FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

"Virtually the entire Congress agrees with President Bush's economic security proposal to create jobs by reducing taxes on business investment. This proposal goes in the opposite direction. It would cost our economy jobs. The burden of the proposed tax increases falls squarely on small businesses - the job creators in our economy. Eighty percent of the higher income taxes he proposed would be paid by business owners who file individual returns. And reinstating the death tax would make it harder to keep family businesses - and their employees - intact from one generation to the next.

"Raising taxes on job creators is always a bad idea, and its an especially bad idea during an economic slowdown. We should be nourishing our nascent recovery, not smothering it with new taxes on job creators.

"Senator Kennedy championed bipartisan cooperation to improve our children's education. I wish we could foster that same bipartisan cooperation to create jobs."