[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 24, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ECONOMIC SCALE-BACK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. When I was home this weekend in Johnson City, 
Tennessee, I met a few small business owners who are really feeling the 
effects of this economy. These are real people I'm going to introduce 
you to, not just some abstraction.
  One is a fourth-generation owner of Glenn Wynne Paint and Wallpaper 
Company. Like many responsible small businessmen and women, he is 
trying to figure out how to keep his company long enough to ride out 
this economic mess we are in.
  He did have 25 full-time employees for whom he provided benefits, 
including health care. First, he had to cut back on health care, and 
then he had to eliminate it altogether. Then he cut 15 percent of the 
workforce, and he reduced it again to 15 employees.
  Finally, he cut 10 percent of the pay for all his employees, 
including himself. He even went so far as to cut out the $90 a month he 
was paying for trash removal, choosing to haul the trash himself. He 
also cut out the cable TV in his business.
  As he sees it, he's making tough economic decisions on how to keep 
his company financially stable during this rough economic time. But he 
is astounded that people in Washington can't do the same thing, 
especially because help isn't being targeted for businesses like his 
that really need it. He sees this cap-and-trade tax as one that will 
just finally put him completely out of business.
  Another individual I met has been in business for 35 years and has 
very, very little debt, which makes it easier for him to survive this 
crisis. He had to cut his staff from 50 down to 18 employees and cut 
unnecessary expenses.
  What he's mad about is that while he hears talk about wanting to help 
small business, he still has hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars of 
fees to pay to OSHA and Tennessee's Department of Labor and Workforce 
Development.
  As he sees it, large employers can afford these fees and weather the 
storm, but he doesn't see help for small business. He would like to see 
the government make it easier for small businesses to stay in business 
by easing up on the regulations when they can least afford it.
  Of course, what I had to tell these two gentlemen was that you make 
too much sense to get your ideas heard here in Washington. We haven't 
tightened our belts at all, and definitely haven't gotten our financial 
house in order. We certainly haven't curtailed the unnecessary 
regulations on small business or reduced their fees to help them 
weather this economic storm.
  It's time we started acting more responsibly and passed legislation 
that will stimulate economic growth and prevent our children from 
bearing the burden of this crushing debt we're racking up to pay for 
irresponsible choices of the present.
  On top of this economic stimulus bill comes the President's budget, 
which spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much. That, 
ladies and gentlemen, may be the understatement of the week.
  With a worsening economic crisis in the forecast, you would think 
we'd be talking about how some of the President's ambitious proposals 
could be scaled back. In fact, new economic numbers show larger 
deficits than the President originally predicted--and these numbers are 
already very significant.
  Instead, the administration and its Democratic colleagues are 
insisting they will press ahead with the agenda undeterred, as though 
we don't have an economic crisis.
  The President is not at fault for the State of our economy, and I 
know he is sincere in his desire to get us back on track. But it's 
important he acknowledge the impact of our current economic crisis on 
his agenda. The recession does impact his ability to spend billions 
upon billions of dollars to meet his priorities.
  I think many Americans would take it as a positive sign if the 
President told the people frankly that because we're in a recession, we 
have to scale back some on his agenda and focus all our efforts on 
restoring economic growth and creating jobs.
  The American people will appreciate hearing this because it's what 
they're already doing. I think they would have much more confidence in 
our government if we acted just like them.

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