Bill Shuster

Mr. SHUSTER

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentleman is absolutely correct. What we did here in 2001 and 2003 by reducing the tax rate on American people, it is going to expire in 1,440 days, unless this Congress acts. You need to look at the numbers that the gentleman from Kentucky pointed out. Record revenues are flowing into the Federal Government. Since August of 2003, we have created 7.2 million jobs. In December alone, 167,000 jobs were created. The October and November numbers increased by 29,000 jobs. In 2006 alone, there was an increase of 1.8 million jobs. In the 2003 period to today, 7.2 million have been created. That is more jobs than the European Union and Japan combined have created. Our economy has added jobs for 40 straight months, and I believe it is going to do that with an unemployment rate of 4.5 percent. That is well below the 5.1 percent rate of 2005, and below the average of the past 4 decades. So these tax cuts have worked. We need to make sure that we act in this Congress and not run out the clock. The American people need to know that if this Congress does not act, if it just sits on the ball and runs out the clock, come 1,440 days, January 1, 2011, the American people will have seen a $200 billion tax increase, and that is not good for America.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight, as I have for the past couple of weeks, to remind the American people that if this Congress does not act over the next 2, over the next 4 years, in just 1,440 days there will be a tax increase in this country. It is going to happen as I said over the next 4 years if the Democrats do not extend the tax cuts that the Republicans have put in place over the last several years. It is going to amount to about $200 billion that the American people will pay more in taxes. And I appreciate my colleagues from the Blue Dog Democrat Coalition coming down to the House floor and talking about fiscal responsibility. They talk about the budget. But I hear very little about taxes and keeping taxes low on the American people. And one of the Blue Dogs mentioned in his remarks that he believes in smaller and efficient government and that we have to make tough choices. And that is true. We have to make very tough choices. But it is not our money. We need to make sure that one of the decisions is to not raise the taxes on the American people, because when we were here in the final hours of the Democrats' 100 hours, on that Friday morning, right after they finished the 100 hours, we were in session for all of about 45 minutes, from 10 to 11 a.m. and most Americans did not see that 45 minutes. So that is why I think it is important that I come to the floor and remind the American people what this Congress is doing and what we have done in the last couple of weeks or the 100 hours that the Democrats ran their six bills. And I have a number, 1,440. That is again January 1, 2011, when our taxes will finally get up to that $200 billion tax increase if we do not act. All the Democrats have to do is run the clock out, they do not have to pass legislation, and those tax cuts that we put in place that have benefited this economy so greatly will expire. There is another number that you can put up, and that is how many days since the Democrats' last tax increase. And it has been just 4 days. Now, little did I know and little did I think that it would take only 14 days of the Democrats being in the majority party in Congress, they worked for 13 years to win back the majority, and in 14 days the first tax increase passed this House and is going to move on to the Senate. I hope the Senate does not pass it. Because that is a tax increase on the American people. Now, the Democrats say that it is the oil company, the big oil companies that are going to receive this increase in taxes. And that is true. The big oil companies will pay about $6.5 billion of taxes over the next several years. But the reality is, corporations and businesses do not pay taxes in this country; consumers pay it. The tax increase will be passed along. And it will be passed along in the form of higher energy costs. We will pay more at the pump when we go to fill our cars up. Oil companies, they will have a competitive disadvantage. They will have to pay more when they go out to explore for oil. It will be the Venezuelan oil company, Citgo, or it will be the Iranian or some other foreign oil company that is going to be in a better position to be able to spend money to find oil, to sell it to the American economy, sell it to America, less expensive than our own domestic energy producers. Ladies and gentlemen, I just think if you are watching tonight that is not the right thing to do, especially in this time of high energy costs. We have got to make it more cost efficient, give our companies a better footing to compete, not only in energy but in manufacturing. And raising taxes on business is the wrong thing to do. And as I said, it has only taken the Democrats 14 days until this first tax increase has come down the