[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18036]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          SMALL BUSINESS NEEDS

  (Mrs. KELLY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to 
continue addressing the needs of small businesses that create seven out 
of every 10 jobs in our communities. Small businesses are the backbone 
of our local economies.
  During the past month, I held small business walks down the main 
streets and through the business districts of towns and villages in New 
York's Hudson Valley.
  I talked directly to small business owners and employees in places 
like Warwick, Port Jervis, Beacon and Highland Falls to hear directly 
from them about the challenges they face every day.
  They asked for continued tax relief so they can afford to pay their 
employees. They need to keep more of their earnings in order to create 
new, good paying jobs in our local communities.
  They asked for affordable health insurance to be more accessible for 
them to be able to provide for their employees. Only 41 percent of the 
smallest businesses can afford to offer health benefits, compared with 
99 percent of large companies.
  When I discussed small business health plan legislation that we have 
passed in the House, they often agreed that would be a practical first 
step toward solving the problem of America's uninsured.
  Mr. Speaker, these and other proposals are part of a five-point plan 
I have been pushing to help our small businesses, and I ask my 
colleagues to support these initiatives that level the playing field 
for small businesses and provide them the tax relief they need

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