[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 31, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H4138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SMALL BUSINESS

  (Mr. LEE of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. LEE of New York. Mr. Speaker, small businesses created over 80 
percent of the jobs in this country in the past decade, yet Washington 
continues to apply erroneous legislation that hurts and dampens the 
entrepreneurial spirit we have in this country.
  Whether it is health care costs, high taxes, or promoting legislation 
which opens businesses up to more frivolous lawsuits, Washington is 
making it very difficult on hardworking Americans when we ask them to 
shoulder more burdens which they continually face.
  That is what I heard yesterday when I conducted a small business 
roundtable in my district. One of these small business owners said, 
``We don't want to depend on the government for anything, but they can 
help us by understanding that the burdens they are placing are 
trickling down and breaking the backs of small business.''
  We can start to change that by passing H.R. 1552, legislation I have 
introduced with my colleague from Maryland, Frank Kratovil, that will 
give a boost to new small businesses by increasing the maximum tax 
deduction on their startup costs from $5,000 to $20,000. This 
bipartisan initiative will provide firms with the much-needed resources 
they need.

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