A good place to start, and what I hope to spend a lot of time on in these discussions today, is how we can move forward on a jobs package that encourages small business to hire.

I am confident, for example, that when 1 in 10 of our fellow citizens can't work, we should be able to come together and help business create more jobs.

The biggest thing, the most important thing that we can do on deficits...is to get a health-reform package passed.

Government can't create these businesses, but it can give entrepreneurs the support they need.

Too many businesses are still shuttered.

I believe a key part of that foundation is America's small businesses.

We can continue to ignore the growing burden of runaway costs of health care.

The true engine of job creation will always be businesses.

What government can do is fuel that engine: by giving entrepreneurs and companies the support to open their doors, expand, and hire more workers.

We're starting with small businesses because that's where most of the new jobs do.

I am convinced that America can win the race to build a clean energy economy, but we're going to have to overcome the weight of our own politics.

It has to do with the fact that there's this huge gap between the amount of money being paid out and the amount of money coming in.

Small businesses like this have created roughly 65 percent of all new jobs over the past decade and a half.

Jobs will be our number one focus in 2010.

It’s the spirit that drives small business owners like Kedar Gupta.

We simply cannot continue to spend as if deficits don't have consequences.

Today, we've stopped the flood of job losses, we've stabilized the financial system, and we can safely say that we've avoided that looming depression.

You don't need to look any further than the folks here at this company.