President Obama:
Thank you so much.
I am thrilled to be here
on what is an exciting day.
I want to begin by recognizing
the members of Congress who
fought so hard to pass
this bill on behalf of
America's small businesses.
A lot of work was involved
in this, obviously,
but there are a few folks who
are here on stage I want to
make sure to acknowledge.
First of all, my dear friend --
and my senator -- from the great
state of Illinois,
Senator Dick Durbin.
(applause)
A champion for businesses
in Louisiana and around the
country, Senator Mary
Landrieu is here.
(applause)
A champion of small businesses,
Senator Maria Cantwell of
Washington is here.
(applause)
And one of the
deans of the Senate,
and as thoughtful a person about
industry and manufacturing as
you'll find -- Senator
Carl Levin of Michigan.
(applause)
From the House side, we've got
Representative Melissa Bean --
also my neighbor from Illinois.
(applause)
And Congressman Al Green
from Texas is in the house.
(applause)
We've got a couple of governors
here -- Governor O'Malley of
Maryland, and somebody who has
been working so hard on behalf
of the great state of Michigan
-- we are proud of what she's
been doing because it's really
hard work in Michigan right now.
But Governor Granholm I think,
coming to the end of her term,
has just done outstanding work
and I want to acknowledge her.
(applause)
We've also got some mayors in
the house -- and I'm not sure if
they're all here, but I'm going
to go ahead and announce them:
Mayor Coleman of Columbus, Ohio;
Mayor Dickert from Racine,
Wisconsin; Mayor Foxx from
Charlotte, North Carolina;
Mayor Pawlowski of
Allentown, Pennsylvania;
and Mayor Ravenstahl --
whose Steelers won last
night -- from Pittsburgh.
(applause)
Give them all a big
round of applause.
(applause)
Finally, I want to thank members
of my administration who are
with us, including our Small
Business Administrator and just
a terrific advocate for small
businesses, Karen Mills is here.
Please give her a big
round of applause.
(applause)
And our Treasury
Secretary, Tim Geithner --
(applause)
-- as well as one of my
top economic advisors,
Gene Sperling, who
worked so hard to get
this legislation done.
(applause)
Where's Gene?
There he is back there.
(applause)
And most of all, I want to
thank and welcome all the small
business owners from across the
country who have come to the
signing of this
bill, many of whom,
over the course of the
last several months,
I've had a chance to meet.
I visited their facilities,
everything from -- I've seen
trucks to pizza to
websites to signs.
(laughter)
And we've talked about how
essential it is that we got this
bill done; that it was critical
that we cut taxes and make more
loans available
to entrepreneurs.
And so, today, after a
long and tough fight,
I am signing a small
business jobs bill that
does exactly that.
(applause)
It's good news. It's good news.
(applause)
This is important because small
businesses produce most of the
new jobs in this country.
They are the anchors
of our Main Streets.
They are part of the promise
of America -- the idea that
if you've got a dream and
you're willing to work hard,
you can succeed.
That's what leads a worker
to leave a job to become
her own boss.
That's what propels a basement
inventor to sell a new product,
or an amateur chef
to open a restaurant.
It's this promise that has drawn
millions to our shores and made
our economy the
envy of the world.
Yet, along with
the middle class,
small businesses have
borne the greatest brunt
of this recession.
They -- you -- were
hit by a one-two punch.
The downturn has meant
people are spending less,
so there's less demand.
And the financial crisis made it
difficult for small businesses
to get loans.
So when I took office, I put in
place a plan -- an economic plan
to help small businesses.
And we were guided by a simple
idea: Government can't guarantee
success, but it can knock
down barriers to success,
like the lack of
affordable credit.
Government can't replace --
can't create jobs to replace
the millions that we
lost in the recession,
but it can create the conditions
for small businesses to hire
more people, through
steps like tax breaks.
That's why we cut taxes for
small businesses eight times.
We passed a new tax credit for
companies that hire unemployed
workers -- which is benefiting
several of the people with us
here today.
Guy Brami, from Gelberg
Signs, is here in Washington.
And he's making use of
this tax break after he
hired six workers.
Cherrelle Hurt, who runs the As
We Grow Child Care and Learning
Center in Virginia, has been
able to add three new employees.
We also increased the exemption
on capital gains taxes for key
small business
investments to 75 percent.
We passed a tax cut so companies
could immediately write off more
expenses like new equipment.
And as part of health reform,
4 million small business owners
could be eligible this year
for a health care tax credit
worth perhaps tens of
thousands of dollars.
Our economic plan has also
helped to free up credit,
supporting nearly 70,000 new
loans to small businesses
through expanded SBA lending.
This includes some of the
business owners who are here
today, like Joe Fugere of Tutta
Bella Pizzeria in Seattle.
I still haven't
tasted the pizza,
but he promises I'm going
to get some at some point.
(laughter)
We also waived fees on SBA loans
to save folks money on payments.
