Jeb Hensarling: “First, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan, not only for yielding but, more importantly, for his leadership in…”

“First, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan, not only for yielding but, more importantly, for his leadership in helping improve our capital markets and our economy here. I want to thank all of the Republican and Democrat cosponsors of H.R. 1219, particularly our vice chairman of the full committee Mr. McHenry of North Carolina, for his leadership and also Ms. Velazquez on the other side of the aisle for her leadership on this issue as well. Both of these colleagues are senior members of the committee which I have the honor of chairing. Madam Speaker, we know that while optimism and confidence in our economy are up considerably over the last few months, our Nation still has a way to go to experience the robust economic growth the American people have experienced in the past of which they also deserve. One obvious reason that the economy continues to limp along is bureaucratic burdens imposed by Washington's top-down regulations on America's small businesses on Main Street. I got a message from a gentleman by the name of Larry, a small- business owner in Mabank, Texas, who I have the privilege of representing here in Congress, and he summed it up fairly well. He said: ``So many businesses have to deal with regulations and taxes that didn't exist a few years ago. It is especially hard on smaller businesses.…”