On Saturday August 10th, the Iowa State Fair set an all-time single-day attendance record — more than 128,000 people walked through the gates to spend quality time with family, friends, and neighbors and participate in this time-honored Iowa tradition. In total, over 1.1 million people made the trip to Des Moines to eat an assortment of fried foods, play games, win prizes, and check out the hundreds of booths littered throughout the fairgrounds. Just like the attendance record, this year’s State Fair included another unique feature. For the first time in recent memory, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee – of which I am a member – held a field hearing at the Iowa State Fair to hear directly from Iowans about tax and agricultural policy, particularly the looming expiration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017.

This has been a top priority for me since I was elected to Congress. I believe that the voices of our families, farmers, and small businesses deserve to be heard on Capitol Hill and that their suggestions, comments, ideas, and concerns should be fully considered when writing, passing, and implementing policies and laws. That’s why I am grateful to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) for bringing the committee to Iowa and allowing our job creators, farmers, and families to join the conversation about the importance of building upon the success of TCJA to strengthen our economy, lower costs for Iowans, and improve our competitive position against China.

Without congressional action, our families, farmers, and businesses face a combined tax hike of $7 trillion. Yes, that’s right. $7 trillion on the backs of American families, workers, small businesses, and farms for no reason at all. That’s why, as part of our work to lower taxes and cut costs, my colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee are working to prevent these massive tax increases through sound, pro-growth tax policies.

During our hearing, I made a specific point to emphasize the negative impact of the death tax on our family farms and small businesses and highlighted my legislation – the Death Tax Repeal Act – to eliminate this double tax for good. Iowa families and farmers work too hard to build up their businesses to have Uncle Sam send them a massive tax bill after a loved one passes away that could cause financial ruin. It’s wrong, unfair, and counterproductive. We want to incentivize the next generation to run the family farm and keep the family business where it belongs – in the family. The way we achieve this goal is by permanently repealing the death tax so that our farmers and family businesses keep more of their hard-earned money and we keep China – and any of our other foreign adversaries – from buying up our farmland.

We also covered the importance of extending the 20% deduction on qualified business income for small-business owners from their federal taxes and the need to make 100% immediate expensing permanent. The 20% tax cut for small businesses is an important investment in our rural communities, freeing up extra dollars to support employees, fund critical projects, and keep family-owned businesses on Main Street. This tax reduction also lets our small and family-owned businesses keep more of the money they earn to either invest back in their businesses, store away for a rainy day, educate their children, or bring more employees on payroll. Similarly, 100% immediate expensing will help our farmers purchase and repair equipment and make investments in new, cutting-edge agricultural technologies. Without this provision reauthorized, our agricultural community will not have the capital necessary to keep their equipment running smoothly and their operations competitive globally.

Additionally, we heard from a mother from Glenwood who pointed to the doubled child tax credit and the enhanced standard deduction as important relief from inflation to keep her family’s budget whole and raise three children. The increased standard deduction exempts a greater amount of family income from federal taxes while the doubled child tax credit lets parents put more money towards their children instead of the federal government. These are the types of pro-family, pro-worker tax policies that will not only help Iowans get by but get ahead.

Having Chairman Smith and my Ways and Means Committee colleagues in Iowa was an important way to show how the work that we do on Capitol Hill has real-life impacts on the ground. We must extend and build upon the successes of TCJA to cut taxes for our families, help our farmers invest in new agricultural technologies, and let our small businesses grow and create good-paying jobs. A strong economy depends on a competitive, fair tax code – and that’s why reauthorizing and improving TCJA is of the utmost importance to me and my colleagues.

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Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, represents Iowa’s Fourth District in the U.S. House.