Pete Domenici: “I know I do not have to tell you that small businesses create most of the jobs in America. Small businesses are the…”

“I know I do not have to tell you that small businesses create most of the jobs in America. Small businesses are the engine that keep the American economy running. I know that in my State small businesses make up 85 to 90 percent of private employers. In that regard, I have created a New Mexico small business advisory board. I have also participated in Small Business Committee field hearings throughout my State. Indeed, I was privileged to have had the chairman of the Small Business Committee, Senator Bond, come out to New Mexico and hear from those New Mexico small businesses firsthand at a Small Business Committee field hearing in Albuquerque. Mr. President, what we found was that almost all of the small business owners we talked to--who are the people who create almost all of the private sector jobs in my State--told us just how smothering the explosion in Federal regulations has become. In particular, those small business owners identified the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA] and the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] as the two Federal agencies which promulgate the most unreasonable and burdensome regulations.”