Thune Joins Shannon Bream on Fox News Sunday

“So this is really about preserving and protecting families and ensuring that they’ve got more dollars in their own pocket and they’re sending less to Washington.”

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined Shannon Bream on Fox News Sunday.

On Senate Republicans’ tax priorities:

“We’re increasing the Child Tax Credit, and if the Democrats had their way, at the end of the year … the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would expire, and you would have the Child Tax Credit cut in half for working families. So we’re not only going to keep it from getting cut in half, we’re going to increase it.

“No tax on tips, no tax on overtime … lower the tax on Social Security recipients. Those are all things that were the president’s priorities and the House included them in their version of the bill. Now we will also have them incorporated into ours.

“This is going to be very much about middle-income taxpayers. If we don’t act, at the end of the year, there will be a $2.6 trillion tax increase on families making less than $400,000 a year and a $600 billion tax increase on small businesses.

“So this is really about preserving and protecting families and ensuring that they’ve got more dollars in their own pocket and they’re sending less to Washington.”

On spending cuts within the reconciliation bill:

“This will be the largest spending reduction in history.

“You’re talking over a trillion, trillion and a half, up to $2 trillion, we’ll see where we finally end up in the Senate. But it’ll be a major reduction in spending; coupled with reforms to programs to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse; and then also have, on the other side, pro-growth policy.

“If you get greater growth in the economy, more revenue here, spend less here, and pretty soon you can start seeing things balance out.

[Y]ou have to start somewhere, and that’s what this bill does. It is a big, big change from the way that things have been done in Washington for the last several decades.”

On Israeli airstrikes in Iran:

“I think President Trump is all about trying to keep America out of wars, and to try to find a path toward peaceful outcomes and peaceful solutions. I think he’s trying to do that with Iran.

“Iran has grown … increasingly defiant of late in these talks, these discussions… What this comes down to is actions taken by Israel to defend themselves and their people. They view Iran’s nuclear capability, as we believe, as a nonstarter.

“[W]hat you heard Prime Minister Netanyahu say when he spoke to Congress last year is that the only thing standing between Iran and the United States is Israel. And that’s absolutely true.

“[T]hey want to talk about how they’re going to wipe Israel off the map, and that just isn’t something that the Israelis can accept. And so this is their decision to defend themselves and their people.

“What I would suggest to Iran is that they not target Americans in any of this, because if they do, they better be prepared, because we will respond.”

On his relationship with President Trump:

“[T]o get things done around here … he’s the closer. He has to help when we’re trying to pass major legislation, ultimately, has tremendous influence in talking not only to senators, but to House members and ensuring that we’re all operating as a team.”