Thune: The One Big Beautiful Bill Makes Life Better for Hardworking Americans
“Communicating about this bill should be a priority - when we’re in Washington, but especially when we’re in cities and towns across America.”
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):
“Mr. President, we’re coming up on the one-month anniversary of Senate passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
“And there’s a lot to celebrate:
“Sorely needed funding to restore our military readiness and ensure that our men and women in uniform are fully equipped to defend our country.
“Funding to continue the work of securing the border and ending the illegal immigration crisis that President Biden created.
“$1.5 trillion in Byrd-compliant savings to trim waste, fraud, and abuse and put our government on a more secure financial footing going forward.
“Measures to unleash American energy production to ensure a stable, reliable, and affordable energy supply for the American people.
“Support for local law enforcement.
“All this, and a whole lot more.
“And I could talk about each of these things for a good, long while, Mr. President.
“But the biggest reason for the One Big Beautiful Bill, of course, was about making life better for hardworking Americans.
“And that’s what I want to talk about today.
“Mr. President, without congressional action, Americans were facing a massive, $4 trillion tax hike next year.
“For a typical family in my state of South Dakota, that would have looked like a $2,500 tax increase.
“$2,500.
“That’s a lot of money.
“And the first thing Republicans were determined to do if we got elected last November was to make sure that Americans were not hit with this tax hike.
“And so months before last year’s elections, we started laying the groundwork for an extension of the 2017 tax relief to prevent tax hikes on hardworking Americans.
“But not just an extension.
“My Senate Republican colleagues and I were determined to ensure that this tax relief was permanent, so that Americans wouldn’t have to worry about their taxes going up down the road.
“And that, Mr. President, is what we did.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill makes the 2017 tax relief permanent.
“And it prevents a massive, $4 trillion tax hike on the American people.
“But we didn’t stop there.
“We didn’t just make the 2017 tax relief permanent; we added to it with new measures to provide relief for hardworking Americans.
“We increased the child tax credit to $2,200, and indexed it to inflation so its value would never go down.
“We increased the standard deduction, exempting additional money from Americans’ taxable income.
“And we added a new $6,000 bonus deduction for seniors, allowing Americans on Social Security to keep more of their money.
“And that’s still not all, Mr. President.
“We eliminated taxes on tips for millions of tipped workers.
“Uber and Lyft drivers. Hairstylists and delivery drivers. Servers at restaurants.
“We also eliminated taxes on overtime pay for millions of hourly workers.
“That includes individuals like nurses and police officers.
“Firefighters and paramedics.
“People who put in extra time away from their families to keep Americans safe.
“And, Mr. President, the list goes on.
“Americans can now deduct the interest costs of a new car that’s Made in America.
“Parents can save for their children’s futures with new investment accounts, funded by an initial $1,000 deposit from the government.
“And then there’s the small business tax relief, and the other measures to unleash economic growth to create new opportunities for workers.
“This bill, Mr. President, is going to make life better for hardworking Americans.
“And now it’s time to make sure they know the details.
“Mr. President, as I indicated, this bill is the product of more than a year of work – and incredibly intense work in the last few months.
“And now that we’ve passed it, it would be easy to feel like our work is done.
“But that’s not the case.
“A lot of time went into putting together this bill, and an equal amount of time – or more – needs to be spent ensuring that hardworking Americans are aware of the opportunities this bill offers.
“And that means not just talking about the bill here in Washington, but going back to our states and talking about it with our constituents face-to-face.
“We’re extremely familiar with the details of our legislation – we’ve been working on them for a long time – but that doesn’t mean that all those details have made their way out of Washington.
“And our job now, Mr. President, is to make sure that they do.
“To make sure that our constituents have the chance to learn about everything that’s in the One Big Beautiful Bill in face-to-face conversations with all of us, the people who know this bill best.
“Communicating about this bill should be a priority – when we’re in Washington, but especially when we’re in cities and towns across America.
“Mr. President, it’s been a tough few years for the American people.
“Let’s make sure they know that a brighter future is on the way.”
Related Issues: One Big Beautiful Bill
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