Political Quotes

“I want to thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, there is no issue today that is more important in this body than growing the economy and creating jobs. The Wall Street Journal noted that there are fewer jobs today than since the recession began back in 2007. The gentleman from Michigan mentioned we need to go in the marketplace. I have been in the marketplace for 30 years, as someone who created a lot of jobs, and I can tell you this health care mandate that has employees looking at 30 hours or less a week unless they get health care is a big issue. The 30-hour requirement is forcing businesses to reduce working hours and cut wages. I had a gentleman in my congressional district last week that has three restaurants and 291 employees. He has mentioned to me numerous times that he is going to have to cut quite a few employees from 40 hours to 29 hours. He has even suggested that, in many cases, to reduce his health care costs, he is going to have to push some people down even more hours, so he can bring down his health care costs. The fact is that health care costs in my district are as much as $1,500 to $2,000 an employee, so it is a big issue. Another employer in our area--one of our larger employers--is going to be moving hundreds of employees from 40 hours to 29 hours a week, so it is a very big issue in my congressional district in Sarasota. With that, I would ask my colleagues for quick passage. We need to move this bill quickly.”