[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8016]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         IMPACT OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT ON SMALL BUSINESSES

  (Mr. ROE of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, during a hearing on the 
Education and Workforce Committee, Secretary Sebelius dismissed 
concerns regarding the impact that the Affordable Care Act will have on 
small businesses as ``speculation.''
  But in my district--and all across this country--the negative impact 
of this law is a sad reality. I've held field hearings in Indiana, 
Pennsylvania, and most recently North Carolina to hear directly from 
job creators about how they will have to cut hours or hire fewer 
employees because of the Affordable Care Act.
  Just this past Sunday, my hometown paper, the Johnson City Press, ran 
an advertisement from a Burger King franchisee owner announcing he was 
being forced to close one of his stores as a result of, among other 
things, ``a law so unfriendly to business and workers it forces the 
business to limit hardworking Americans to less hours and lower pay at 
a time of high unemployment and less opportunity for people to 
prevail.''
  This entrepreneur wants to grow his business, not shrink it. But 
instead, we are limiting his opportunities and those of Tennesseans 
that he would employ. Speculation? I hardly think so. We can--and 
must--do better.

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