Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling today's hearing on Chairman Camp's small business tax reform legislation. Small businesses are the engines of job creation in this country. Nearly 60 million Americans work for a small business - that's about half of our private sector workforce.
When I travel around my district back home in Western Massachusetts, I'm amazed by the entrepreneurial spirit of the small business owners that I meet. These businesses manufacture medical device equipment and sophisticated plastics and paper; they brew great lagers; and they provide hospitality and entertainment to our many visitors. Small business owners in Massachusetts and throughout this country are truly the backbone of the American economy.
Therefore, as we tackle tax reform, it is critical that we implement tax policy that helps America's small businesses grow and prosper. And it's through that prism that I think we should review Chairman Camp's proposals today.
I also commend Chairman Camp for including so many proposals in his bill that are bipartisan. His draft would make permanent increases in expensing for small businesses - a proposal that has received much bipartisan support over the years. Chairman Camp also included proposals based on legislation introduced by our colleagues Ron Kind and Jim Gerlach - and Mike Thompson and Aaron Schock. I think this once again demonstrates that there's lots of common ground in our approaches to tax policy - and that we can - and should - do tax reform on a bipartisan basis.
Chairman Tiberi, thank you again for calling today's hearing. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses.
