Pat Toomey Delivers Republican Weekly Address

Member Group : U.S. Senator Pat Toomey

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey Delivers Weekly Republican Address

‘I remain hopeful that we can meet our goal and I urge my Democratic colleagues to join us in this effort. We have what is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pass legislation that will generate millions of jobs, create a simpler, fairer tax system with lower rates for everyone, and put our government on a path toward fiscal sanity.’

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania) released the following
weekly Republican address. The address is available in both audio and video format and is embargoed until 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, November 19th, 2011.

Audio of the address is available
here

Video of the address will be available here

You can download the address
here

Full transcript of Senator Toomey’s Address:

"Hi, I’m Senator Pat Toomey from the great state of Pennsylvania, and I’m pleased to have this opportunity to share a few thoughts with you today.

"Like so many Americans, I’m deeply concerned about the two biggest problems facing our country today:

"First, the economy has hit a wall with unemployment sitting stubbornly at 9
percent. After three years of failed stimulus programs and government takeovers,
Americans are rightly asking, ‘Where are the jobs?’

"Second, out-of-control federal spending over the past three years has resulted in record breaking deficits and a $15 trillion debt which grows daily. If we do nothing and allow the status quo to prevail, we don’t have to look far to see what the consequences will be.

"Across the Atlantic, we’re watching a fiscal disaster unfold in Europe with social unrest, riots in the streets, governments failing, financial markets imploding and imminent bankruptcy. Sadly, this is the inevitable result of an extended period of inadequate economic growth and wildly excessive debt.

"I’m concerned that this administration and many in Congress are pursuing the very same policies. With its job-killing taxes and regulations and record-breaking spending, this administration has put us on a path that leads to Europe’s destination.

"The good news is we’re not too far down that path. We still have time and
opportunity to avoid the financial crisis that Europe is struggling with today.

"It’s not too late for the United States.

"Now, I have the good fortune of sitting on a committee that has the opportunity to make progress on both of these two priorities: restoring economic growth and bringing our deficits under control.

"The best way to revive the American economy is to reform our broken tax code. We should seize this opportunity to throw out this unfair monstrosity and replace it with a system that will lower tax rates for every single American, simplify the code, and get rid of the special interest tax breaks and loopholes that make this code the 70,000 page mess that it is. Our tax code has to go.

"Every bipartisan commission that has looked at our deficit crisis has come to the same conclusion: Pro-growth tax reform is a vital part of the solution.

"That’s why we Republican members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction have proposed a plan that replaces our current tax code with a simpler and fairer version that will encourage small businesses to expand and hire new workers and encourage creative hardworking Americans to open new businesses.

"Furthermore, this reform should be permanent so that job creators across America will know they will not be subject to the biggest tax hike in American history, which is currently looming a mere 14 months away.

"We Republicans are so committed to this job-creating tax reform and reaching an
agreement with our Democratic colleagues that we’ve offered to use this tax reform as a way to generate revenue for deficit reduction. Even the second highest ranking Democrat in the United States Senate has described the Republican proposal as a ‘breakthrough.’

"Now, in addition to kick-starting our economy with tax reform, our proposal will curb the deficit by cutting spending. After all, the problem is not that Americans are under-taxed, but that our government overspends.

"And that’s why we’ve proposed cutting spending by $750 billion over 10 years. Now, let me be clear. We’ve identified several trillion dollars in sensible, responsible spending reductions that would actually resolve our fiscal crisis. But in the face of intense Democratic opposition, we’ve scaled back our proposal to just $750 billion – less than 2 percent of what our government is projected to spend over the next 10 years.

"Surely our Democratic colleagues can agree that a bloated federal government that has grown by about 25 percent in the last few years can tighten its belt by 2 percent over the next 10 years.

"The hour is late. By law, our work on this committee must be completed this coming week. But I remain hopeful that we can meet our goal and I urge my Democratic colleagues to join us in this effort. We have what is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pass legislation that will generate millions of jobs, create a simpler, fairer tax system with lower rates for everyone, and put our government on a path toward fiscal sanity.

"We don’t have to follow the path that Europe has taken. We can learn from their
mistakes.

"We can continue to be the land of unparalleled opportunity and prosperity. And the 21st century can be another great American century.

"The American people will make sure of that if we in Washington will just let them.

"I’m Pat Toomey, and I thank you for listening."

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Rebecca Neal
Press Secretary
Sen. Pat Toomey
502 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-8609