10/31/2007
Good morning and welcome, everyone. Thank you for coming.
As you know, NFIB is The Voice of Small Business. By joining Divided We Fail, we're making our voice stronger. Together, our four organizations are clearly committed to intensifying the national debate on health care and long-term financial security. NFIB is here today representing the 25 million small businesses in this country.
Healthy, growing small businesses are vital to our economy. We generate half of America’s GDP, and create two-thirds of the net new jobs. So the business of small business is good. Yet, of the estimated 46 million Americans without health care, more than 27 million are small-business owners, employees or dependents of small businesses.
Less than half of small businesses can afford to offer a health-insurance plan as a benefit. Fewer, about 30 percent, can afford to offer retirement plans. This is simply not acceptable.
For 20 straight years, small businesses have said that health-care costs are their number one issue. But things haven't gotten any better. In fact, they're getting worse. We must find a way to fundamentally alter the forces driving costs, or our efforts will be for naught.
The time has come to address this problem in a real and lasting way. And no discussion of health care should take place without America’s job creators at the table.
And that’s why we're joining the Divided We Fail effort. NFIB’s addition means that this coalition now represents small business, big business, consumers and labor groups, and their extended constituencies, including employees and dependents. We must get policymakers engaged and focused on providing solutions to address what has become a national crisis for America’s job creators.
We believe this coalition will spur our nation’s political leaders to start working together to take on the threats to America’s health care and our overall economic competitiveness.
It’s past time to address the challenges that small businesses face in obtaining affordable health care for themselves and their employees. We will do nothing less than commit every resource to fight for a health-care system that makes affordable, quality health care available to everyone.
Our goal is to bring the health-care debate to the ears of Congress and the President. Through Divided We Fail, as well as through our own grassroots mobilization and communication efforts, we will do everything in our power to guarantee that small-business owners – America’s job creators…risk takers…community leaders – are heard loudly and clearly.
Thank you.
