Mike Ross believes Congress must work together to create jobs

In my hometown of Prescott, my wife, Holly, and I owned a small business for many years. Owning, operating and growing a small business is no easy task. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and some luck. Regardless of the challenges, thousands of Americans all across this great country start a new business every year. While some fail, many succeed. And, a few of those successes go on to become the great American companies we all admire today.

The reality is that the only way we are going to continue to pull through this economic recovery and sustain that growth in the long term is to support our small businesses. We’ve got to get small businesses growing and hiring again, and, as your Congressman, that will continue to be the focus of my work in our nation’s capital.

Because we need jobs and need jobs now, I recently helped pass H.R. 3606, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act last month in the House of Representatives. Having also passed the Senate, this commonsense, bipartisan legislation was signed into law by the President last week.

Small businesses are the backbone and engines of the American economy. They employ about half of all U.S. workers and create 60 to 80 percent of new jobs each year in the United States. The JOBS Act will help America’s small businesses continue to lead our economic recovery by cutting through some of the red tape and easing the burden of over regulation—allowing them to create more jobs.

We need more private-sector jobs in America – right here and right now. Moving forward, we must have more bipartisan solutions like H.R. 3606 that support our small businesses, cut down on federal regulations, stop deficit spending and bring confidence and stability back to the economy.

Governing is about compromise. No one side has a monopoly on good ideas and we must honestly work together in a bipartisan way to reduce our deficit, get our economy back on track and put more Americans back to work. The JOBS Act is one example of what Congress can do when it does its job and works together to pass bipartisan legislation in the interest of the American people.

Unfortunately, commonsense, bipartisan legislation is too often neglected in favor of partisan political agendas from both sides of the aisle. In the future, I hope Democrats and Republicans will keep working together in a constructive way – just as they did on the JOBS Act.

While I am working hard to help our economy recover and get our nation’s fiscal house back in order, our work is not yet done. I will continue to support and advocate for commonsense, bipartisan policies that support our small businesses and encourage private sector job growth. Times are still tough and many of our friends and family are still struggling; however, I remain confident that our economy will continue to rebound and we will continue to pull through these tough times and emerge stronger than ever before.