This week is National Small Business week, a time to celebrate the backbone of our nation’s economy. As you may know, small businesses create more jobs than any other sector in America, and employ over 4,000,000 people in the state of Texas. 

Unfortunately for hardworking Texans and all Americans, the Obama Administration’s failed economic policies have hurt small business growth and put millions out of work.  Bureaucratic red-tape, big government policies like the government takeover of healthcare and high taxes coming out of Washington have left small businesses on the sidelines. A recent survey found that 74% of small business owners didn’t hire last month and, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 52% of small businesses cited government regulation as the top threat to their business. 

As your Member of Congress, I am committed to providing relief for small businesses and have voted for several pro-growth bills, like the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act and the Small Business Tax Cut Act, to make it easier for small businesses to grow, invest and hire more workers. I will continue to work with my colleagues to do everything we can to assist entrepreneurs and small business owners access capital and create much-needed jobs.

In an effort to assist small businesses in North Texas, I was delighted to join the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Dallas Regional Chamber in hosting a free seminar for North Texas small business owners today.  The seminar showed small businesses how to use Facebook to promote their business on the social network. I was pleased to see over 200 small business owners at the event in Addision and look forward to participating in more events like this to help North Texans succeed.    

District Work Period
This week while spending time in the 32nd Congressional District with constituents, I had the opportunity to visit several companies in the North Texas to give an update on the current policies debates and to discuss the issues most important to them – jobs and the economy.  On Thursday, I visited the Verizon Facility in Richardson, Navistar's Garland Plant and Capitol One's Plano Campus.

On Friday, I was pleased to join State Representative Angie Chen Button, State Representative Jerry Madden and Richardson Mayor Bob Townsend at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the new Extend Health, Inc. service center in Richardson.  Extend Health’s choice to make North Texas home to its new service center is a testament to our highly talented workers and business-friendly environment. I am delighted to welcome Extend Health to Richardson’s Telecom Corridor and look forward to the new jobs it will bring to our community. If you are interested in learning more about the open positions at Extend Health, you can apply online at https://www.extendhealth.com/careers.

Future Service Members
As our nation honors our service members and veterans on this upcoming Memorial Day holiday, I am pleased to announce the names of future service members today — North Texas students who have accepted appointments to U.S. Service Academies as members of the class of 2016. I consider the nomination of selected students to our nation’s Service Academies to be among my most important congressional responsibilities because Academy graduates will lead efforts to maintain the strength and commitment of America’s Armed Forces, ensuring our nation’s security and prosperity in the future.

Max Zendali of Dallas, Caleb Negaard of Dallas, and Austin Ramsey of Richardson have been appointed to the U.S. Air Force Academy.  Sam Coleman and Carson Warnberg of Dallas have been appointed to the U.S. Military Academy (West Point).  John Hardy Davis, William Scurry Johnson, and Austin Jones of Dallas have been appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy.

These eight appointees received my nomination because they have fulfilled the requirements for admission to the U.S. Service Academies through their dedication to high academic performance, personal fitness and moral character. I am confident that each of them will make our community proud as they represent Texas in three of our nation’s finest academic institutions.

If you are interested in seeking a nomination to a Military Academy, please contact Sandy Pappas in my Dallas office at 972.392.0505 or visit my website at http://sessions.house.gov for more information.