mr. speaker , i thank the chairman for yielding me time .  mr. speaker , i rise in support of h.r. 4297 because this legislation will ensure that our economy will continue to expand .  that is right , expand .  if you would listen to those on the other side of the aisle , you would think that we are in a shrinking economy .  however , since the capital gains and dividend taxes were reduced in 2003 , we have seen ten straight quarters of what is it ?  growth .  now , what does growth mean ?  it means more jobs .  it means more opportunity .  i spoke recently with an entrepreneur group back home , women who started businesses in their homes .  most of them have children and did not want to be out of the house all the time , very small businesses .  and you know what they said to me their top priority is ?  make sure you extend the capital gains cuts .  make sure you make sure you pass legislation that will prevent a tax increase .  that is what we are doing today .  preventing a tax increase on these entrepreneurs who , one by one , are creating new jobs in our economy .  the national economy has produced impressive growth .  our pro-growth policy will continue only if we do not increase taxes .  in the 10 quarters prior to the passage of this legislation , we averaged just 1.2 percent of growth , never exceeded 2.9 .  in the 10 quarters since , we have averaged 3.3 percent of growth and have averaged over 4 percent .  now , i think 4 percent growth is better than 1 percent growth .  and if we do not continue this tax situation and increase taxes , we will see our growth go away .  what does this mean , this business investment that happens because of the capital gains reduction , the dividends reduction ?  it means new jobs .  in a district like mine where we need new jobs , and i know some members on the other side of the aisle apparently have more jobs than they need , we need jobs .  this climate is the climate we need for growth .  we have seen , in fact , unemployment go from 6.1 percent down over 1 point to 5 percent .  despite challenges that this country has faced over the last couple of years , including terrorist attacks and natural disasters , we have still seen an increase of job creation .  now , if anybody at the end of august and the beginning of september expected that we would see 215 , 000 jobs created in the united states in the last month , i do not think you are telling me the truth .  but the good climate that was created by those cuts made it happen .  we need to continue good policy .  we need to realize what good policy is .  good policy is allowing the people to invest their money , create jobs , create a strong economy and create job growth .  i urge my colleagues to continue this situation and not allow a tax increase on the american public .  