Carper Statement on Senate Budget Resolution

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement after voting against the Senate Republicans’ budget resolution that paves the way for a partisan effort to enact reckless tax reform legislation.

“This budget resolution is a partisan attempt to pave a path for a tax package that would explode our deficits in order to deliver a massive tax cut to the wealthiest Americans. It’s a lost opportunity to enact the bipartisan, responsible reforms that our country’s tax system badly needs. For years, I’ve been asking my colleagues to join me in crafting an overhaul of our tax system that’s fair, simplifies the tax code, and encourages long-term economic growth in a way that’s fiscally responsible. Unfortunately, the Republican tax reform plan is a total affront to fiscal responsibility. This budget resolution sets the stage for a plan that would add trillions of dollars to the deficit, eviscerate funding for critical safety net programs that help the neediest among us, and raise taxes for millions of working families, all to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest people in our country.

“I want to remind my colleagues that, in 1986, enacting tax reform took five years of bipartisan hearings and negotiations. The idea that Congress could accomplish tax reform in a few months is the triumph of man’s hope over experience. As we’ve seen with health care reform over the past few months, a one-party approach to passing tax reform will not work. I encourage my Republican friends to go back to the drawing board and work with Democrats on a bipartisan tax reform plan that draws in job creators and helps our country’s families and businesses compete and thrive in the global economy.”

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