Health Care And Small Business

Floor Speech

Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, we can all agree that health care needs to be made more affordable and accessible. However, under the proposed House bill, those who are working to get our economy back on track will be burdened with financing the government takeover of health care.

Some in Congress want to enact a $544 billion surtax to help pay for the legislation. However, according to the data from the IRS, more than half of those targeted under the surtax are small business owners.

Small businesses have historically employed more than half of the U.S. workforce and have created more than 72 percent of the new jobs across the country. With unemployment climbing to record numbers and the Federal deficit reaching $1.4 trillion, Congress simply can't keep ignoring these issues.

Prior to being elected to Congress this year, I was working for my family's small business and know how important small businesses are not only to local communities but to our national economy as well.

Imposing taxes on small businesses that are doing all they can to stay afloat is not a viable answer and could make job losses even worse.

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