road and has passed this House of Representatives. And that should not surprise anybody in America, because during the campaign, the new chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the Representative from New York, he told the Bloomberg News that he cannot think of one tax cut passed under President Bush that merits renewal. There is no question about it, he said, everything has to be on the table. And what we have seen already is a tax increase just 4 days ago. And as I said, I believe that is going to trickle down into the American public, and they will be paying that through higher energy costs, higher fuel costs. As I said, it is important that I think the American people, if you are watching this evening, are reminded that you are getting exactly what the Democrats said during the election. They said that they would raise your taxes. Once again, I hear the Blue Dogs come down here night after night talking about fiscal responsibility. I do not hear them, though, talking about taxes, making sure they keep the taxes low on the American people. I do not hear them talking about the biggest spending programs that our government has, and that is Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. How are we going to improve and strengthen, reform those important programs important to the American citizens, important to our seniors in this country? So those are things that I do not hear them talking about. I am very interested to see what the Blue Dog Democrats will propose when it comes to the budget. We will come into budget season here I believe in March. And I know that when the Republicans were in the majority, the Blue Dogs offered a budget every time. There was a Democrat budget, there was a Blue Dog budget, and there was the Republican budget. So I am very, very interested in seeing what the Blue Dogs propose if in fact they are even allowed to propose a budget, because I think it will be different than their elected leadership will put on this floor. But back to the tax cuts and what it means to the American people. Over the last 4 years we have seen 7.2 million jobs created in this country from those tax cuts. Our economy is creating jobs month after month. Just in December 167,000 jobs were created in this country. The unemployment rate is down to 4.5 percent. It is the lowest average it has been in four decades. That is directly attributable to the tax cuts we have put in place over the last several years. Now, if we do not extend them, if we do not do the responsible thing, the American taxpayers are going to be penalized for their hard work by us taking money out of their pockets. When you look at a family of four that earns over $40,000, if we allow the child tax credit and the marriage penalty to expire, they will pay about $2,000 more that will come out of their pockets. That is money that they could use to save for college, to pay for health care insurance, to buy a new washer and dryer, or put a down payment on a new car. That is their money. They should be able to spend that money as they see fit. And the way to do that is to keep the tax rates low so that they can continue to determine how to use that money best. Small business owners, same situation. If we allow some of these tax cuts to increase, our small businesses in this country will be hurt. And I hope the Democrats take a lesson from history. President Kennedy, back in 1960, did just that. He cut taxes. And when he cut taxes, revenues to the Federal Treasury rose as they have today. Ronald Reagan did it in 1980. He had to fight a Democratic majority, but finally was able to cut taxes. And what happened was the economy grew, one of the greatest expansions of our economy in history, and revenues to the Federal Government grew as well. That is the same thing we did in 2001 and 2003, cut taxes, the economy rebounded, it was coming out of a recession, coming out of the terrible attack of 9/11, and now our economy is growing very strong. And we do not want to turn that back. I do not think the Americans, although they did vote in many part of this country for a change, they did not vote to change to slow this economy down. They did not vote to increase taxes. I know that none of my constituents is coming up to me and saying we voted for a change, increase our taxes. That is not what they voted for. I think it is very important that we in Congress have a very clear voice talking about the need to maintain these tax cuts that as I said we put in place in 2001 and 2003. I see I am joined tonight by my colleague from Kentucky, a former Army Ranger and a great Kentuckian and also a small business owner who has six kids. So he knows the effects of when you are running a small business how important it is to have a low tax rate so that you can invest back in your business, and also with six children the importance of having money to be able to raise your children and save for their college and make sure that they have a better tomorrow than we have today. So with that I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Davis).

