[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 109 (Thursday, July 19, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H5013-H5014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      AMERICANS HOLD THE KEY TO THE AMERICAN DREAM--NOT GOVERNMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I couldn't believe my ears last Friday when 
President Obama made the revealing statement: if you have a business, 
you didn't build that. Someone else made that happen.
  The President's decision to speak as an authority on the private 
sector, where he has never staked his own livelihood, is baffling. The 
takeaway from his speech may be boiled down to this: it's not your 
smarts; it's not your work ethic. If not for the government, where 
would you be?
  Ask the entrepreneur who has taken real risk if that rings true. Ask 
the small business owner who took out a second mortgage to get his 
company off the ground. Ask those who wakened before dawn to fire up 
the ovens at their bakery or to tend to the needs on their farm. Was 
Washington a co-laborer in their work? Should Washington claim any 
credit for their success? Job creators stake their own money and 
security on their ventures and most do so without the safety net of a 
government grant or bailout.
  In America, not everyone chooses to take those risks and join the 
ranks of job creators; and among those who do, not everyone succeeds. 
But that is the symptom of a choice-driven free market and part of the 
beauty of our country. That is why our Declaration itemizes as one of 
our inalienable rights the pursuit of happiness. This is the 
understanding that the American Dream looks different for everyone and 
that through hard work, talent, choice, and opportunity, so too will 
its results.
  Inherent in the American psyche is the belief that hard work can 
change the course of a person's life. I know that to be true in my own 
life; and 63 percent of Americans share that belief, as opposed to 37 
percent of French, 45 percent of Dutch, and 46 percent of Norwegians. 
That hope in hard work is among our country's greatest assets, and it 
is a tragedy that the principle was so diminished by our White House.
  You see, Mr. Speaker, I have a background as a small businesswoman. 
Together with my husband, Tom, we built an independent nursery and 
landscaping business in North Carolina more than 30 years ago, and it's 
still in our family today. I've seen what it takes to keep a small 
business afloat. The hours are long, the strain on the family can be 
significant, and you live with the knowledge that one sustained 
economic downturn could spell the end of your life's work.
  No one from the government was there when my husband and I worked in 
the rain and snow to finish jobs so we could get paid, or cut Christmas 
trees and load them when the temperature was so brutally cold we could 
hardly tie knots to keep them on a truck. No one from government was 
there in the wee hours of the morning when we were doing our regular 
jobs while at the same time working to start our business.
  Small businesses operate in a world of bottom lines Washington knows 
very little about. Unlike Washington, they don't have the luxury to 
deficit spend, print more money, or profess as ``spending cuts'' lower-
than-anticipated growth.
  When the President claimed the American system ``allowed'' the 
successful to thrive, he made a dangerous error. Government doesn't 
allow its citizens to thrive, nor does it ``enable'' them to thrive or 
``permit'' them to thrive. That language suggests government is a 
benefactor possessing the authority to give or take the blessings of 
open commerce as it sees fit. No, government does not ``allow'' you to 
thrive. Government, when it operates in its constitutional capacity, 
does not obstruct your thriving.
  Ask small business owners today and they will likely tell you they 
exist in spite of government's burdens and interference. Government 
already obligates small businesses to pay more than $10,000 per 
employee each year to comply with Federal regulations. That is money 
they are not directing toward hiring new employees. But even with that 
knowledge, Washington's regulatory tsunami continues. So do the taxes.
  In a faltering economy, job creation is of paramount importance; and 
when

[[Page H5014]]

you raise taxes in a faltering economy, job creation is thwarted. The 
President acknowledged as much in 2009, but his policies run to the 
contrary.
  Perhaps the President's lack of familiarity with running a business 
in a recession is responsible for his insistence on increasing taxes on 
940,000 small business tax filers in 2013. Perhaps it's because he 
doesn't know the ins and outs of private sector creation that he's 
willing to risk 710,000 American jobs on his tax crusade. We who know 
the private sector want to spare him that lesson. Taxes will devastate 
our economy. To grow it, every American should benefit from an 
extension of tax relief.
  Mr. Speaker, Washington didn't buy the American Dream for the 
millions of small businesses that comprise the backbone of our economy. 
Nor did Washington show up sick when a shift needed to be covered, miss 
soccer games because a shipment had to be received, or work graveyard 
because someone had to do it. Americans did that.
  Too quickly we forget that everything the government has it takes 
from taxpayers; and if taxpayers do poorly, so does the government. So 
Washington must remain mindful. If the policies it imposes make it 
harder for small businesses to grow and create jobs, and eliminate 
their ability to invest, it is Washington that will find itself in 
crisis as it is now.

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