Durbin Statement on Senate Passage of Jobs Bill

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today made the following statement after the Senate passed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act by a vote of 70-28.

“Today, on a broad bipartisan basis, the U.S. Senate passed an important jobs bill. It’s not the only jobs bill we’re working on; it’s just the beginning. But it is a good beginning.

“The bill provides incentives for small businesses to hire unemployed people across our state. We know that small businesses are the real engine of economic growth and accounted for more than 64 percent of all the new jobs created in the past 10 years. This bill provides small business tax credits so small firms can be the economic engine that will bring America out of this recession.

“It’s a solid, bipartisan jobs bill that will provide money for new highway, bridge and road construction which means thousands of highly-paid workers in Illinois will be going back to work as soon as the construction season begins in a month or two.”

• Print
• Email
• Tweet