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and maintenance of House services and resources, 
including 
printing, 
conferences, 
utilities, 
tele-
communications, furniture, grounds maintenance, 
postage, and rent; 
(2) the House should review policies and proce-
dures for the acquisition of goods and services to 
eliminate unnecessary spending; 
(3) the Committee on House Administration 
should review the policies pertaining to services pro-
vided to Members and committees of the House, and 
identify ways to reduce any subsidies paid for the 
operation of the House gym, barber shop, salon, and 
the House dining room; 
(4) no taxpayer funds should be used to pur-
chase first class airfare or to lease corporate jets for 
Members of Congress; and 
(5) retirement benefits for Members of Con-
gress should not include free, taxpayer-funded health 
care for life. 
SEC. 526. 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 
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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 
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-
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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 
offshore, destroying American jobs, and decreasing 
corporate revenue. 
(6) 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. 
(7) Reforming the tax code would boost the 
competitiveness of United States companies oper-
ating abroad and significantly reduce tax avoidance. 
(8) The tax code imposes costs on American 
workers through lower wages, consumers in higher 
prices, and investors in diminished returns. 
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(9) 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. 
(10) Closing special preference carve outs in 
our tax code to finance higher spending does not 
constitute fundamental tax reform. 
(11) Tax reform should curb or eliminate tax 
breaks and use those savings to lower tax rates 
across the board, not to fund more wasteful Federal 
Government spending. Washington has a spending 
problem, not a revenue problem. 
(12) Many economists believe that fundamental 
tax reform, including a broader tax base and lower 
tax rates, would lead to greater labor supply and in-
creased investment, which would have a positive im-
pact on total national output. 
(b) POLICY ON TAX REFORM.—It is the policy of this 
concurrent resolution that the House should consider com-
prehensive tax reform legislation that promotes economic 
growth, creates American jobs, increases wages, and bene-
fits American consumers, investors, and workers by— 
(1) simplifying the tax code to make it fairer to 
American families and businesses and reducing the 
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amount of time and resources necessary to comply 
with tax laws; 
(2) substantially lowering tax rates for individ-
uals and consolidating the current seven individual 
income tax brackets into fewer brackets; 
(3) repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax; 
(4) reducing the corporate tax rate; and 
(5) transitioning the tax code to a more com-
petitive system of international taxation. 
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Union Calendar No. 172 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 71 
[Report No. 115–240] 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Establishing the congressional budget for the 
United States Government for fiscal year 2018 
and setting forth the appropriate budgetary lev-
els for fiscal years 2019 through 2027. 
JULY 21, 2017 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
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