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(B) cost-benefit and regulatory impact 
analysis for new regulations proposed and pro-
mulgated by all Federal regulatory agencies; 
(C) advance notice of proposed rulemaking 
and makes evidentiary hearings available for 
critical disputed issues in the development of 
new major regulations; 
(D) congressional approval of all new 
major regulations before the regulations can be-
come effective, ensuring that Congress can bet-
ter prevent the imposition of unsound costly 
new regulations; and 
(E) post-implementation cost-benefit anal-
ysis of all new major regulations on at least a 
decennial basis, to ensure that regulations oper-
ate as intended and impose no more costs than 
necessary; 
(4) strengthens— 
(A) requirements to assure the use and 
disclosure of sound science, including models, 
data, and other evidentiary information in the 
development of new regulations; 
(B) transparency in regulatory develop-
ment and improves opportunities for hearings 
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on disputed issues in high-cost major rule-
making; 
(C) requirements to avoid, minimize, and 
mitigate significant adverse impacts of new 
major regulations on small businesses, the pri-
mary source of new jobs; 
(D) judicial review of legal, scientific, tech-
nical, and cost-benefit determinations made by 
Federal regulatory agencies to support the pro-
mulgation of new regulations; 
(E) protections against unnecessary or 
abusive imposition of regulatory compliance 
costs during litigation challenging the promul-
gation of new, high-cost major regulation; 
(F) protections against the abuse of regu-
latory consent decrees and settlement agree-
ments to force the unfair imposition of new reg-
ulations; and 
(G) protections against the abuse of in-
terim rulemaking; 
(5) reduces— 
(A) regulatory barriers to entry into mar-
kets and other regulatory impediments to com-
petition and innovation; and 
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(B) the imposition of new Federal regula-
tion that duplicates, overlaps or conflicts with 
State, local, and Tribal regulation or that im-
pose unfunded mandates on State, local, and 
Tribal governments; and 
(6) eliminates the abuse of guidance to evade 
legal requirements applicable to the development and 
promulgation of new regulations. 
SEC. 606. POLICY STATEMENT ON TAX REFORM. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) A world-class tax system should be simple, 
fair, and promote (rather than impede) economic 
growth. The United States tax code fails on all 3 
counts: it is complex, unfair, and inefficient. The tax 
code’s complexity distorts decisions to work, save, 
and invest, which leads to slower economic growth, 
lower wages, and less job creation. 
(2) Standard economic theory holds that high 
marginal tax rates lessen the incentives to work, 
save, and invest, which reduces economic output and 
job creation. Lower economic output, in turn, mutes 
the intended revenue gain from higher marginal tax 
rates. 
(3) Roughly half of United States active busi-
ness income and half of private sector employment 
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are derived from business entities (such as partner-
ships, S corporations, and sole proprietorships) that 
are taxed on a ‘‘pass-through’’ basis, meaning the 
income is taxed at individual rates rather than cor-
porate rates. Small businesses, in particular, tend to 
choose this form for Federal tax purposes, and the 
highest Federal rate on such small business income 
can reach nearly 45 percent. For these reasons, 
sound economic policy requires lowering marginal 
rates on these pass-through entities. 
(4) The top United States corporate income tax 
rate (including Federal, State, and local taxes) is 
slightly more than 39 percent, the highest rate in 
the industrialized world. Tax rates this high sup-
press wages, discourage investment and job creation, 
distort business activity, and put American busi-
nesses at a competitive disadvantage with foreign 
competitors. 
(5) By deterring potential investment, the 
United States corporate tax restrains economic 
growth and job creation. The United States tax rate 
differential fosters a variety of complicated multi-
national corporate practices intended to avoid the 
tax, which have the effect of moving the tax base 
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offshore, destroying American jobs, and decreasing 
corporate revenue. 
(6) Recent and coming developments in the 
global arena, specifically the Base Erosion and Prof-
it Shifting (BEPS) project recommendations, height-
en the importance of the need to reform and mod-
ernize our international tax system so that American 
businesses and workers are not disadvantaged. 
(7) The ‘‘world-wide’’ structure of United 
States international taxation essentially taxes earn-
ings of United States firms twice, putting them at 
a significant competitive disadvantage with competi-
tors that have more competitive international tax 
systems. 
(8) Reforming the tax code would boost the 
competitiveness of United States companies oper-
ating abroad and significantly reduce tax avoidance. 
(9) The tax code imposes costs on American 
workers through lower wages, consumers in higher 
prices, and investors in diminished returns. 
(10) Increasing taxes to raise revenue and meet 
out-of-control spending would sink the economy and 
Americans’ ability to save for their children’s edu-
cation and retirement. 
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