through trillions of wasteful spending and crippling tax hikes that will that will drive prices up even higher, kill millions of American jobs and drive them overseas, and usher in a new era of government dependency with the greatest expansion of the welfare state in our lifetimes.” 

 

CLICK HERE to watch the markup.

 

KEY BACKGROUND:

 

• Both the left-leaning Tax Policy Center and the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) agree working families will see their taxes go up.
• According to the Tax Policy Center, President Biden’s tax plan will raise taxes on 75 percent of middle-class families next year, rising to 95 percent of middle-class families over the long term – contradicting his pledge not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans.
• The JCT analysis shows that more than 66.3 percent of the corporate tax burden would be borne by lower- and middle-income taxpayers, and 172 million taxpayers would bear the burden of the increased corporate tax rate – and disproportionately harm U.S. workers, retirees, and small businesses.

 

Rep. Brady’s full remarks as prepared for delivery appear below.

 

America is an optimistic nation. That’s who we are.

 

But sadly, today most Americans believe our country is on the wrong track.

 

COVID is back, the economy is struggling, Main Street businesses can’t find workers, higher prices are eating away paychecks, crime is up and – tragically – the mightiest nation on earth just surrendered to terrorists, leaving Americans behind enemy lines.

 

No wonder so many are disheartened.

 

In truth, all Americans really ask of Democratic-controlled Washington right now is to focus on defeating COVID, rebuild a healthy economy and stop wasting our hard-earned tax dollars.

 

Today President Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats begin ramming through trillions of wasteful spending and crippling tax hikes that will drive prices up even higher, kill millions of American jobs and usher in a new era of government dependency with the greatest expansion of the welfare state in our lifetimes.

 

Unbelievably, within the trillions of spending in our Committee, there’s not one dime to defeat COVID – not one.

 

But there’s tons of green welfare subsidies for the wealthy, a tax windfall for millionaires and billionaires, permanent new entitlement programs that punish the dignity of work, and a crushing new mandate on local businesses that puts the IRS in charge of your sick leave.

 

Democrats are ramming through a reckless new expansion of Medicare – just as it’s a few years from bankruptcy. And how do they pay for this? By stopping life-saving cures for heart-breaking diseases like Alzheimer’s, ALS, cancer and muscular dystrophy among others.

 

The last thing Americans need right now is trillions more in government spending that drives up prices, kill jobs and wastes our hard-earned tax dollars.

 

Look how badly Washington spends our money: The unprecedented fraud and waste in COVID unemployment may be larger than what America spends on the Army and Navy each year.

 

Millions face eviction from their homes because 90% of the emergency rental funding hasn’t been spent.

 

35 million tax returns sit unprocessed. Americans are still waiting for their stimulus check.

Thousands of precious vaccines have been destroyed due to poor planning, there’s no one in the Social Security offices to help you, and just try getting a call answered at the IRS.

 

Before Congress spends trillions we can’t afford, let’s insist on effective and efficient use of the trillions they’ve already spent.

 

Americans deserve a healthy economy. That’s what they got under President Trump and Republicans in Congress.

 

Following tax reform America jumped to the number one most competitive economy in the world. Millions of Americans were lifted out of poverty. Manufacturing, research and investment flowed back from overseas.

 

In just one year – 2019 – household income grew more than in all eight years of the Obama-Biden White House combined. Poverty hit the lowest level on record. And income inequality began to shrink for the first time in half a century.

 

Yet following the humiliating Afghanistan surrender, now President Biden is leading America on an economic surrender to China, Russia, Europe and the Middle East.

 

The casualties of imposing the highest tax burdens on the planet are American jobs – watching them move overseas again along with our research, manufacturing and patents.

 

That’s what happens when you raise America’s businesses taxes to the worst in the world – higher than Communist China, rig the international code to favor foreign companies and workers over American ones, and attack American-Made energy with taxes that could kill a million U.S. jobs, raise fuel prices and leave America more dependent on foreign oil.

As the Wall Street Journal’s Kimberly Strassel wrote, this is a “windfall for foreign competitors.”

 

But the real damage from Democrats’ crippling tax increases land on small businesses, Middle Class workers and – with a super charged second death tax – destroy family-owned farms. And yes, President Biden and Democrats are breaking their pledge to not raise taxes on the Middle Class.

 

All these crippling tax hikes could kill or risk up to 4 million American jobs.

 

This comes at the worst possible time. Fighting back from the pandemic, right now we need to help businesses get back on their feet so they can get Americans back to work to rebuild a healthy economy.

 

People are worried about higher prices and the economy. Why aren’t Democrats?

 

The economy is stalling, businesses are fighting to fill jobs and monthly paychecks are shrinking from higher prices due to government spending. Real wages have declined since President Biden took office – declined – so families and businesses are falling farther behind each and every month.

 

Job growth actually slowed down the first six months of the new year. Economic growth has peaked – it’s downhill from here. President Biden has made zero progress getting people back to work, and the Biden Jobs Deficit is over 600,000 jobs short of what he promised from his last economic “stimulus”.

 

No wonder consumer optimism has dropped alarmingly.

 

Our Committee begins its work today. Nobody has read the thousands of pages we’ll vote on.

 

It’s been written in secret, filled with lobbyist loopholes and giveaways to special interest. But the President, Speaker Pelosi and Democrats have promised that every dime of this massive spending will be paid for without budget gimmicks.

Well, we’ll see. But one thing you can absolutely count on: Higher prices and our economy will only get worse if Democrats succeed in ramming through trillions of dollars in spending and tax hikes.