Mr. SHUSTER. Absolutely.

Mr. SHUSTER. My accountant also told me that he believes this year the AMT that is starting to catch more and more people in the AMT to pay higher tax. He said he believes next year he will see for the first time dual income husband and wife that are teachers that are making in central Pennsylvania about 110, 120 combined income, he thinks for the first time they are going to be caught up in the AMT and they are going to pay several hundred to a thousand dollars or more in taxes.

Mr. SHUSTER. We seem to be wrapping up, so if the gentleman from Kentucky has any closing remarks.

Mr. SHUSTER. Beginning of February.

Mr. SHUSTER. And you look at another measurement when you look at investments and profitabilities. In 2004, a 10-year period ending in 2004 shows that the return on investment the refining marketing segment of the oil companies are in was 7.7 percent return on investment, which was well behind the 13.9 average of the S&P 500. So I think, as our friend from Texas was talking about, huge investments, huge investments. They are certainly making returns, and they are certainly making profits, but it is far behind what many of the other manufacturing and the other companies in the S&P 500 are making. So this is a capital investment industry. We have got to encourage them to keep on going out and looking and looking and finding the reserves. But it is also important, I think, as you pointed out, coming from Kentucky, I come from Pennsylvania, the importance of that other natural resource we have from coal and how we utilize that to truly make us energy independent or move toward energy independence, not this wrong-headed tax increase. And, again, I believe that it is just the first of many we are going to see, statements by the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee over the last several months, the rules that the Speaker and the Democrats put into place to make it easier to raise taxes, not harder, to make it easier. And I think the American people need to know that the Democrats, the majority in the Congress, are going to raise your taxes. And when it happens, as it happened 4 days ago, this was a targeted tax increase, they think, just to one industry, but it is going to flow down through the economy, and every American is going to feel it. But we are going to see tax increases. They are not going to control spending, they are going to continue to increase spending. And they said they are going to pay for it, and they are going to pay for it by taking away hard-earned dollars from Americans. I was talking today, I went to see my accountant to prepare myself for tax season this year. And I wonder if the gentleman from Texas would comment on it. My accountant told me that just the sheer difficulty, the complexity, of keeping up with the Tax Code, he said to me that he thinks he produces a reasonably correct, he can't assure anybody that it is correct because it is so difficult. We passed the extenders last year, and he told me that the IRS has informed him he cannot file electronically until February 1. So he is going to have a backlog; he is trying to figure it out, but he doesn't get an extension from April 15 to May 15 because he doesn't file electronically. So I think that the time has not only come to continue to keep tax rates low, but to change our Tax Code. He had on his wall, I am going to get a copy of it, 1913 was the first year that we had the income tax. It was three pages long, it was pretty simple, and basically it was a graduated flat tax. And, again, I am going to bring that in here next week and have it blown up to see how simple it was, and I think the time has come that we go to some different kind of tax. But if the gentleman CPA from Texas would like to comment on that.

Mr. SHUSTER

Mr. SHUSTER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight an American success story, an inspirational Pennsylvanian and a great American, Joe Hardy, III. Joe Hardy is the embodiment of the idea that, as Winston Churchill said, ``We make a living by what we get and we make a life by what we give.'' This month marks Joe Hardy's 84th birthday and it is only right that his achievements in business and his contributions to society be celebrated in this, the people's House. Joe Hardy is perhaps best known as the founder of 84 Lumber, the largest privately owned building materials supplier to professional contractors in America. But he is much more than this. He is a self- made man, a civic leader and a great philanthropist. He is the embodiment of the American Dream and his story continues to encourage those around him. With 84 Lumber, Joe Hardy reached a level in business that thousands of smaller entrepreneurs aspire to reach for themselves. And like many Americans just starting out in the world of business, Joe Hardy did not inherit his success; he built it from the ground up. His is a true American success story, a story that is alive and well today. When Joe Hardy graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in engineering he joined his family's jewelry company. He demonstrated his business acumen early, and quickly became the company's best salesman. But Joe Hardy wanted to make his own name in the business world, so in 1952, with his own savings and the help of some friends, he opened a cash-and-carry lumber yard for contractors in the town of Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania. In 1956 he changed his company's name from Green Hills Lumber to 84 Lumber and the rest, as they say, is history. 84 Lumber grew quickly, reaching $84 million in sales in 1971 and $1 billion in sales in 1996. As his company and his fortune grew, Joe Hardy began to give back to the communities that had given him the chance to succeed. In 1987, he bought the Nemacolin Resort in a bankruptcy sale and turned it into a major economic draw and tourist destination for Western Pennsylvania. He brought a PGA tournament to the world class Nemacolin Resort that not only drew attention to the area, but raised money for worthy causes. The list of philanthropic achievements in this area is long, but a few examples stand out. Over the past 15 years, Joe Hardy's 84 Lumber Golf Tournaments have raised over $1 million for the Westmoreland-Fayette Boy Scout Council. He organized a PGA Tour event from 2003 to 2006 that raised more than $6 million for local charities and $1.3 million for Hurricane Katrina relief. Additionally, through his long collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, Joe Hardy enabled the funding and construction of 50 homes along the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast. But his philanthropy does not end there. In 1990, Joe Hardy gave a grant to Washington and Jefferson College to start an Entrepreneurial Spirit Studies Program as well as a scholarship fund its participation. This celebrated program continues to train tomorrow's business leaders today. In addition to philanthropy, Joe Hardy is also civically engaged. He continues to serve as a County Commissioner for Fayette County Pennsylvania and personally invested his own money into the revitalization of Uniontown, the hometown of General George C. Marshall. The list of Joe Hardy's accomplishments is simply too long to cover here. However, to the people of Fayette County, the contributions he has made to their lives are evident everyday. Whether you walk down the streets of a revitalized Uniontown, enjoy a jump in business due to the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, or build your new house with 84 Lumber products, Joe Hardy's impact is there. I want to wish Joe Hardy a happy 84th birthday and thank him for all he has done throughout his life. With his achievements and outlook on life, I am sure we will see many more successes in the years ahead.

