WASHINGTON, DC – With the first session of the 119th Congress coming to a close, Congressman Rudy Yakym (IN-02) joined The Ripon Society yesterday morning to discuss his work on the Ways & Means Committee and his legislative agenda for 2026.
Yakym, a fourth-generation Hoosier, is currently serving his first term on the powerful Ways & Means Committee which played an integral role in the landmark tax-cutting legislation, the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.
“We delivered on what I believe was pro-growth, pro-America, pro-worker, pro-family legislation because I believe that economic stability and economic growth start with certainty – and certainty starts with permanent tax policy,” Yakym stated in his opening remarks.
“We were able to prevent what would've been the largest tax increase in American history,” he continued. “We were able to deliver a historic tax relief for every single working American through that bill.”
“We delivered on no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on auto loan interest. We provided tax relief for seniors. We increased the child tax credit and made that permanent and indexed to inflation so that families can plan.”
“We created incentives that made people want to invest here in America rather than overseas. We reinstated immediate expensing. We reinstated the full expensing of R&D, but also full expensing of CapEx. We also delivered on things like security, the southern border, modernizing our air traffic control system.”
Later on, the Congressman discussed his bill, the Disabling Enemy Flight Entry and Neutralizing Suspect Equipment Act, also known as the DEFENSE Act.
“I believe that the United States should be the world's leader in innovation, and it should be across all categories. We have far too long ceded innovation in things like drones to China. But drones are already transforming the approach that we take to public safety, to agriculture, to photography, to filming, to so many other things, and we have got to be the world's leader in innovation in that.”
And in addition to needing to step up the development of these technologies, Yakym also called for modern FAA drone regulations in order to encourage investment and widespread commercial adoption.
“We have to have market predictability and stability, because if you look at the billions and billions of dollars of investment that's flown into the drone marketplace over the course of the last 10 years, the investment in the technology has advanced so far that we're ready for this.”
Pivoting to discuss his priorities for the second half of the 119th Congress, Yakym had this to say:
“My focus going into next year is really going to be focused on responsible governing that promotes fiscal discipline and delivers results for the American people. I think that the most productive thing is when I'm engaged with my constituents back home and we focus on simply delivering results here in Washington.”
Later on, the South Bend native fielded a question regarding the impact of the landmark tax cut and what taxpayers can expect in 2026.
“People will see a permanent bump in their paychecks. When you get to April, people will get a much larger refund because of the retroactive nature of the bill going back to January 1st of this past year.”
To view the remarks of Congressman Yakym before The Ripon Society yesterday morning, please click the link below:
