On the recordSeptember 16, 2010
Mr. President, Theodore Roosevelt once said: Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. Americans prize hard work. We value a day's pay earned at honest labor, and that is one reason the great recession that started in 2008 has been particularly hard on Americans. The great recession robbed 8 million Americans of one of the best prizes that life offers--their work. That is why for 2 years now we have been working hard to create jobs. We worked to create jobs by passing the Recovery Act at the beginning of last year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that the Recovery Act ``increased the number of full-time equivalent jobs by 2 million to 4.8 million compared with what would have occurred.'' We worked to create jobs by passing the HIRE Act in March of this year. The Treasury Department found ``an estimated 4.5 million workers who have been unemployed for 8 weeks or longer were hired by employers who are eligible for the HIRE Act payroll tax exemption.'' We have been working to create jobs with this small business bill before us. We have been working to pass this bill since June. That is right, since June. Here it is September. Finally we are going to get this bill passed--I hope. The economists tell us that this small business jobs bill could help small businesses create as many as half a million new jobs. This small business jobs bill would provide small businesses with access to capital.…





