8/2/12  Washington, D.C. – Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA) spoke today on the floor of the House of Representatives in favor of H.R. 6169 – "Pathway to Job Creation through a Simpler, Fairer Tax Code Act of 2012."  The legislation would require the House and Senate to expeditiously consider tax reform legislation.  Under the bill, expedited procedures would be applied to tax reform legislation containing principles included in the last two House-passed budgets: (1) consolidation of the current individual income tax brackets into not more than two brackets and a top rate of not more than 25 percent; (2) reduction in the corporate tax rate to not more than 25 percent; (3) repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax; (4) broadening of the tax base to maintain revenue between 18 and 19 percent of the economy;and (5) change from a ‘‘worldwide’’ to a ‘‘territorial’’ system of taxation.

You can watch a video of the speech here as well as read the text of the remarks below:

Yesterday, this House voted to stop the job-destroying tax hike that threatens to hit every American taxpayer at midnight on December 31. Today, we have an opportunity to build on that. We have an opportunity not only to do the right thing for jobs and job creators in the short term, but to begin building the foundation for a more stable and prosperous economy in the future.

Few would argue that our current tax code is ideal. It's far too complicated, with taxpayers forced to spend huge amounts of valuable time and money just to calculate what they owe. It's often unfair, with some taxpayers enjoying the benefits of narrow tax breaks that are not available to others. And many of its features penalize the work, investment, and savings that are necessary to economic growth.

The bill before us lays out a pathway to a simpler, fairer, and more pro-growth tax code. With tax reform, our tax code can become a means to support job creation, rather than an obstacle standing in the way. I want to commend Chairman Camp for his outstanding leadership on this issue and for making it clear that House Republicans are serious about tax reform. Today's vote will send a strong message that tax reform is moving forward. I urge all members to vote YES.