Cantor: Congress Must Stop Obstructing Businesses

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says a GOP-sponsored interactive job-creation forum Wednesday underscored that the federal government strongly encumbers businesses with excessive regulation, and Congress is looking to make significant changes to improve private-sector hiring.

“It was an opportunity for us to begin to demonstrate we are changing the culture here in Washington,” Cantor told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. “For too long what we’ve seen is an attempt to really wave a magic wand and spend government taxpayer dollars to create jobs.

“In contrast what we did today was, we had a forum, in which real job creators – some of the largest in the country, to some of the smallest – came together, and we as members of Congress listened to them, as to what they are facing, and what they would like to see happen, as far as their being able to create jobs,” he said.

Cantor said a woman from West Virginia, who owns a small coal company, slashed her staff because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “has come in and big-footed the Department of Environmental Protection” in her state.

“She said if the federal government could work in concert with that state’s environmental protection department, she could create 100 jobs,” he said. “She could go from 24 jobs to 100 in a matter of two years, if we just get with the attitude we want to work with entrepreneurs and business people and stop the adversarial relationship.

“That’s really what I think I’ve learned,” Cantor continued. “Government is really providing an impediment to those who want to create jobs.”

“Regulation comes about in Washington often with laudable intent. But what in turn happens are unintended consequences – then the intent of the regulation is totally soured by what it causes, and the harm it causes to people trying to make it in this country,” he said. “We are not talking about ideological purity legislation, the type that may look good in theory. Let’s weigh the facts and what impact it will have on job creators.”

Turning to the nation’s fiscal crisis, Van Susteren asked what it will take for Congress and the White House to collaborate to get federal spending under control, but keep the government operational.

“Listen, we’ve been asking that question. I think we’ve always said we are not coming to shut down the government. We want to cut spending – that’s what this is about. We want to cut spending, so there’s a better environment for job creation,” Cantor said.

“Let’s step back for a second. The reason why we can’t get last year’s work done is because our last Congress was derelict in their duty and kicked the can. We are saying: ‘Fine, let’s resolve this,’” he continued. “We have got more things to do. We know the real problems from a fiscal standpoint is the entitlement programs.

“If we want to lift the veil off as far as the government continuing to spend and borrow, we’ve got to come to grips with the facts there’s not enough money. We are borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we spend here.”