Washington – Business Roundtable leaders today issued the following statement on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee’s first hearing of 2016, “Reaching America’s Potential: Delivering Growth and Opportunity for All Americans.” The Committee oversees tax and trade issues, two key components of the Business Roundtable agenda for increased economic growth and employment.

“Expanding U.S. trade with other countries is central to creating the economic momentum we need for more growth and opportunity,” said Tom Linebarger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cummins Inc. and Chair of the Business Roundtable International Engagement Committee.

“Enacting the Trans-Pacific Partnership and finalizing other ongoing trade and investment negotiations are critical to helping American companies and workers compete and succeed in the global marketplace.”

“The outdated and anti-competitive U.S. tax system is driving business out of the United States,” said Mark A. Weinberger, Global Chairman & CEO of EY and Chair of the Business Roundtable Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. “It’s an unfortunate reality that the number of U.S.-headquartered companies in the Global Fortune 500 has declined by 28 percent since 2000.”

“Business tax reform is necessary to reboot our economy to produce more jobs and support higher wages for American workers,” continued Weinberger.

Business Roundtable is focused on greater job expansion and economic growth – national priorities that are inextricably linked. Informing our plan is our collective business experience as CEOs of America’s leading companies, experience that tells us what it takes to build momentum for the United States in 2016 and beyond. To learn more about solutions to expand jobs and grow the U.S. economy, visit www.businessroundtable.org/growth.