The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ECONOMIC SCALE-BACK” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3789 on March 24, 2009.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ECONOMIC SCALE-BACK
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. When I was home this weekend in Johnson City, Tennessee, I met a few small business owners who are really feeling the effects of this economy. These are real people I'm going to introduce you to, not just some abstraction.
One is a fourth-generation owner of Glenn Wynne Paint and Wallpaper Company. Like many responsible small businessmen and women, he is trying to figure out how to keep his company long enough to ride out this economic mess we are in.
He did have 25 full-time employees for whom he provided benefits, including health care. First, he had to cut back on health care, and then he had to eliminate it altogether. Then he cut 15 percent of the workforce, and he reduced it again to 15 employees.
Finally, he cut 10 percent of the pay for all his employees, including himself. He even went so far as to cut out the $90 a month he was paying for trash removal, choosing to haul the trash himself. He also cut out the cable TV in his business.
As he sees it, he's making tough economic decisions on how to keep his company financially stable during this rough economic time. But he is astounded that people in Washington can't do the same thing, especially because help isn't being targeted for businesses like his that really need it. He sees this cap-and-trade tax as one that will just finally put him completely out of business.
Another individual I met has been in business for 35 years and has very, very little debt, which makes it easier for him to survive this crisis. He had to cut his staff from 50 down to 18 employees and cut unnecessary expenses.
What he's mad about is that while he hears talk about wanting to help small business, he still has hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars of fees to pay to OSHA and Tennessee's Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
As he sees it, large employers can afford these fees and weather the storm, but he doesn't see help for small business. He would like to see the government make it easier for small businesses to stay in business by easing up on the regulations when they can least afford it.
Of course, what I had to tell these two gentlemen was that you make too much sense to get your ideas heard here in Washington. We haven't tightened our belts at all, and definitely haven't gotten our financial house in order. We certainly haven't curtailed the unnecessary regulations on small business or reduced their fees to help them weather this economic storm.
It's time we started acting more responsibly and passed legislation that will stimulate economic growth and prevent our children from bearing the burden of this crushing debt we're racking up to pay for irresponsible choices of the present.
On top of this economic stimulus bill comes the President's budget, which spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much. That, ladies and gentlemen, may be the understatement of the week.
With a worsening economic crisis in the forecast, you would think we'd be talking about how some of the President's ambitious proposals could be scaled back. In fact, new economic numbers show larger deficits than the President originally predicted--and these numbers are already very significant.
Instead, the administration and its Democratic colleagues are insisting they will press ahead with the agenda undeterred, as though we don't have an economic crisis.
The President is not at fault for the State of our economy, and I know he is sincere in his desire to get us back on track. But it's important he acknowledge the impact of our current economic crisis on his agenda. The recession does impact his ability to spend billions upon billions of dollars to meet his priorities.
I think many Americans would take it as a positive sign if the President told the people frankly that because we're in a recession, we have to scale back some on his agenda and focus all our efforts on restoring economic growth and creating jobs.
The American people will appreciate hearing this because it's what they're already doing. I think they would have much more confidence in our government if we acted just like them.
____________________
