Sullivan Outlines Support for Pro-Growth Tax Measure Before Senate
“What's uniting Republicans is the desire to let middle class families bring home more pay”
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) today expressed his support for the Senate tax overhaul also known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Senator Sullivan spoke in favor of the comprehensive, pro-growth tax package, particularly his interest in stimulating new economic growth and empowering American families with more money in their pockets. The measure, which passed the Senate Budget Committee today and is expected to be considered on the Senate floor later this week, is designed to address years of anemic economic growth, encourage new investments across the country, lower taxes on American taxpayers, and increase wages for American workers.
Watch Senator Sullivan’s interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (click here to watch).
BLITZER: We're following multiple breaking stories this hour, including passage of the Senate Republican tax overhaul bill by the Budget Committee. Setting the stage for a vote by the full Senate. President Trump went to Capitol Hill today to personally pressure Republican holdouts. We're back with Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska. He's a key member of the Armed Services Committee. He supports the tax overhaul bill. Are you comfortable, though, Senator, with a bill that would add, according to the Congressional Budget Office, $1.4 Trillion to the national debt over the next ten years?
SULLIVAN: Well, look, that score by the CBO, Wolf, takes into account – they estimate that our economic growth with that score would be 1.9% over the next ten years. I think that vastly underestimates what we can do in this economy. You know, one of the things that is so important about this tax bill is we've got to get this economy growing again. We've had a lost decade of economic growth. About less than 2% GDP growth.
We can get to 3%, 3.5% economic growth. We're going to do that and those deficits won't be such a challenge. We'll have much more of an opportunity for bringing in more revenue. And, look, that brings another point. Everybody is saying who is going to benefit? I think the person who is going to benefit the most is the person who doesn't have a job now, who is going to get one because of the strong growth we're going to see out of this economy.
BLITZER: What happens if your upbeat assessment turns out to be incorrect and there isn't the kind of 3%, 4% growth that you anticipate, but it gets back under 2%. Would you support a snapback provision to snap back some of the tax cuts in order to deal with a huge budget deficit?
SULLIVAN: Well, look, that was discussed at the lunch today and, you know, the President came to Capitol Hill and it was a very good lunch. It was a good discussion. A lot of back and forth. That topic itself was raised by Senator Corker, Senator Lankford, and it's something that I'm certainly looking at because it raises an important point. I think we're going to get back to levels, we're already starting to see it, traditional levels of growth 3%, 3.5% that we need particularly in terms of the middle class. They haven't seen strong growth in over a decade. The tax bill is going to be a key part of that. That's why a lot of people are excited about it.
BLITZER: You're potentially open to that snapback provision?
SULLIVAN: I am.
BLITZER: Did the decision for Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to back out of their scheduled White House meeting with the President today help unite Republicans to get this bill through the Budget Committee?
SULLIVAN: Look, I was not aware of that decision during the discussion at lunch. I think what's uniting Republicans is the desire to let middle class families bring home more pay. Put more money in the pockets of Americans. To me that's what this tax bill is all about and growing the economy. I think that's what's uniting Republicans across the board. I think you saw good momentum at the lunch today, good discussion you saw coming out of that lunch a lot of member who's had differing views. They're starting to come together. We still have more work to do, but the Budget Committee’s vote today was an important step.
###
Press Contact
Next Article Previous Article
