This morning, Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) spoke with Hugh Hewitt about the path forward on tax reform and health care. Read excerpts of the interview below.

ON TAX REFORM

“In our pro-growth—what we call our ‘Built for Growth’—tax code, we make historic changes in the way we tax the lowest business rates in modern history. We allow full, unlimited write-off—immediate expensing of all that business investment—buildings, equipment, software, technology—for the first time. We meet our competitors worldwide with the territorial system and the ability to bring those dollars home to the U.S. immediately. And then we border adjust to meet our competitors as well. And so those four key elements taken together actually vault us back into that lead pack.” 

“I think Americans are tired of a tax code that subsidizes certain things and punishes others. In this case, the tax code subsidizes, encourages higher taxes at the state and local levels. That is a proposal we’re bringing forward. And since we unveiled [the Blueprint] in June, Hugh, in hundreds of town hall meetings, we’ve asked our communities and our local businesses is this a proposal [you want], or do you want to add that back to the postcard? So we’re listening to people right now about what they want to see on the postcard. That’s one item that’s under discussion …

“Look, this isn’t Washington’s tax code. This is America’s tax code. So we can put back on that postcard any item you want. We can put dozens back. We can put hundreds back on that postcard. As long as we recognize to do that, we have to raise those rates back up. And so we went for very low rates, we simplified the code from seven brackets to three. We lowered rates for everybody. We lowered it even further for savings and investment, which we think is key for families wanting to save and grow the community at the same time. And so we can add back state and local income taxes, we can add back any other provision. Just be aware to do that, you will have to send more money to Washington, and then hope some can get it back.”

ON HEALTH CARE 

“This is a historical effort by Republicans in Congress and this new president … [These are] real people. So they deserve affordable health care that’s tailored to them, that’s delivered by the states, not by Washington. And so … we’re going to have a very simple step-by-step process that lays out the options for America to choose a better type of health care that’s tailored to them. Our approach is, in effect, a health backpack where you have the ability to take that backpack from job to job, state to state, and ultimately, from business to business.”