[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 26, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H3842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SMALL BUSINESS JOB CREATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my thoughts on a matter of 
deep concern to me, small business job creation.
  We have seen a lot of progress this year. Our economy has created 
over 500,000 jobs in 2010 alone. Last month, 290,000 jobs were created, 
with 231,000 of them in the private sector, the largest number of new 
jobs created in the last 4 years. While these are great statistics, we 
still have a long, long way to go. It will take time to recover the 8 
million jobs lost over the course of this recession.
  One positive thing that Congress could do to support jobs is to do 
all that we can to support small businesses. With two out of every 
three new jobs created by small businesses, they are the driving force 
of our economy. Unfortunately, they have also been the hardest hit by 
the recession, having lost over 2.4 million jobs.
  As President Obama indicated in his meeting with the small business 
leaders, this is the Nation where anyone with a good idea and the will 
to work hard can succeed, and I agree with President Obama.
  New York City is no stranger to good ideas, hard work, or small 
businesses. The city is home to over 200,000 small businesses which 
create hundreds of thousands of jobs, provide valuable goods and 
services, and help drive our local economy.
  While the government can't get small businesses through all of the 
tough times, it can remove barriers that prevent businesses from 
growing and being able to succeed. We must do all that we can to 
support the work of the countless entrepreneurs that sustain our 
economy.
  I encourage my colleagues in the House and in the Senate to work 
together to enact policies that will support small business job 
creation. We must work to eliminate these barriers and to permit people 
to be able to expand their businesses and to be able to create jobs.
  We need to make certain that folks have an opportunity to work. We 
have people that have gone to college and are coming out with degrees 
and still cannot find a job. I think the time has come when the 
Congress must come together and create jobs and job opportunities for 
these young people in particular that want to work but are being denied 
the opportunity because they lack a job.

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