Sometimes, it almost seems like Washington doesn’t want America’s small businesses to succeed. Every year, the government piles on pages of new and burdensome regulations, imposes fines and fees on providing healthcare to employees, and makes it more and more difficult to grow a business. Small businesses are often so overwhelmed with this onslaught of paperwork many are forced to hire armies of accountants and lawyers just to ensure they operate in compliance with the law. There’s no time these frustrating realities are more evident than in the lead-up to Tax Day.

This month, I held a Forum on Tax Policy with Senator David Vitter in Lafayette, where we brought together small business owners and tax experts from Louisiana to tell us how the federal government’s complicated and onerous tax policy hurts their ability to succeed in Louisiana. I was disappointed but not surprised when Lafayette small business owner Sadie Shamsie outlined how compliance with the IRS costs her 9-person firm the equivalent of hiring one new employee. The aim of federal tax policy should be to work alongside businesses and encourage them to grow and develop, not to bury them under piles of paperwork and red tape. Today, we know that’s not the case.

As Louisiana’s voice on tax issues, I want to continue to hear from voices like Sadie Shamsie who consistently experience the negative effects of bad tax policy. I have the privilege of serving on the House Ways & Means Committee in Congress, which is charged with jurisdiction over tax and revenue policy. Under the leadership of Chairman Paul Ryan, our committee has begun to work on a comprehensive rewrite of the tax code. It is my goal to ensure our effort will accomplish the broad goals of making the tax code simpler and fairer by closing loopholes and lowering overall rates. That’s just common sense.

Louisiana needs a champion willing to stand up for small businesses and their employees who are suffering under our current tax code. I look forward to working with you to craft tax policy that encourages growth, job creation, and a healthy American economy that will promote opportunity and prosperity for all.