Speaker Ryan Talks Tax Reform on ‘Fox & Friends’

WASHINGTON, May 10 -- House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., issued the following information:

Speaker Ryan discussed (http://www.speaker.gov/general/speaker-ryan-fox-friends-ahca-better-system-obamacare) the American Health Care Act yesterday morning on Fox & Friends--but that's not all. He also talked about another priority Republicans are focused on: A tax code fit for the 21st century.

"We have one of the worst tax systems in the industrialized world. It's costing us jobs, it's costing us economic growth. We tax our businesses and our products a whole lot more than our foreign competitors tax theirs. So we've got to radically simplify this tax code. Make it easier and simpler for families. Our plan says families can fill out their taxes on a postcard instead of this really complicated system with a really obnoxious IRS. And we've got to get our taxes on our businesses down so they can compete and hire. We think this is one of the most important things we can do to create jobs and economic growth and get people back to work."

"Just 20 percent of American businesses are corporations. Eighty percent of American businesses pay their taxes as individuals. . . . So almost all the jobs come from small businesses, and almost all small businesses pay their taxes as individuals. So we're going to get those tax rates down too."

"There are two to three trillion dollars . . . of money sitting overseas that can't come back in to America to be reinvested in our economy because of our tax laws. So we've got to make it so that all these businesses . . . can bring their money home. Because right now, what the tax code says is, 'If you make money overseas, keep that money overseas, invest overseas, build factories overseas'--we don't want to do that. Let people bring their money back home, companies bring their money back home, and reinvest it in this country. That is a critical piece of tax reform that we know will create jobs and economic growth."

"We all agree--especially as Republicans: Simplify the tax code, get our tax rates down, we get faster economic growth. Make it easier for American businesses to stay in America, to be American businesses, to make things in America."