{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-doggett-introduces-motion-postpone-republican-tax-bill-mark", "Rep. Doggett Introduces Motion to Postpone Republican Tax Bill Mark-Up", "2017-11-06", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee, introduced a Motion to Postpone debate of the House Republicans\u2019 tax bill (H.R. 1) for several reasons, including the release yesterday of the \u201cParadise Papers.\u201d A portion of Rep. Doggett\u2019s remarks in Committee are below and a link to his full remarks follow:\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cThis Motion simply requests that we reconvene this markup for next week. Our objective is insight, not delay.\u00a0Incredibly, for this legislation of such magnitude, after so many years, this plan has never had a single public hearing, nor has any member of the Trump Administration official have the courage to come before this Committee and answer questions about this bill. No expert witness has been given the opportunity to explain this bill\u2019s deficiencies, nor has there been an opportunity for thorough independent evaluation of the proposal in this this rush to injustice.\n\u201cDespite our efforts, we still lack the tax returns of President Trump and his 500 plus entities that might show how he and his family will personally benefit.\n\u201cAnd thanks to a free press and investigative journalism, we have the release of the first information on the \u2018Paradise Papers\u2019 concerning offshore tax avoidance in Bermuda and other island tax havens. These explosive revelations once again sound the alarm about the inequities of our tax system and disturbing amounts of tax avoidance. When the privileged avoid their taxes, individuals, small businesses, and domestic businesses are forced to pick up the tab for vital government services.\n\u201cLike the rushed-through Trump immigration policy and the health care repeal disaster, we need to learn from experience, we need some vetting \u2013 in the President\u2019s words, we need \u2018extreme vetting.\u2019 If you don\u2019t have anything to hide, a week and one public hearing won\u2019t impair your efforts.\u201d\nThe House Republican tax bill was belatedly revealed on Thursday, November 2, and mark-up of the bill begins today. There have been no public hearings on H.R. 1 specifically. On Sunday, November 5, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the \u201cParadise Papers\u201d and announced a global investigation of offshore tax avoidance activities by politicians, world leaders, and multinational corporations.\nYou may view Rep. Doggett\u2019s full speech on his Motion to Postpone here.\nYou may view Rep. Doggett\u2019s statement issued after the release of the \u201cParadise Papers\u201d here.\n###\nFollow Lloyd Doggett\nFacebook:\u00a0www.Facebook.com/RepLloydDoggett\u00a0|Twitter:@RepLloydDoggett\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram:@RepLloydDoggett", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-doggett-introduces-motion-postpone-republican-tax-bill-mark"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6990199219435453, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}