Congressional Budget for the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010 -- (Senate - April 23, 2009)

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The Senator from Texas [Mr. CORNYN] moves that the managers on the part of the Senate at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the concurrent resolution S. Con. Res. 13 (the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010) be instructed to insist on the inclusion in the final conference report of the point of order against legislation that raises Federal income tax rates on small businesses as contained in section 307 of the concurrent resolution, as passed by the Senate.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, my motion instructs Senate conferees to include section 307, which is included in the Senate-passed budget resolution, in the final conference report. As the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee knows, this creates a 60-vote point of order against any legislation that raises income taxes on small businesses. The Senate, in a bipartisan vote of 82 to 16--a rarity these days, when we see that kind of overwhelming bipartisan support on anything--approved this point of order which I offered as an amendment to the budget. The Senate voted so overwhelmingly for this amendment--and I suggest it would be appropriate to vote for this motion to instruct in at least the same numbers--because the Senate should not pass a budget that increases income taxes on small businesses in Texas or Alaska or anywhere else, especially during a time when the economy is struggling and when our No. 1 priority is to help employers retain employment for their current employees and, hopefully, at some point begin to increase the number of jobs available to Americans.

Almost 400,000 businesses in Texas that employ around 4 million people would be especially hit by a failure to pass this motion to instruct and by any increase in income taxes on small businesses. For example, earlier when I spoke on the budget resolution, I mentioned Don Thedford, a small businessman in Tyler, in east Texas, and how he told me he has been able to grow his small business in part because of the tax relief we provided in 2001 and 2003. It is common sense and certainly intuitive that taxes can have an impact on the ability of a business to expand or, when taxes are unnecessarily high, cause it to contract.

Another businessman in east Texas, Cory Miller from Winnesboro, tells a similar story. Through one business that Cory has, he drills and services water wells. Of course, in the process, he gives families and communities access to fresh water. In his business, he manufactures a type of pump he invented, one which he now sells to other well drillers and drilling rig manufacturers. He has been in this business for 25 years and now employs 35 people. Cory, like Don, believes the tax relief we passed in 2001 and 2003 created the kind of positive, progrowth environment which allowed him to grow his business and that higher taxes in the middle of a recession will force him to make tough decisions and possibly lay off employees.

Higher taxes for people such as Don and Cory will mean they will not be able to reinvest more money in their businesses to purchase equipment or to hire more people because they will have to pay Uncle Sam higher taxes instead. As Cory put it:

Every dollar taken from an aggressive, growth-oriented small businessman like myself is a dollar that will not be used to expand my business or hire new employees.

We all know if small businesses are hit by higher taxes such as those proposed in the administration's budget, it will cause them to contract. We also know that small businesses are the vehicle that has produced most of the new jobs over the last decade. Given that President Obama and his administration have said their primary objective in dealing with the economy is job creation and retention, I don't understand why they would propose in their budget to increase taxes on the engine of job creation known as small business.

The Senate made its voice clear when a bipartisan majority supported my point of order as an amendment to the budget in the Senate. I ask my colleagues once again to reaffirm their support in the same bipartisan fashion by joining with me in supporting this motion to instruct conferees not to raise taxes on small businesses, the primary job engine in the country.

I yield the floor.

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, my motion instructs conferees to retain my amendment, which passed by a strong bipartisan majority of 82 Senators who voted in favor, which says don't raise taxes on small businesses. We all know that is the principal job creator in the economy. It passed 82 to 16. My hope is we have a similar if not better vote on this motion to instruct.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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