September 27, 2010

 Washington, DC –Nevada Senator Harry Reid made the following remarks on the Senate floor this afternoon regarding efforts by Senate Democrats to pass legislation that gives tax relief to companies who hire American workers.  Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:
“The most important part of our jobs as United States Senators is to create jobs in our states.  That is especially true in times like these, when so many are reeling from so much economic pain.

“Right now, as I speak, the President is signing into law our small-business jobs bill.  As soon as he does, $15 billion in tax relief and hundreds of millions of dollars in loans will be on their way to America’s small businesses, which we all know are the engines of our economy, the engines that will power our recovery.  Every penny of that help is paid for, and it won’t add a single dime to the deficit.

“And when that funding gets to where it’s going, as many as half a million people who are looking for work today will soon be on their way to a new job.

“We fought so hard for this bill against such stubborn Republican opposition because we know we have to do everything we can to get people back to work.

“That means we have to work just as hard to create new jobs as we do to protect existing ones.  It means when a corporation tries to take away someone’s job in Nevada and send it halfway around the world, we have to stop them.

“And that’s exactly what we’ll do this week.  We’re going to take away the incentives corporations have to send our jobs overseas, and give them powerful new incentives to keep American jobs in America.

“Right now our tax code actually rewards corporations for offshoring jobs.  It helps them pay the costs of closing their plants and offers them tax breaks if they move production to other countries.  The current system even encourages companies to ask their employees to train their foreign replacements.

“That’s a slap in the face to hardworking Americans.  It’s no way to get our economy back on its feet.  And it’s certainly no way to get Americans back to work.

“Our bill rights this wrong, and it’s going to help revive our nation’s manufacturing industry.  We’re giving companies the right kind of tax cut: a payroll-tax holiday as a reward for bringing jobs back home.

“So far we’ve seen little to indicate that our friends on the other side of the aisle have any interest in protecting American jobs.  Instead we’ve seen them fight with great enthusiasm to keep corporate tax loopholes as wide open as possible.

“Let’s use this week to remember who we work for: middle-class families and the hardworking people who built this country and will rebuild it toward recovery.  Middle-class families, and not corporations that take advantage of tax loopholes at their expense.  American workers, and not foreign countries that want to take away their jobs.

“That’s the most important thing we can do.”