[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5549]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Walberg) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, 3 years ago President Obama promised 
Congress that the American people would have 6 percent unemployment in 
exchange for trillions of taxpayer dollars to pump into the economy. 
Today we know that the stimulus program was mismanaged, ill-conceived, 
and failed to create the jobs promised by the President. For 38 
straight months and counting, the unemployment rate has remained above 
8 percent.
  The American people realize something that my Democrat friends don't 
seem to understand: that government cannot create jobs and shouldn't be 
in the business of handing out jobs. In 2010, the American people sent 
me and many of my colleagues to Washington to cut government spending 
and offer real solutions to job creation. We have been aggressively 
fighting to achieve that challenge.
  Our country needs commonsense, pro-growth policies that will help 
small business regain their confidence. When business owners have faith 
that the government will not raise their taxes, impose new, unnecessary 
regulations, and pick winners and losers in the marketplace, they'll 
invest more. When they invest more, the company grows, and the 
opportunity for American jobs grows with it.
  Just last week, we saw a very clear picture of the different visions 
for job creation held by folks in Washington. My friends in the Senate 
voted on but thankfully failed to pass the Buffett rule. The act would 
impose a tax hike on one class of Americans and would pay for 
approximately 11 hours of government functioning. Talk about a cynical 
ruse serving only to divide our country for political purposes.
  But while my Democrat colleagues in the Senate are working to raise 
taxes on Americans and America's job creators, the House is trying to 
lower them. Last week we passed a small business tax cut, which will 
give businesses with fewer than 500 employees a 20 percent tax 
reduction off their active business income and encourage the creation 
of more jobs for our citizens.
  Data shows that 7 out of every 10 jobs in this country are created by 
companies with fewer than 500 employees. My Republican colleagues and I 
truly believe that small businesses are the backbone of our country's 
economy and their success is vital to our economic recovery. We 
continue to act proactively and, as reflected in the 27 job-creating 
measures passed by the House this Congress alone, to ensure job 
providers are able to create, innovate, and lead.
  We hope our friends in the Senate and White House will decide to join 
us as we say ``yes'' to American jobs for American people.

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