Washington--Speaking at an event on Capitol Hill sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform, Joint Economic Committee Chairman Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., highlighted the increasing growth and opportunity resulting from regulatory reform and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The remarks, as prepared, appear below.

I have a question for hardworking taxpayers and families: Are you better off today than you were 15 months ago?

I’m the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, where my staff of economists and I crunch the numbers every week to measure the economy’s progress.

And things are looking good.

Business optimism is up.

Capital investment is up.

The economy is improving steadily.

GDP is moving back up.

Unemployment is down—6 straight months of 4.1% unemployment, something we haven’t seen since the year 2000.

Some thought this wasn’t possible, particularly the last administration, who told us to settle for meager growth.

As far as I’m concerned, that would be true, if you assumed the worst and felt the only way forward was to have the government take over the economy.

But we know better, and that’s because we believe in the American people.

Our dreams as a nation don’t rely on government fiat or foreign influence, but on the resourcefulness, the innovativeness, and the hard work of everyday Americans. 

That’s why we passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 

Just yesterday, Rick Hampton, who runs Circuit Interruption Technology Inc., a family-owned small business in Minnesota, told his story to the Joint Economic Committee.

Rick said before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, $1 in profit would soon be whittled down by taxes and eventually leave his company with only 35 cents of the original dollar.

The long-term drag of a broken tax codeencouraged American employers to move their manufacturing, research and development, innovation, jobs, and headquarters overseas.

After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, however, things are different. Folks like Rick are investing in their employees. He gave his employees a bonus of one extra week. He gave his employees a pay raise. He gave his employees’ 401k program a 5% bump. He’s hiring more people. And even more notable, he is evaluating the possibility of bringing manufacturing back to America. 

This is just one story, but it shows the progress we are making by believing in American workers and job creators, instead of empowering Washington.

So let’s get back to my initial question: Are you better off now than you were 15 months ago?

Probably so. 

Because already seeing very encouraging results. And it’s only going to get better. 

Why is this happening? Because we have embraced a vision that lets Americans keep more of their hard-earned money, that lets Americans get back to work, that lets our prosperity grow based on Americans’ hard work.

We recognize our nation’s greatest asset, the American people, and know that, so long as we continue to have faith in the American people, the best days for our republic remain ahead.

Thank you.