“ Our economy has been dealt a terrible blow. Nearly 10% of Illinois residents are out of work. This is unacceptable. Quality jobs provide the foundation for our economic well-being and for the prosperity of every American family.

Before being elected to Congress in 2010, I owned and operated a small business in Northfield, IL employing just under 100 individuals. I understand the pressures and challenges facing small businesses; Pressure to meet payroll, to provide health benefits for employees and their families, and to invest in equipment and technology to continue being competitive. I also understand the pressures on our working families to work hard and succeed, and to save money for the future and for our children's education.

Fundamentally, American families want a stable job in a steady economy. But we also want more. We want innovation and we want new and better ideas about how to deliver goods and services. We need an environment that encourages and fosters ideas, entrepreneurship and economic opportunity for all.

In order to build a strong foundation for the future we need to focus on permanent sustainable solutions rather than relying on temporary measures. The limited recovery has to date been largely subsidized by massive spending by the federal government. Yet after $1 trillion of stimulus funding, uncertainty dominates the economy: Uncertainty over tax rates, regulatory changes, financial and health care reforms, and the growing federal debt. The President and my opponent believe that taxing more, spending more and taking more of taxpayer money is the way to turn around the economy. I believe there is a better way.

My plan includes helping small businesses grow and compete by reforming and simplifying the tax code, promoting access to capital for small businesses, increasing access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education to prepare students for jobs going unfilled, investing in transportation and infrastructure, maximizing North American energy production to lower fuel prices, reducing excessive regulations that are hindering job growth, and helping domestic manufacturers compete around the globe.

Most recently, I co-sponsored the bipartisan, bicameral Startup Act 2.0 to allow the world's best and brightest invest here in America and create jobs, and I introduced the Global Investment in American Jobs Act which will allow foreign owned companies to create jobs in our local communities.

Following this path will put our country back on track to prosperity and put America back to work. ”

“ Over the past two decades, small businesses have been the engine of economic growth, accounting for the vast majority of new jobs created over that same period, and creating a pathway for them to start hiring more workers is vitally important. I’ve spent my career helping small and family-owned businesses grow, and I will bring to Washington the same common-sense policies, proven over 25 years, that helped their businesses and my own succeed. I firmly believe that if we get small businesses hiring again, we will turn this economy around. In order to do that, the government can offer targeted tax incentives to small businesses that are looking to expand, hire more workers, and pay higher wages, instead of siphoning money to big corporations that in turn ship jobs overseas.

In the longer term, I will work with the President on promoting technological innovation and improving our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. The next wave of American innovation will depend on whether we have the educated workforce to facilitate it. We must provide our students with the tools to succeed in this modern, global marketplace. But and educated workforce can only achieve so much without proper infrastructure. We should be aggressively expanding American exports, which will require a 21st Century infrastructure system to accommodate demand for 21st century goods and services. Building and rebuilding our roads, bridges, and ports will create many more jobs, and our sustained commitment to American innovation will ensure that these jobs stay here. ”