[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 91 (Thursday, July 14, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           EMPLOYER MANDATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Kim] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, this morning, the Small Business Committee 
spoke for the first time on the issue of employer mandates.
  At the markup of the Small Business Administration reauthorization 
bill, I offered an amendment expressing the sense of Congress that 
employer mandates would be destructive to small business and that 
employer mandates should not be included in any health care reform 
legislation.
  Unfortunately, this amendment was narrowly defeated by a vote of 21 
to 24, with all Republicans and only 3 Democrats voting to eliminate 
these job-killing employer mandates in national health care reform.
  I am deeply disturbed that the Small Business Committee voted to 
support employer mandates, especially when all of the evidence 
demonstrates that mandates will be extremely destructive to small 
businesses.
  A recent study by the CONSAD corporation, for example, predicted that 
nearly a million jobs could be lost due to employer mandates, with 
almost half--470,000 to be exact--coming from small businesses. Even 
more disturbingly, most of those losses will come at the expense of 
lower income women, minorities and families. Another study predicts 
that employer mandates would cost small businesses an extra $29 billion 
a year.
  But we don't have to rely on academic studies to understand the 
economic carnage that would be caused by employer mandates--all we have 
to do is listen to the small business owners we are supposed to be 
representing.
  Several months ago I held a health care town hall meeting for small 
business owners and employees in my district. At that meeting, which 
was attended by about 100 business people, small business owner after 
small business owner told me that employer mandates, as proposed by the 
President, would pose a serious threat to the survival of their 
businesses.
  One owner, who runs several restaurants in my district, testified 
that ``If the Clinton plan were enacted as it stands now, my problems 
as a small business owner would go away because we simply would not 
survive. We would have to close * * *'' If that small restaurant chain 
closes, hundreds of employees will lose their jobs. Most small 
businesses across this country are operating on razor thin margins as 
it is and they simply can not afford the additional burden of health 
insurance * * * not at a time when they are finding it difficult just 
to keep their doors open. to put it simply * * * too many of these 
small companies would be forced to close their doors. That is the 
tragic end result of employer mandates--the loss of precious American 
jobs!
  But it is not just small business owners in my district who are 
worried about employer mandates. Over the last 2 months, the White 
House has sponsored seven different small business conferences, 
attended by the owners and employees of small businesses, in seven 
different States. In 6 out of 7 of those State conferences, held in 
Delaware, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Montana, and Idaho, small 
business owners voted unanimously to reject employer mandates.
  The overwhelming opposition of the small business community to 
employer mandates is easy to understand: Most small businesses simply 
cannot afford to pay for their employees' health insurance and still 
stay in business. The fact is that you cannot increase the payroll 
costs of small businesses by 3.5 to 7.9 percent and expect to continue 
to provide jobs and fuel economic growth.
  My point is simple: Employer mandates are a bad idea and millions of 
the owners and employees of small businesses are frightened!
  However, the Small Business Committee, by voting to support employer 
mandates, chose to ignore the views of the small businesses it is 
supposed to represent. It seems that many members on the Committee are 
more interested in ``toeing the party line'' than in doing what is 
right for America's small businesses.
  I want to assure the small business owners of this country, that I 
will not be discouraged by this temporary defeat and will continue to 
fight to defeat this job-killing proposal.
  I am submitting the record from today's Small Business Committee vote 
into the Record.

       Small Business Committee voted 19-24 on Kim amendment to 
     Title I of the Small Business Administration Reauthorization 
     which would prohibit the use of funds by the Small Business 
     Administration to promote employer mandates in health care 
     reform legislation:
       Ayes: Meyers, Combest, Baker, Hefley, Machtley, Ramstad, 
     Sam Johnson, Zeliff, Collins (GA), McInnis, Huffington, 
     Talent, Knollenberg, Dickey, Kim, Manzullo, Torkildsen, 
     Portman, and Sarpalius
       Noes: LaFalce, Smith (IA), Skelton, Mazzoli, Wyden, 
     Sisisky, Bilbray, Mfume, Flake, Poshard, Clayton, Meehan, 
     Danner, Strickland, Velazquez, Fields, Margolies-Mezvinsky, 
     Tucker, Klink, Roybal-Allard, Hilliard, Lancaster, and 
     Andrews
       Not voting: Conyers, Waters, Thompson

       Small Business Committee voted 21-24 on Kim amendment to 
     Title VII of the Small Business Administration 
     Reauthorization which would express the Sense of Congress 
     that employer mandates would be destructive to small 
     businesses and that employer mandates should not be included 
     in any health care reform legislation:
       Ayes: Meyers, Combest, Baker, Hefley, Machtley, Ramstad, 
     Sam Johnson, Zeliff, Collins (GA), McInnis, Huffington, 
     Talent, Knollenberg, Dickey, Kim, Manzullo, Torkildsen, 
     Portman, Skelton, Sarpalius, and Lancaster
       Noes: LaFalce, Smith (IA), Mazzoli, Wyden, Sisisky, 
     Bilbray, Mfume, Flake, Poshard, Clayton, Conyers, Meehan, 
     Danner, Strickland, Velazquez, Fields, Margolies-Mezvinsky, 
     Tucker, Klink, Roybal-Allard, Hilliard, Andrews, Waters, and 
     Thompson

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