{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=36586694-AE6B-4389-93A9-4D274AAE88DF", "Barrasso: Keep American Families Thriving through Tax Cuts", "2017-11-15", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso\u2019s remarks.\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014 Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor on how the Senate is working to give tax relief and create jobs through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.\r\nExcerpts of Senator Barrasso\u2019s remarks:\r\n\u201cThe Senate Finance Committee is working this week on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.\r\n\u201cThis is a Republican plan to give tax relief to the American people.\r\n\u201cJust like the names of the legislation says, it actually addresses both issues \u2013 tax cuts and jobs.\r\n\u201cFirst of all, the legislation will cut the taxes for American workers.\r\n\u201cOne of the biggest cuts in the plan is that it roughly doubles the standard deduction that people take.\r\n\u201cRight now, the standard deduction for a married couple is about $12,000.\r\n\u201cIf we double it, people won\u2019t pay any federal income taxes at all on the first $24,000 that they earn.\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s a big tax cut, and it\u2019s aimed squarely at lower-income, middle-income families in this country.\r\n\u201cA lot of people will decide to take this deduction instead of going through the painstaking process of itemizing deductions on their income tax returns.\r\n\u201cThat saves people a lot of time.\r\n\u201cIt also saves them the cost of accountants and lawyers who help them figure out the complicated taxes that they end up paying in this country.\r\n\u201cRepublicans are also working to preserve other deductions that are important to American families.\r\n\u201cWhen we put all of these together, we\u2019re going to cut taxes for people and put money back in their pockets, instead of sending it to Washington.\r\n\u201cThe second thing to know about this tax relief legislation is that it\u2019s going to be a big boost for jobs in America.\r\n\u201cIn fact, it will help America create more than 900,000 new jobs.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s also going to lead to higher pay.\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s because the legislation will cut the taxes that small businesses have to pay.\r\n\u201cSmall businesses create most of the jobs in America.\r\n\u201cIf we let them keep more of their money, they can hire more people, help grow their businesses.\r\n\u201cThey can also give their workers a raise, or offer them better benefits.\r\n\u201cWhen Washington takes less, and businesses can keep more, workers are better off \u2013 every time.\r\n\u201cRepublicans also want to bring down the rates that Washington charges other businesses.\r\n\u201cA lot of people work for small businesses, but a lot of people also work for larger businesses as well.\r\n\u201cIf we\u2019re able to cut taxes for those businesses, then those workers can get the same raise.\r\n\u201cHow much more money are we talking about?\r\n\u201cAccording to the Tax Foundation, it amounts to about $2,600 for a typical middle-income family.\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s what you get when you combine the tax cut and the pay raise that people will see across the country.\r\n\u201cFor that family, an extra $2,600 is going to be a very big deal.\r\n\u201cA majority of Americans say that they don't have enough savings today to cover a $500 emergency expense if one came up.\r\n\u201cMillions of American families will be far better off because of the tax relief that Republicans are working on this week.\r\n\u201cIt boosts the economy, it helps individual workers, it helps their families.\r\n\u201cThis is about tax cuts and it\u2019s about jobs.\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s how you keep the economy growing.\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s how we keep American families thriving.\u201d\r\n  ###", 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://www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=36586694-AE6B-4389-93A9-4D274AAE88DF"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7539349608123302, "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"}