[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 57 (Thursday, April 19, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H2013-H2014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SMALL BUSINESSES CREATE NEW JOBS

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, over the past two decades, 
our Nation's small businesses have generated 65 percent of new jobs. 
According to a recent small business survey from the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce, today 64 percent of small businesses stand idle at current 
staffing levels, with 52 percent not hiring because they aren't 
confident in our Nation's recovery, and another 33 percent pointing to 
uncertainty driven by Washington.
  These concerns are justifiable, Mr. Speaker, with the Senate 
continually choosing to ignore our jobs crisis in favor of advancing an 
agenda that will only grow government, not our economy.
  The latest proposal surely wasn't about economic growth, for it takes 
private investment away from small businesses and turns it over to 
bureaucracies. It wasn't even about fairness, because it was fair to no 
one--not to the wealthy who pay even more taxes instead of investing in 
our economy, and not to the rest of us who need jobs, growth, and 
greater opportunity.
  With economic uncertainty still pervasive, every decision made by 
government must pass the simple test of

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whether or not it aids the Nation's recovery. Senate Democrats either 
fail to understand our economic problems or have, as troubling as it 
may be, chosen to ignore them.

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