WASHINGTON - Earlier today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a report titled: Approaches to Improve the Competitiveness of the U.S. Business Tax System for the 21st Century. Earlier this year, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) introduced a comprehensive tax reform package that would improve the competitiveness of U.S. businesses by reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 30.5 percent. Chairman Rangel issued the following statement in response to today’s Treasury report:
"The American people expect the Executive Branch to work with Congress to reform our complicated and ineffective tax code and I believe we can reach some type of agreement on this critical issue. It would seem to me that, after witnessing the debacle of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) debate, and not seeing any type of guidance from the President - the Administration should step up and provide some leadership. We have waited more than seven years for concrete tax reform proposals from the Administration and that is entirely too long to wait on such an important issue. That is why Democrats put together and released the Tax Reduction and Reform Act of 2007 earlier this year. This comprehensive legislation would reform our tax code and provide relief to more than 90 million taxpayers while also lowering the corporate tax rate to help our companies compete and win internationally.
"There is no question that Secretary Paulson’s thoughts on corporate tax reform are very similar to mine. Indeed, I cannot think of a reason why Congressional leadership - Republicans and Democrats alike - cannot work with the Administration to make our corporations more competitive internationally.
"But, why should we stop there when so many American families are struggling to make ends meet? Why shouldn’t they have some assistance? While there are rumors of a recession, millions of families are already losing their pensions, health care, and child care. Some folks have to work two jobs and they still cannot keep up with the rising cost of living in America, while some of the richest individuals in our nation continue to receive lucrative, unjustified tax breaks. While we know that President Bush has a penchant for helping the wealthiest individuals in the nation, we have a responsibility to provide relief to all working families, so that they get more out of their paychecks to build their dreams and stimulate our economy.
"That is why I developed and released a comprehensive tax reform proposal to repeal the AMT, expand the child and earned income tax credits and increase the standard deduction so that, at the end of the day, working families who have been ignored by recent tax policies can once again believe that the Government understands their needs and is working for them. I look forward to working with the Administration on this critical issue, it is not too late for them to show some leadership and submit concrete proposals for consideration."
