[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 91 (Thursday, June 23, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H4470]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JOB CREATORS IN TEXAS ``JUST SAY NO'' TO MORE GOVERNMENT HELP
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Brady) for 5 minutes.
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Good morning, America. President Reagan once said
the nine most terrifying words in the English language were: I'm from
the government and I'm here to help.
Recently, I met with job creators, small businesses and mid-size
businesses in my east Texas district to talk about jobs, and I wish the
President would have been with me to listen to the men and women who
create jobs in my district, and they're like the men and women who
create jobs across America. In meeting after meeting, job creators in
my district made their voices heard loud and clear. They don't want
another Washington jobs bill. They don't want government that taxes
more, spends more, regulates more, and borrows more. They aren't
looking to Washington for more incentives or tools to start hiring.
Want more jobs, they ask? Then get your finances in order and get
Washington out of the way of our economic recovery. They want this
Congress to cut now and cut deep, and when this Congress thinks it's
cut enough wasteful and nonessential government spending, they want
this Congress to cut more. In other words, they want their lawmakers to
do what it takes to get our Nation back on sound footing.
In Willis, city council member Anna Ross asked, We're making the
tough choices in our city budget. When will the Federal Government do
the same?
At the Conroe Rotary Club, Angela Allen told me she wants Washington
to pay down the debt, go after fraud in Medicare, and above all, get
out of the way of our job creators.
In Orange, Texas, small businesspeople flat out rejected more
borrowed stimulus. They insist Congress not raise the debt ceiling
unless we begin cutting up Washington's credit cards.
And local hospital administrator Jarren Garrett said it as bluntly as
can be: Control spending.
In Huntsville, Texas, I heard how concerned people over our huge job-
killing Tax Code. Sandra Sherman not only wants us to stop the
spending. She wants government out of so many areas of our lives from
housing, and banking, and medicine, and energy, insurance, and other
sectors.
E.V. Blissard sent a loud message that we should not give in to the
big spenders. E.V. is right. We can't give up the fight for a fair tax
or to save Medicare and Social Security for our young people.
I heard that same message in Livingston, Texas, and New Caney, Texas,
where they said forcing fewer and fewer taxpayers to carry more and
more of the Federal Government burden is a sure way to kill the golden
goose of prosperity.
Fear and uncertainty of what's coming next from Washington, including
higher taxes, higher health care costs, higher energy costs is keeping
these employers from putting out that ``Help Wanted'' sign we're all
looking for.
In every town hall, roundtable, and civic club in my district the
four letter word on the lips of everyone's tongue was ``debt.'' Mr.
President, in Texas the businesses that can help America pull out of
its economic slump say it's time to cut up America's credit cards and
end the spending spree in Washington. They will tell you if Washington
doesn't back away from the cliff of more debt, more spending, more
regulation, and more taxes, they fear we might cease to recognize our
great Nation in the future.
Today, 2 years after that economic recovery supposedly started years
after we spent $820 billion against our Republican objections, that
stimulus, we have fewer Americans working today than when the stimulus
began, one-half million fewer people working than when all that
stimulus was supposed to jump-start the economy. Manufacturing is down,
factory orders are down, consumer confidence is down. We were promised
our unemployment rate right now would be 6\1/2\ percent. Well, it is
almost 9 percent. We have the largest number of people out of work,
unemployed. It's almost at historic levels. We have fewer people
working today than almost a quarter of a century ago, fewer people in
the workforce in almost a generation.
The stimulus failed. It is time for a new approach. It's time to
listen to the job creators. What they really did like, by the way, was
the Republican plan for America's job creators to get the Tax Code out
of the way of our small business people, to get higher energy and
health care costs out of the way of our job creators. They want to
lower the barriers so America competes and finds new customers around
the world, get those barriers out of the way, and they want a better
business climate, more patent reform, more lawsuit reform, get those
extra costs out of the way of our small businesses, and they want us to
get our financial house in order.
{time} 1100
Mr. President, get out of the White House, listen to our job
creators. They don't want more government jobs bills. They want you and
this Congress out of the way of what they know they want to do. And
with that, we will bring jobs, bring the unemployment rate down, and
bring us back to the strongest economy in the world, not just for a few
years but for the entire century.
____________________