Rep. Camp: Tax Code Needs to Be Remade

Michigan Republican Rep. Dave Camp, the new chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, says the tax system shaped by a 1986 congressional overhaul is in some ways “a shell of its former self” in need of fundamental reform, The Hill reports.

“In the intervening years, members of Congress — from both sides of the aisle — have loaded the tax code with a dizzying array of credits, deductions, exclusions and exemptions,” Camp says in prepared remarks at a Ways and Means hearing on tax reform.
 
“To really reform the tax code in a way that lowers the tax rate, broadens the base and promotes the competitiveness of American companies, we will need to make some tough choices,” Camp says. “I don’t think this can be, nor should it be, a partisan exercise. And it cannot happen because just one chamber passes a bill. It will require the active participation of all members of this committee. It will require us to work with the administration. And yes, we will even have to talk to the Senate.”