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
December 1, 2003

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

Velázquez: Small Business is Key to Recovery
The Bush administration did not place priority on small businesses in 2003

WASHINGTON - Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Ranking Democratic Member of the House Small Business Committee, called on President Bush to deliver on his small business promises after a discussion today at Dynamic Metal Treating, Inc., a small business in Canton, Michigan.

"The president is ending the year just as he started it - talking a lot about small businesses, but doing little to actually help them," Rep. Velázquez said. "Just look at the priorities of the Bush administration and Congressional Republicans for the facts - a Medicare bill that hurts small community pharmacists while lining the pockets of large pharmaceutical companies, an energy bill that provides billions in tax breaks and subsidies to the energy giants, and a $350 billion tax cut where targeted small business tax relief is practically nonexistent. There is no longer a credibility gap between what this administration says and what it does for small businesses, but a credibility gulf."

Although the economy has shown some signs of growth recently, experts agree it varies considerably from region to region, and strong, sustained job creation continues to be elusive. In Michigan for example, approximately 185,000 jobs have been lost since the start of the Bush administration and the unemployment rate was at a high 7.6% in October, compared to just 6% nationwide. Many believe the jobs that have been lost under Bush to countries overseas with low-wage labor and weak environmental standards are gone for good. Velázquez maintains this has resulted in a "schizophrenic" type recovery, as unemployment remains high and budget and trade deficits are spiraling out of control.

The Bush administration has made a number of choices that support corporate America over Main Street America in 2003, leading to a slower overall recovery and a failure to fill the employment vacuum of the past two years. Congresswoman Velázquez pointed to the lack of progress on the president's small business agenda, which he released in March of 2002, as well as his manufacturing agenda and his six-point economic plan, which included health care, tax and regulatory relief and opening up the federal marketplace for small firms.

"What needs to be on the top of our national priority list is small business," Congresswoman Velázquez said. "Unfortunately, this administration chooses the needs of large businesses over those of small companies - which are responsible for creating three-quarters of all new jobs in the U.S. - each and every time. The policies of President Bush fail to embrace the spirit of entrepreneurship that is so desperately needed right now. Without investing in today's small businesses, we ultimately fail to invest in tomorrow's future entrepreneurs who have the power to put this nation's 8.8 million unemployed Americans back to work."

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