[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 179 (Tuesday, September 16, 2003)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 54323-54324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-23868]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 179 / Tuesday, September 16, 2003 / 
Presidential Documents  
 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 54323]]

                Proclamation 7704 of September 12, 2003

                
Small Business Week, 2003

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The success of small businesses in America reflects the 
                innovation, determination, and hard work of the 
                American people. During Small Business Week, we 
                celebrate the entrepreneurs and business people who 
                create goods, services, and jobs, and bring opportunity 
                and economic prosperity to communities throughout our 
                country. We also reaffirm our commitment to helping 
                more small business owners and their employees realize 
                the American Dream.

                Small businesses create the majority of new jobs in our 
                Nation and account for more than half of the output of 
                our economy. They lead the way in generating new ideas 
                and creating new technologies, goods, and services for 
                our country and for the world.

                Small businesses also reflect the diversity of America. 
                Nearly 40 percent of small companies in the United 
                States are owned by women. There are also more than 3 
                million minority-owned small businesses across the 
                country.

                Because small businesses are vital to our Nation's 
                prosperity and reflect the hard work of the American 
                people, my Administration has taken important steps to 
                assist small businesses and the people they employ. We 
                have reduced taxes, encouraged investment, and removed 
                obstacles to growth. The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief 
                Reconciliation Act of 2003 I signed into law will 
                provide 23 million small business owners with tax cuts 
                averaging more than $2,200 each. The Act also 
                quadrupled the amount that small businesses can expense 
                for new capital investments, encouraging new investment 
                in technology, machinery, and other equipment. This new 
                technology and equipment will increase productivity and 
                create new jobs, thereby contributing to the overall 
                strength of our economy.

                We are also seeking to permanently eliminate the death 
                tax. With the repeal of this tax, small business men 
                and women will be able to pass their life's work to the 
                next generation without having to pay a punitive tax 
                that in many cases forces the sale of the business or 
                many of its assets. And I support legislation that 
                would make it easier for small businesses to offer 
                health coverage options to their employees. Through 
                Association Health Plans, small businesses could pool 
                together to offer group plans to all of their 
                employees, like those available to large businesses. In 
                addition, we are working to streamline small business 
                regulations and paperwork. To this end, I issued an 
                Executive Order that requires all Federal regulatory 
                agencies to minimize these burdens on our Nation's 
                small businesses.

                The Small Business Administration (SBA), which helps 
                American innovators and risk-takers launch and build 
                their businesses, celebrates its 50th anniversary this 
                year. By helping small businesses succeed, the SBA 
                continues to strengthen America.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim September 14 through 
                September 20, 2003, as Small Business Week. I call upon 
                all the people of the United States to observe this 
                week with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and 
                programs that celebrate the achievements of small 
                business

[[Page 54324]]

                owners and their employees and encourage and foster the 
                development of new small businesses.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand three, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and twenty-eighth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 03-23868 Filed 9-15-03; 1:44 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P