Mr. SHUSTER

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about and make the American people aware that we have 1,446 days counting down to the tax increase to the American people which will occur on January 1, 2011, if the new majority, the Democrats in Congress, don't act to extend the tax cuts that the Republicans put in place in 2001 and 2003. So in 1,446 days, we will see that tax increase. The Democrats don't have to act, all they have to do is run out the clock. Run out the clock, and we will see a $200 billion tax increase. It will be money taken out of American people's pockets between now and January 1, 2011, if they don't act. Those tax cuts as I said were enacted in 2001 and 2003. And what we have seen is an expansion in our economy, a great expansion that continues to this day that has created over the last 4 years 7.2 million jobs. Just in the month of December, 167,000 jobs were created in this country. The unemployment rate is down to 4.6 percent. It is the lowest average we have seen in 4 decades, and that is directly attributable to the tax cuts that we passed in this Congress in 2001 and 2003. Again, if we don't extend them, which I believe is the responsible thing to do so we see this economy continue to grow, we are going to take money right out of the pockets of the American taxpayers. Mr. Speaker, we will be debating tomorrow a tax increase. It has not taken longer than 20 days for the new Democratic majority to increase taxes. There will be a great debate here, and there are many in this country who think we should increase taxes on our oil companies. But it is the reduction in the tax on our oil companies that has allowed them to go out and look for new oil reserves to decrease our dependency. Yet the Democrats are, as I said, in less than 20 days, are going to put a bill on the floor that is going to increase taxes already on a segment of our economy. We will talk more about that later this evening. If we don't extend those tax cuts that we put in place in 2001 and 2003, you are going to take money right out of the American taxpayers' pocket, anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000, right in that middle income of America. That is money that they can save to put away for their children's college. They can save to put a downpayment on a car, or buy a new washer and dryer. But the most important thing is if we take that money out of the American taxpayers' pockets, it will be some bureaucrat deciding how to spend that money, and not an American family. We removed 10.6 million low-income Americans from paying taxes in this country all together. We need to make sure that those people stay in that position, that they are not paying taxes when they are low income. We lowered the tax rates on small businesses and employers, the critical employers in our Nation that create the jobs. I hope that those on the other side of the aisle, the Democrats, will take a lesson from history from one of their own. Jack Kennedy, President Kennedy decreased taxes in the 1960s. What happened, there was increased revenue to the Federal Government. President Kennedy in the 1960s did the right thing. As I said, the revenues to the United States Government increased. Ronald Reagan did that in the 1980s, and revenue increased to the Federal Government. Once again, history repeats itself. In 2001 and 2003, we cut taxes and what has happened is the levels of revenue the government has received are at greater levels than ever before in our history. That is what happens when you cut taxes. By raising taxes, all we will do is stifle economic growth in this country. We will take money out of our small businesses; we will take money away from the American taxpayer. Once again, this economy will stop growing. It will stop creating the jobs it has created over the last several years. I know I am joined here tonight by one of my colleagues who is a former small business owner and a former Army Ranger. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Davis).

Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman. It is interesting to note, as we heard, that they are going to increase taxes in less than 20 days being in the majority. So it is going to be very interesting to see how many of our colleagues vote. I was interested to hear one of our new colleagues, Mr. Wilson, talk about change in America. I don't disagree that the American people voted for change, but I don't believe that I heard anybody in my district that voted for me or against me, and I would be willing to wager that in Mr. Wilson's district in Ohio, a Southern conservative Ohio, that anybody there voted for a change to see our taxes go up. I cannot wait to join with the Blue Dogs when I see what kind of budget they get an opportunity, if they get an opportunity to introduce a budget in this Congress. I know over the past 6 years that I have been in Congress the Blue Dogs have been able to introduce a budget. I voted for the Republican budget, but I think, and I hope we get an opportunity to vote for the Blue Dogs budget. If they get a chance in this new majority to offer one, I think their budget will be much more reasonable, much more fiscally responsible than the Democratic majority's budget. But once again, I don't believe the American people, at least any American I have spoken to, wants to see their taxes go up. So once again, I would point out to those Americans that may be joining us here tonight, there are 1,446 days before there will be a $200 billion tax increase imposed on the American people. And all that has to happen is that the Democrats have to run out the clock, and we will see many of those tax increases that my friend from Kentucky mentioned tonight, the child tax credit and those types of tax cuts we put in place that really will affect middle-class America if we don't act. I would yield to the gentleman from Kentucky if he has a further comment.

Mr. SHUSTER. Well, that is absolutely as you mentioned. In Pennsylvania, in its coal fields, we need to unleash our companies in America, whether they are coal companies or companies developing biodiesel or ethanol or wind. And even our oil companies, we have to encourage them to go out there and to continue to look for new oil fields. Tonight was a bit of a surprise, but very appropriate that we heard that the Rules Committee has put out a rule we will debate tomorrow for our very first tax increase under the new Democratic majority. We are joined here tonight by Mr. Conaway, another colleague of ours, who happens to be not most importantly a CPA, which I think is important because he understands the language of business, understands the balance sheets and income statements which many people in this body I do not think understand, but also he comes from the gas and oil business in Texas. So with that I would like to yield to Mr. Conaway.

Mr. SHUSTER. I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky.

Mr. SHUSTER. Well, I appreciate the gentleman's yielding back, and I don't think anybody should be surprised at what we are seeing. I put a quote up here by Representative Rangel from New York, who is now the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Before the election he vowed to put all of President Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts on the chopping block. Here we go, 20 days into it and this is the start of it. This is the start of what we will see over the next 2 years, which is an increase in taxes. And some of them they won't even have to enact. They will just expire. But I wanted to ask a question to the gentleman from Texas who knows the oil and gas business much better than I do. But, you know, basic economics, if you take away, if you actually disincentivize, put a disincentive to a company to go out and explore for oil, when we see that, the oil companies and the wildcatters and the small business entrepreneurs who are in the oil and gas business, not going out there and finding new sources of oil and gas, when we see the supplies go down that is going to cause prices to increase. And I wonder if the gentleman from Texas would comment on that.

Mr. SHUSTER. It is good to have a CPA on board.

Mr. SHUSTER. Somebody mentioned to me that we were cramming in 2 days of work into 5 days. So if people really, if Lou Dobbs is watching tonight then he ought to be talking about our work schedule here, what we are really doing, not just the fact that he was ranting and raving about us not working on Monday because of the national championship game. Let him come down here and see what we are really doing.

Mr. SHUSTER. $4 million gone.

Mr. SHUSTER. And we are seeing right now, I think the latest thing I read was the price of a barrel of oil was down to $51 a barrel of oil. Average gas prices going down. And some of that is a direct response to the supply people out there finding oil. It is also in response to some of the demand has cooled off. People are trying to use less.

Mr. SHUSTER. And I think we mentioned earlier, Mr. Davis mentioned about pushing it off to other countries in the world. We are going to penalize our own domestic production, and those folks around the world that aren't necessarily our friends, Iran being one of them, they can bring up that crude out of Iran. And it is a scary situation what has happened. I know that the President of Iran was down in Venezuela. Iran has no refining capacity or not much to speak of, and Venezuela is one of the largest refiners. So what we are going to see, I believe, is Iran making a deal with Venezuela, that they will pump the crude in Iran, and another one of our enemies, Venezuela, will refine it for them. So this is a national security issue. It is not just about taxes. It is about making sure that our domestic producers are out there looking for oil and keeping our reliance, lowering our reliance on foreign oil sources.

