[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 24, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H1374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REDUCE UNNECESSARY REGULATIONS

  (Mr. FORBES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, despite the negative chants we hear from 
those refusing to take off their partisan uniforms, there is good news 
when it comes to the economy: 6 consecutive months of job growth; 
364,000 new jobs in the last 6 months; and the largest 8-month decline 
in unemployment since 1995. But there are more challenges ahead.
  Perhaps our biggest opportunity is the chance to reduce unnecessary 
government regulations on small businesses. Every single year, the cost 
of complying with government regulation adds up to $843 billion. For 
firms employing fewer than 20 employees, the annual regulatory burden 
is $6,975 per employee. We put these costly regulations on small 
businesses, which provide approximately 75 percent of the net new jobs 
added to the economy, represent 99.7 percent of all employers, employ 
50.1 percent of the private workforce, and represent 97 percent of all 
U.S. exporters.
  Instead of trying to raise taxes on small businesses, we need to 
reduce unnecessary regulations.

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