Brady on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers”

ICYMI: Chairman Brady on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers"

Delivering Solutions to Increase U.S. Competitiveness and Improve Lives for All Americans

Today, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) joined C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" to discuss the latest in pro-growth tax reform, health care, and trade enforcement.

Excerpts from the interview:

Delivering Bold, Comprehensive Tax Reform in 2017

"It can get done and we're on the timetable to do that. In the discussions we're having with President Trump's tax team and Senate Republicans, I'm really encouraged by the pace and substance of the issues we're tackling. Not that we have everything resolved yet, but the issues that we're tackling are the right ones... So I haven't seen anything yet that knocks us off our pace for delivering in 2017. And my prediction is nothing is going to knock us off this pace. We have to finish this in 2017."

Leveling the Playing Field for U.S. Workers and Job Creators

"What we're trying to do is level the playing field in the U.S. and abroad so that we can stop U.S. companies and jobs from leaving - more importantly create the right incentives to bring them back... Border adjustment, we proposed, as the best solution to do exactly that... I'm really confident that at the end of the day, whether they take the border adjustment idea in some form or we find another solution, we have to stop jobs from leaving the U.S. And more importantly, we can't give up on the notion that those supply chains and that intellectual property and that technology cannot return to America."

Repealing Obamacare Taxes Now

"Getting [the net investment tax] out of this economy - so stop punishing people for investing in the local community, for example - will create 130,000 jobs in America at a time we need them and help grow paychecks, as well. I also believe the current one trillion dollars of taxes in the current health care law has harmed the economy, it hasn't kept health care prices down, it hasn't kept these insurers in the markets. So it hasn't accomplished any of those health care goals either... if Congress isn't willing to eliminate that tax now, why would it do it later" So I think it's really important for that. In my view, I think Senator Toomey is right continuing to push for getting those taxes out of the U.S. economy... The House spoke very clearly. We want those taxes out of the economy."

Making the Case to Repeal and Replace Obamacare through Reconciliation

"[Delaying replace] doesn't achieve what President Trump set out to do, which is to not only repeal the damaging effects of that law, help people who are trapped in it right now - we are seeing it collapsing in front of our eyes - but to put in place that transition to a free market where there are a lot more choices than there are today, and getting control out of Washington and back to the states and the local communities, so they can design health care that's right for their region or their state.

"I really think the Senate's approach -- certainly in the House -- of not simply repealing but starting to put into place the elements that can make health care affordable... that should continue to be our goal."

Strictly Enforcing U.S. Trade Rules and Holding Our Competitors Accountable

"Our advice to the President has been pretty public - take your time, get it right. There is overcapacity of steel. There are issues to be addressed here. Make sure... that the result is balanced. It's effective. We want to make sure that however the White House frames their ultimate action, that it doesn't punish our allies who are trading fairly. And we want to make sure it doesn't give a green light to those trading unfairly to do more of it. And it's important, too, that whatever that ultimate decision is that it actually works for America and doesn't backfire."