U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) released the following statement after Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen unveiled the results of a comprehensive, 10-month study on the potential impacts of repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Senator Cardin is a cosponsor of a Senate measure that would repeal the law and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. Armed Forces.
“The report released by the Pentagon makes it clear that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ can be repealed with minimal impact on troop strength, cohesion, or readiness, despite some short-term challenges. ‘There are gay men and lesbians already serving in today’s U.S. military and most service members recognize this,’ according to the report. The Senate now must act to ensure that these brave men and women can continue to serve our nation with honesty and integrity. Sexual orientation should never be used to determine the contributions any man or woman makes to our military. We should be grateful for the bravery and sacrifice of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines – gay or straight – who defend our nation.”
Our nation is recovering from the most serious recession since the 1930s. Today we face continuing high unemployment and a $1.4 trillion federal budget deficit that threatens our economic security. All Americans have a stake in our economic recovery. President Obama has proposed a two-year pay freeze for federal employees to help address the deficit. I believe any federal employee pay freeze should only be considered as part of an overall deficit reduction package. This is particularly relevant as Congress considers tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which would add more than 10 times to the federal deficit than the President’s proposed civilian pay freeze.
Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, a member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, has co-sponsored the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act, S 3946, legislation that would repeal the expanded Form 1099 reporting requirement for small businesses. The provision is set to take effect in 2012.
The bill, which has bipartisan support, was introduced by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
“Considering the current state of our economy, I believe that Congress needs to move swiftly to mitigate the negative effects of this new requirement,” said Senator Cardin. “I have met with Maryland small business owners all over the State and it is clear that this new requirement would impose new administrative burdens that would make it costly to comply. Small businesses are our nation’s economic engine and I am committed to ensuring they have the support they need to create new jobs and build our economy.”
S. 3946 repeals Section 9006 of the Affordable Care Act, which was designed to cut down on fraudulent reporting and improve the reporting of payment for goods and certain services to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“Tax compliance is important, but we need to look for ways to accomplish that without placing an undue burden on small business owners,” said Senator Cardin.
Senator Cardin also co-sponsored the Small Business Jobs Act, which was enacted into law in September. It provides more than $12 billion in tax cuts for small businesses. Senator Cardin co-sponsored several provisions of the bill, including an extension of higher limits on the Small Businesses Administration’s (SBA) loan programs, improvements to the SBA trade and export finance programs, and reforms to federal contracting laws to level the playing field for small businesses.
