Policy and Legal

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Saturday, commending  legislators on the passage of comprehensive, pro-growth tax legislation earlier this month and underscoring the benefits of the law’s tax provisions for manufacturers nationwide.

What he said: “I want to begin simply by stating: thank you. Because you have made the investment of a generation in America’s manufacturers, you have strengthened the hand of the 13 million people who make things in America, and you have delivered historic pro-growth tax legislation powering every manufacturer in America to invest, innovate and lead,” Timmons said.

• “Let’s remember what was on the line: the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was rocket fuel for our industry. Powered by that legislation, our industry kept our promises. We created the most jobs in 20 years and the strongest wage growth in 15 years. We put more factories into motion, more shovels into the dirt and more prosperity into our communities.”
• “Several of the key provisions from 2017 had already expired, as would nearly all others by the end of this year. So this year was a time for choosing. We could double down on an investment that worked and make the 2017 provisions stronger and permanent, or we could let those provisions expire and wipe out 6 million jobs, more than half a trillion dollars in wages and more than a trillion dollars in GDP.”

The victory: “This is a manufacturers’ law through and through,” Timmons said.

• “By making immediate R&D expensing, full expensing of capital equipment and interest deductibility permanent, this Manufacturing Law delivers for investment and innovation.”
• “Through the pass-through deduction, reduced individual tax rates and estate tax provisions for family-owned businesses, this Manufacturing Law delivers for small businesses that power our economy.”
• “Through protecting the 21% corporate tax rate, and through strengthening the international tax system that incentivizes companies to invest here, build here [and] hire here, this Manufacturing Law will help deliver another American century.”

Reagan’s legacy: “As I speak with you today in the library that bears his name on behalf of the industry that you have reenergized, I think back to President Reagan’s very words when he signed the 1986 Tax Reform Act. …”

• “[President Reagan] said [of the American people]: ‘It was their hard work that built our cities and farmed our prairies, their genius that continually pushed us beyond the boundaries of existing knowledge, reshaping our world with the steam engine, polio vaccine and the silicon chip. It was their faith in freedom and love of country that sustained us through trials and hardships and through wars, and it was their courage and selflessness that enabled us to always prevail.’”
• “That’s the story of manufacturing. It’s a story that must go on—because when manufacturing wins, America wins,” Timmons added.

A promise: “[T]hrough the power and potential of these reforms, manufacturers will work every day to make sure that all Americans benefit,” Timmons concluded. “You have my word, and just as we did after 2017, manufacturers will deliver again.”

NAM on TV: Timmons also appeared on NewsNation to preview the hearing, emphasizing the importance of the new law’s tax provisions.

• “Manufacturers have been given an incredible opportunity with this tax law,” he said. “We called it ‘once in a generation.’ I think this is once in the lifetime of the country that we’ve seen something that is this competition focused, allowing us to attract investment to our shores.”