As a former small business owner, I recognize that small business is the engine of job growth in our country and the backbone of our economy. Small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the private work-force, generate half of the nation’s gross domestic product and are the principal source of new jobs in the U.S. economy. The federal government’s job is not to stifle the prosperity of these businesses through an onerous tax and regulatory system but to stay out of the way so that the transactions of a free market may take place. I continue to support legislation which gives small employers options to deal with the surging cost of health care; strives to keep taxes low; advocates for the SBA; encourages federal agencies to do more business with U.S. small businesses; and continues to fight burdensome and unnecessary federal regulations which hamper small business growth and job creation.