Mr. SHUSTER. You are absolutely right. This tax increase that is going to occur is going to have a ripple effect throughout the economy. There are those on the other side that think they are going to punish the oil companies. They are not. Plain and simple, it is going to punish manufacturing, it is going to punish people that are employed in this country, people that are paying taxes in this country. But once again, we should not be surprised. Nobody in America should be surprised when we see, I was corrected, 14 days into this Democratic majority, when you have the new chairman of the Ways and Means, Mr. Rangel from New York, who said back in an interview before the election, back last spring, actually, that the tax cuts that President Bush put in place were beyond irresponsible, and he also said he cannot think of one of those tax cuts in the first term of President Bush that deserves merit. Does that mean the R&D tax credit, which I think we successfully extended, does that mean that they will repeal that and repeal some of those R&D tax credits for alternative fuels? When you think, I see Geoffrey here, you told me he is 8 years old. If a family of four has their taxes increased, that is going to be about $2,100 a month. Well, if you had that $2,100 a month, which you do today, and you took the $2,100 and invested it every year in the banks, so that Geoffrey, 8 years old, 10 years from now to go to college, he would have $30,000 in the bank. That's a great nest egg for your children to help put them through school so when they get out of school they don't have debt. You know, we talk about all these government programs, when, in reality, let the American people keep more of their hard-earned dollars so they can save that money for 8-year-old kids like Geoffrey so that he can go to college in the future.

Mr. SHUSTER. I agree with you the American people didn't vote for a change of this economy. They didn't vote for a change to increase taxes. We are in deficit not because we tax too much; it is because we spend too much. You know, our colleagues from the Blue Dog Democrats side, they are right when they talk about fiscal responsibility. They are right about controlling spending. I think their number one of their 12 points is to have a balanced budget except in time of war or in a time of recession. Well, that is what we had in early 2001, 2002. We are still at war. We are not in recession any more. But the way to solve this problem is to control spending. As I said earlier, I am eager to see what the leadership of the Democrats allows the Blue Dogs to propose. I know that over the last 12 years, I think the Blue Dogs, every year, produced a budget that was voted on here on the House floor. Once again, I am eager to see what the Democratic leadership allows the Blue Dogs to do, because I think they will propose a responsible budget more so than I think the Democratic leadership will. Again, we are going to wait and see what happens. Once again, I don't believe that the American people want to see us increase taxes. If we don't act, if the Democrats don't act in the next 4 years, we are going to see a slow expiration and an increase in the taxes the American people pay to the tune of $200 billion by the first of 2011.

Mr. SHUSTER. It is the equivalent, it is one thing if you own a business to have more sales; but what we do, you raise the price, and when you are in business and in trouble and in deficit, you can't just go out and say, oh, I am going to raise the price of the car, raise the cost of the washer or dryer. That usually doesn't work. Usually what happens when you raise the price, the market, the demand is not great enough, it will drive down your revenues. What we are doing here is raising the price. It will drive down revenues, as it always does. As we said earlier, whether it is President Kennedy in 1960 or Ronald Reagan in 1980 or President Bush in the early 2000s, when you cut taxes it spurs the economy, and it creates more revenues.

Mr. SHUSTER. We had lines.

Mr. SHUSTER. Does the gentleman have closing remarks?

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank both of you gentleman for joining me, Mr. Davis and Mr. Conaway, for your thoughts tonight. You pointed out rightfully so that the government doesn't create jobs, the government doesn't create wealth, it is people out in America, working hard, day in and day out, saving their money, investing their money, sweating at a job, and it is just wrong for us here in Congress to take more of their money than we should. I put up 1,446 days to remind the American people that they are going to receive a tax increase unless we act, and that is a little less than 4 years. I am so grateful that the gentleman from Texas is a CPA and got my numbers right, that it is not 20 days into this new Congress, it is only 14 days, and we are already starting to hear about the first tax increase that the American people will see coming out of this Congress.

Mr. SHUSTER. Absolutely. Except for the Marianas Islands.