mr. speaker , i rise today in support of h.r. 525 , the small business health fairness act of 2005 .  in 2003 , there were an estimated 45 million americans without health insurance .  small businesses employ over 60 percent of those currently uninsured .  without question , cost is often the biggest barrier to affordable health insurance for small businesses .  too often , i hear from small businesses owners back in my district in missouri that the affordability of health insurance is their number one concern .  this problem has been deepened in recent years as the overall cost of health care has risen .  while large employer-sponsored health plans have seen an average 12-percent increase in health insurance premiums , small businesses have been & lt ; center & gt ; & lt ; pre & gt ; [ page : h6495 ] & lt ; /pre & gt ; & lt ; /center & gt ; by allowing small firms to join an association health plan as h.r. 525 would do , small employers would enjoy greater bargaining power because they would become part of a larger bargaining force , enabling them to offer their employees the same advantages and benefits that are currently available to larger companies .  i doubt that many of my colleagues here would deny the fact that small businesses are leaders in innovation .  they pay the majority of our nation 's taxes and employ the majority of our nation 's workforce .  yet we have burdened them with excessive regulations to the point that they can not afford to provide health insurance to their employees .  we must not deny quality , affordable health care to these hard-working americans who want to safeguard their own health and provide their families access to such protections .  i urge my colleagues to support the small business health fairness act .  