Roe: Congress continuing to work on Trump policies

Published 4:06 pm Friday, December 8, 2017

With the passage of tax reform legislation through both chambers of Congress, members of the nation’s governing body continue to work on President Trump’s policy according to one local lawmaker.

U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, M.D., said as he travels the First Congressional District he hears from constituents that Congress is not supporting President Trump or his policy ideas. In response, Roe said members of Congress, particularly in the House of Representatives have been working hard to tackle the primary issues Trump identified in his campaign for office: repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), border security and immigration issues, veterans issues, and tax reform.

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The most recent of those congressional victories came when both chambers passed their version of tax reform legislation.

The House of Representatives passed their bill first, and members of the Senate passed their version last weekend.

“I applaud the Senate for voting to pass their version of tax reform over the weekend,” Roe said. “This vote paves the way for the House and Senate to formally meet through a conference committee to iron out the differences between the bills.”

With the bills now in conference committee, Roe said he believes legislators will work together to draft a comprehensive piece of legislation that will benefit the majority of residents in the First Congressional District.

“Comprehensive tax reform will give East Tennesseans a much-needed boost in their paychecks, increase job growth across the country and create a competitive tax environment for all businesses – both large and small,” Roe said. “The Senate vote gets us one step closer to getting a bill to the president’s desk by Christmas, and I will continue to support these commonsense changes to our tax code that will greatly benefit Tennesseans.”

Roe said he feels the legislation that comes out of the conference will pass votes by the House and the Senate and make its way to the president’s desk.

If the combined bill is signed into law, it will mark the first time since 1986 that tax reform was enacted by Congress, Roe said.

The bill includes a “sunset” date when it will cease to be law, but Roe said that if the reforms under the legislation are working he feels confident Congress will vote to make them permanent.

Under the proposed legislation, Roe said most of the residents of his District will benefit from the changes to the tax law, and that is why he has been such a strong supporter of the bill.

“I’ve got to look after my District,” he said.

There are some criticisms of the bill, which Roe said is to be expected.

“This is not a perfect tax bill,” he said. “You’ll never write a perfect one, but it beats the mess we have now.”

Among the other items on Trump’s agenda which Roe said Congress has been working on, Roe said the House previously passed legislation to replace and repeal the Affordable Care Act, but the bill died on the Senate side.

A number of bills have passed which have increased support services to veterans and created more accountability in the Veterans Affairs system.

After the holiday break, Roe said Congress will begin work addressing immigration and border security.

“We are going to have a comprehensive immigration bill ready at the first of the year,” he said.