News From Congresswoman
Nydia M. Velázquez
Representing New York's 12th Congressional District - Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens
Ranking Democratic Member, House Small Business Committee

For Immediate Release
November 3, 2003

CONTACT: Wendy Belzer, Kate Davis, 202-225-4038

Velázquez: We Need Main Street Focus
Administration's policies have failed small businesses, our largest job creator

WASHINGTON - Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Ranking Democratic Member of the House Small Business Committee, called on President Bush to "stop the jargon and focus on jobs," after his speech today in Birmingham, Alabama to 350 small business owners and employees at CraneWorks.

"Even though the Bush administration is taking credit for the 7.2 percent growth rate of our economy, the fact is this is largely due to other economic factors, like historically low interest rates and current trends in the housing market," Congresswoman Velázquez said. "This growth may be good for Wall Street, but it does little for Main Street. A better representation of our economy's strength and resurgence is job creation, which has been severely lacking under President Bush."

President Bush has talked about how his policies - from tax relief and federal regulations to health care - have put American small businesses first. But in reality, the Bush administration's policies have failed to produce a surge in small business start-ups that have characterized other economic downturns. This could be because the administration talks about helping small businesses, yet the reality is very different. For example, on the regulations front, this administration now holds the all-time record for the number of federal regulations submitted and issued under any president.

In addition, the cyclical job losses of other downturns have been noticeably absent under President Bush. Today, the job losses that have been sustained, according to many experts, are gone for good, with many moving overseas to countries with low-wage labor and relaxed environmental standards.

While the president continuously calls on a Republican-led Congress to make small business tax relief provisions permanent, he is now pursuing another round of tax cuts, targeted to help multinational corporations, which typically are responsible for shipping American jobs overseas. The estimated cost of this newest GOP tax cut proposal is $60 billion over 10 years, adding to our record $374 billion deficit, which is expected to exceed $500 billion this year.

"The president talked again about how the reduction in the top tax rate is the most effective way to provide small business relief, but just one percent of small businesses benefit from the top tax rate," Congresswoman Velázquez said. "To refute the president's assertion today, his tax cuts were the wrong thing, at the wrong time for the American economy."

"Just like Iraq, when things are going well, this administration takes credit, but when things are going badly, this administration turns the other way or downplays the significance of it," Congresswoman Velázquez said. "The same is happening right now with our economic situation. If President Bush were serious about helping our economy bounce back and putting Americans back to work, he would focus on small businesses, which are responsible for the bulk of new jobs added to the U.S. economy. But instead, he puts corporate America and Wall Street interests above those of small business and Main Street each and every time."

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