Remarks by President Trump at Meeting with House Republican Leaders and Republican Members of the House Ways and Means Committee
Cabinet Room
1:56 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. I’d like to thank the Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee who are here today to discuss the incredible plan to cut taxes. Now, it’s reform and it’s lots of other things, but we’re cutting taxes. It’ll be the biggest tax cut in our history.
There’s nothing more important to our economy. We see what’s happening with our economy and how well it’s doing. This is going to really bring it to the next level.
Before we begin, I want to make a very brief announcement. I had an excellent meeting today with Chairman Grassley and other lawmakers on immigration reform following the terrorist attack in New York. I’m calling on Congress to immediately terminate the diversity visa lottery program. It’s a disaster for our country.
This program grants visas not on a basis of merit, but simply because applicants are randomly selected in an annual lottery. And the people put in that lottery are not that country’s finest. We know that the program presents significant vulnerabilities to our national security. It’s a very unsafe program for our country, and we’re not going to allow it to happen, and end that program. So I think Congress will take that up very quickly.
Additionally, Congress must end chain migration so that we can have a system that is security-based, not the way it is now. And we want a system, ultimately, that’s merit-based so we can bring in people that will help our country, grow our country, and be safe for our country. We want to select people based on their ability to contribute to our country, not choose people randomly — we have no idea who they are — or based on extended family connections. You have people bringing in 24, 25, 26 people when they come in. We have to end chain migration.