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Washington, DC – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) made the following remarks on the House floor today, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, on how a government-run health care plan would hit small businesses with hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes.

“We can all agree that health care needs to be made more affordable and more accessible.

“However, under the proposed House bill, those who are working to help get our economy back on track will be burdened with financing the government takeover of health care.

“Some in Congress want to enact a $544 billion surtax to help pay for the legislation.

“However, according to data from the IRS, more than half of those targeted under the ‘surtax’ are small business owners.

“Small businesses have historically employed more than half of the U.S. workforce and have created more than 72 percent of new jobs across the county.

“With unemployment climbing to record numbers and the federal deficit reaching $1.4 trillion, Congress simply can’t keep ignoring these issues.

“Prior to being elected to Congress this past year, I worked for my family’s small business, and know how important small businesses are, not only to local communities, but to our national economy as well.

“Imposing taxes on small businesses that are doing all they can to stay afloat is not a viable answer and could make job losses even worse.”

To view the video of the speech, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/brettguthrie