Strengthening Our Economy by Congressman Leonard Lance

Our economy is hurting. In the last two months alone U.S. employers have slashed 1.1 million jobs, sending the national jobless rate above 7 percent for the first time in more than 15 years.

Here in New Jersey, income and property taxes are at an all-time high. Our state is neck-deep in record debt. And the current economic crisis has many New Jerseyeans worried about losing their jobs, their homes, their investments and their retirement future.

The news for New Jersey’s business community isn’t any better. According to the non-partisan

Tax Foundation, New Jersey’s small businesses suffer from the nation’s second worst business

climate, including excessive government bureaucracy, burdensome over-regulation and high taxes.

Many businesses are struggling to keep afloat because credit lines are frozen or have dried up.

As a new member of Congress representing New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, I believe

our economic recovery should be Congress’ foremost domestic priority in 2009. To achieve

recovery, I intend to work with like-minded members of Congress to fight for a federal economic

recovery package that provides critical tax relief to working families and incentives to businesses to create and maintain jobs.

I believe vibrant, healthy capital markets are critical to economic growth. Upon my election to

Congress, I immediately sought and have recently received an appointment to the influential House Financial Services Committee, which oversees all components of the nation’s housing and financial services sectors, including banking, insurance, real estate and securities. This committee assignment will allow me to work in a bipartisan fashion to strengthen U.S. capital markets for New Jersey’s working families and small- and medium-sized businesses and investors.

Already, the Financial Services Committee has held important hearings as part of congressional

efforts to respond to the current economic crisis. I am working hard to ensure that homeowners

– not Wall Street’s bad actors – receive vital emergency housing and mortgage relief funds and

that taxpayers are protected from wasteful and unnecessary spending.

I understand that small businesses play an important role in a healthy economy because they create jobs in every community across our country. Too many small businesses are feeling the impact of the economic recession. Congress must include provisions in the economic stimulus plan to help small business owners expand their businesses and create new jobs.

We pay too much in taxes. Congress must include tax relief for all taxpayers in its economic

recovery plan – including businesses. Businesses must be allowed to write off last year’s losses,

as well as losses occurred this year. We should reward those hiring workers or forgoing layoffs by providing one-time business tax credits. And smaller businesses should be able to write off a wide variety of expenditures, encouraging them to invest to create jobs. These are just a few of the provisions I believe should be part of any final stimulus plan.

Like many of my colleagues, I support including in the stimulus package new investments in our

national infrastructure. Rebuilding and refurbishing our nation’s bridges and highways will help

create important construction industry jobs. However, Congress must reject pork barrel projects

and ensure that the economic stimulus package is free of wasteful earmarks.

The Congress and the Obama Administration must work together in crafting an economic

stimulus that responds to the current crisis. Working in a bipartisan fashion we can produce a

fiscally responsible package that delivers immediate help to every level of our economy – protecting taxpayers and delivering the right kind of relief to small business.

If Congress and the President get it right, we can help strengthen our economy, help New

Jersey’s working families and provide relief to job-creating small businesses.