Speaker Ryan Talks Tax Reform Defense Bill at Leadership Press Conference

Opening Statement: First of all: This national defense bill? This bill is a big big step toward keeping the promise we made to rebuild our nations armed forces. Its so critical. It will give our military the tools and the resources that it needs to address the threats that we face all around the world. And it delivers as was mentioned a well-deserved pay raise for our servicemembers. Its a very important piece of legislation and we look forward to putting it on the presidents desk. And were very excited about this promise being kept and getting done this week. On tax reform here is why this is such a big momentand it has nothing to do with politics or politicians: Most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. A whole lot of people are telling us that they are $400 away from a disaster. Instead of thinking about getting ahead you got more people in this country worried about falling behind. This anxiety that we have in this countrythat feeling that people are one emergency away from a disasteris a daily reality for most of our fellow citizens. Meanwhile Washington has been propping up a tax system riddled with special loopholes for the well-connected. This bill changes this. We are cutting taxes for middle- and low-income families. The typical median household of four gets a $1182 tax cut. Thats big relief for people who really feel like they are one bad news away from a disaster. That is $1182 you can save use toward a big project or something you have been putting off for too long. This is not just a tax bill. This is a jobs bill. Its a fairness bill. By leveling the playing field and making our businesses more competitive guess what? Wages are going to go up. The analysis is very clear. This will help wages raise in this country. This will help living standards increase in this country. More jobs will come home. So by unrigging the system by making it so fair and so simple andyesyou will be able to do your taxes on a postcard. . . . Look heres whats going on right now. People in Washington are focusing on what this means for other people in Washington. But for us it is about the hardworking people in America who are working hard and feel like theyre slipping behind. This should not be about settling. You know people right now are hoping things will get better. This bill? This bill will make things better for hardworking Americans. We want a country where everybody can rise. We want a country where people are confident. We want a country where people can aspire and believe that they can reach their American Idea or their dream. Thats the country were used to having and thats the country were going to have by getting this thing done. And that is why were focused on peoples problems. And that is why were really really excited about getting this done this week."