And the emergency steps we took
to stabilize the financial
system helped to get
credit flowing again.
So all told, these steps
have made a real difference.
But as far as we've come,
everybody in this room
understands we've still
got a long way to go.
I don't have to tell folks here
that small businesses still face
hardships, and it's still too
difficult for many creditworthy
small business
owners to get loans.
So there is more we can
do to help them grow and
to help them hire.
And that's why I began fighting
for months to pass this jobs
bill -- the most significant
step on behalf of our small
businesses in more than decade.
And once I sign it, it's going
to speed relief to small
businesses across this
country right away.
So let me just outline
what's in here.
First, on top of the eight tax
breaks we've already passed,
we're adding eight more, which
will accelerate more than $55
billion in tax relief over
the next year to businesses
across the country.
Capital gains taxes will be
completely eliminated for key
investments in small businesses
-- driving capital to as many as
one million small firms across
America -- and, by the way,
honoring a promise that I made
as a candidate for President.
Four and a half million small
businesses and individuals will
be immediately -- will be
eligible to immediately
write off more expenses.
And that may benefit
Ruth Glesser,
who is here today and who is
opening another restaurant
in Alexandria, Virginia.
Two million self-employed
Americans will be able to
receive a new deduction
for health insurance.
And we're also increasing the
tax break for anyone looking
to open up a business.
That's a $10,000 deduction to
help entrepreneurs afford what
can often be pretty
discouraging start-up costs,
because our future prosperity in
part depends on whether or not
we are creating an environment
in which folks can test new
ideas, bring new
products to market,
and generate new businesses.
And that's not just a
challenge for government.
It's a challenge that requires
businesses, and leaders,
and universities, others to
seek out new ways to promote
entrepreneurship
across this country.
Now, the second thing this bill
does is we're going to make more
loans available to
small businesses.
Right now, there is a waiting
list for SBA loans more than
1,400 names long.
These are people who are
ready to hire and expand,
who've been approved
by their banks,
but who've been waiting for
this legislation to pass.
Well, when I sign this bill,
their wait will be over.
(applause)
Their wait will be over.
(applause)
Virtually every person on that
list will receive the loan they
need in a matter of weeks.
Several of the small
business owners standing
with me today are on this list,
including Tony Scovazzo of
AJS Consulting Engineers.
Where's Tony? Raise your hand.
Tony is right here.
(laughter)
With Tony's loan, he'll be able
to buy new office space and hire
three people to do
energy-efficient HVAC work.
Terry Dunlap of Tactical
Network Solutions -- Terry,
raise your hand.
Terry is on the list.
He plans to use his loan to hire
as many as five more people.
Noel and Glen Mouritzen
are also here.
They'll be able to use a loan
to set up a repair shop for
helicopters and hire
four or five workers.
Herb Caudill is on this list.
And Herb's company, Caudill Web,
has a good problem: They've got
more work than they can accept.
So with this loan from SBA,
he'll be able to bring one
or two new web programmers
and designers to take on
some new projects.
On top of these loans that
will be freed up right away,
we're also more than doubling
the size limits of the most
popular SBA loans -- like the
ones that have benefited many
of the business owners who
are with us here today.
Plus, through this bill,
we'll take other steps
to promote lending.
And this includes our new Small
Business Lending Fund designed
to help Main Street banks lend
to Main Street small businesses
across this country.
And this bill will also
encourage additional private
sector lending through
innovative efforts at the state
level to promote small business
and manufacturing -- efforts
that have too often
been constrained by
state budget cuts.
So this law will do two big
things: It's going to cut taxes,
and it's going to make
more loans available
for small business.
It's a great victory for
America's entrepreneurs.
(applause)
It is a great victory for
America's entrepreneurs.
(applause)
Now, I have to admit, I regret
that this bill -- which was
based on ideas from both
Democrats and Republicans,
and drawing support from
business groups that don't
normally support me --
(laughter)
-- I regret that this was
blocked for months by the
Republican minority
in the Senate,
and that needlessly
delayed this relief.
But I do want to thank the two
Republican senators who bucked
this partisanship to help pass
this bill, and, obviously,
I want to thank all the
Democrats who worked so
hard to get it passed.
At this difficult
time in our country,
it's essential that we keep
up the fight for every job,
for every new business,
for every opportunity to
strengthen this economy.
That's what's being done at
the state level by Governor
Granholm and Governor
O'Malley and governors
all across the country.
That's what's being done by
the mayors who are here today,
who are fighting
day-in, day-out,
to help start new businesses
that can bring prosperity to
their communities.
We've got to keep
moving forward.
That's why I fought so
hard to pass this bill.
And that's why I'm going to
continue to do everything in my
power to help small businesses
open up and hire and expand.
And that's why, with these small
business owners standing with me
today, I am extraordinarily
proud to sign this bill into law.
(applause)
(the bill is signed)
President Obama:
This is the tricky part.
(laughter)
You start running
out of letters.
(laughter)
There you go. It's done.
(applause)