Rep. Brady: Lawmakers Have New Urgency on Tax Reform

The Senate's failure to pass an Obamacare "skinny repeal" measure last week adds a new urgency for lawmakers to push through tax reform, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady said Monday.

"We've been running two parallel tracks on two major initiatives and have worked now six years to be at this moment of history," the Texas Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."

"We need to deliver this year, and having the president solidly behind this approach [is] much different than healthcare."

Brady said his committee, along with the Finance Committee, will write the bill, and will focus on key principles for the American people.

"We're going on in for growth on jobs and paychecks," said Brady. The bill will also focus on the lowest rates possible, and will redesign tax laws so "companies can compete and win anywhere in the world."

As far as American families, the tax reform will mean "fairness and simplicity," said Brady. "Nine out of 10 Americans can file using a simple postcard style system."

Brady said he is standing by comments he made over the weekend that tax reform would be complete by the end of the year, but that doesn't mean Congress will stay in session in August.

"We need to be back home," he said. "This belongs to the American people. They have to have a say for the first time in their lives a first say in how their taxes [are determined].

"August is about making the direct case and listening to the American people . . . We'll make that case back home and across the country."

Brady said tax reform will be rolled out and communicated in a much different way than the healthcare issue had been handled.

"Healthcare is so complicated, it can divide families, households themselves," said Brady, who believes most people agree that "this code is too complex and costly and [full of] special breaks."

"Businesses aren't competing. We start from a different standpoint and secondly, the White House, House, and Senate are unified on this approach and the key principles."

Brady, meanwhile, said he has not given up on healthcare reform yet, but he knows lawmakers can deliver on tax reform, as America is hungry for it.

He said he's also spoken with President Donald Trump's negotiators, and they all want to see lower rates across the board, which would spur growth.

But the move must be permanent, he said.

"If we do a temporary tax cut it fades away," said Brady. "We want real long-term investment decisions to bring jobs and manufacturing, research back home. We want local businesses to unleash investment. That means making it permanent."

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