Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, before I get into the substance of my remarks, I heard the concluding remarks of my colleague, Senator Rubio, talking about ideas and education and small business growth.

I agree with his basic concept that we are still the greatest country in the world, that we encourage entrepreneurs and people with great ideas, that education means a great deal to making that happen; that no other country inspires young people, middle-aged people, even older people to start new businesses. I hope it means he is going to vote for the proposal that is now before us. Because what this proposal does is take that young person within walking distance of Washington, DC, who has a great idea and, once they start a business, allows them to get that business to move more quickly. There are lots of those businesses, and probably some within Washington, DC, as well. So I hope my colleague from Florida will vote for our Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act.

The proposal will spur economic growth. It will create nearly 1 million new jobs in this country. If my Republican colleagues care about small business in America, they would work with us to pass this commonsense bill immediately instead of playing procedural games that are thinly veiled attempts to block these tax cuts that spur hiring. The bill is based on bipartisan ideas that have traditionally enjoyed Republican support, yet they are obstructing their passage. Why are our Republican colleagues changing their tune? The only explanation is that Republicans continue to block proposals that will help create jobs and spur our economic recovery for their own political gain.

This is a simple proposal. It is a smart proposal. It is a tax cut proposal. In my home State of New York, small businesses from Cattaraugus to Clinton County are poised to grow and make the jump to the next level. These business owners know the economy is slowly turning a corner, but we are not there yet to full unthrottled growth, so they are looking for Congress to do more--not less--to spur hiring.

This initiative is aimed at the small businesses that are truly the lifeblood of our Nation, and we need to help them jumpstart expansion plans this year. There is simply no time to waste.

There is a business in Cortland, NY, central New York, called Precision Eforming. It is a great small business that would use this tax cut to buy a new piece of equipment called a Dipcoater to help the company create high-end acoustics such as hearing aids. With the Dipcoater, Precision Eforming will increase yield and need to hire new employees.

There are stories like this throughout my State. Napoleon Engineering Services, a new ball-bearing plant in Olean, hopes to hire more employees and will purchase new equipment for its growing business. Quinlan's Pharmacy and Medical Supply in Livingston County wants to add an additional location in Schuyler County. In Staten Island, the owner of a small restaurant chain recently told me this proposal could help him expand to additional locations.

Simply put, this bill makes equipment purchases and capital improvements for thousands of small businesses cheaper, and, by doing that, provides a real jolt to the economy. In fact, it is estimated that every $1 of tax cuts devoted to writing off the cost of a business's purchases generates about $9 of GDP growth. Let me repeat that. One dollar of tax cuts devoted to writing off the cost of a business's purchases generates nine times that in GDP growth. Why wouldn't we do it? Economists of every stripe will tell you that hiring incentives like the ones in this bill are the best ways to kick-start an economy and get people back to work. Why wouldn't we do it?

In fact, a new nonpartisan analysis of the proposal before us has determined it will create nearly 1 million jobs this year. Look at your State: 22,000 in Washington State, 10,000 in Nebraska, 11,000 in Iowa, 40,000 in Pennsylvania, 63,000 in my home State of New York, 77,000 in Texas. Huge numbers of new jobs will be created by this proposal. Why won't our colleagues move forward on it?

It is estimated that 93,000 jobs will be added to the construction industry, 61,000 new jobs added to manufacturing. The report concludes that the proposal's impact would be felt across every State and in a range of industries, with a significant jump in employment in construction and manufacturing. The proposal is targeted toward the mom-and-pop Main Street businesses that will benefit most from this relief.

You want to talk about job creators? You want to help job creators? Well, these small business owners are real job creators and they are the ones who make this country run. They come in early, they stay late, they work hard, and they deserve a tax break.

Here lies an important contrast between what we are proposing and a different tax cut proposal that the House Republicans have passed. The House Republican proposal is neither focused on true small business nor does it make the tax cut dependent on a company doing any hiring at all. Our proposal rewards actual job creation by true small businesses, rather than giving more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires who may not create a single job. They have profits; they get a cut in their taxes for their profits even if they fire people. Does that make any sense?

Our bill's commonsense measures have had broad bipartisan support. There is no reason Democrats and Republicans alike should not support them now. The relief in this bill would be a grand slam for our economy as a whole. It puts more people to work, expedites the expansion of successful small bills throughout the country, expands businesses to new communities, and keeps money flowing through local economies. For too many business owners, this relief simply cannot wait. Let's get this bill to the President's desk and get our business owners started on the developments that will propel them into the next decade.

Once we pass this bill, we must work together to give certainty to American families that they will not see a mass tax hike at the end of the year. We should all agree our small businesses deserve tax cuts and a Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act that will help them hire workers. We should all agree no middle-class families should face a tax increase at the end of the year. Let's take care of our areas of agreement and then we can turn to debate on whether our country can afford to give more tax breaks to the wealthiest 2 percent.

I yield the remainder of my time and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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