WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today released the following statement, pledging to continue her fight to expand job opportunities and boost small business, after the Senate failed to approve a small business jobs bill:

"Congress missed a big opportunity here on a commonsense compromise to boost our small businesses-but I'm not giving up my fight to expand job opportunities for Missouri families and businesses across our state."

The small business jobs bill supported by McCaskill today, if approved, would have helped create thousands of jobs in Missouri alone according to independent reports. The legislation would have provided a 10 percent income tax credit on new hires, and allow small businesses to write off major purchases.

McCaskill has consistently fought to expand job opportunities for Missouri families, having hosted several workshops to connect Missouri's small businesses with resources to compete and expand. McCaskill also crafted bipartisan legislation with Republican Senator Susan Collins (Maine) to create jobs by cutting taxes for businesses, investing in the nation's critical infrastructure, and extending the Payroll Tax Cut. The Bipartisan Jobs Creation Act also aimed to cut federal red tape for manufacturers and employers, and strengthen federal job training programs.

McCaskill's Fight for Missouri Jobs

• Hosted workshops, conferences to connect Missouri's small businesses with resources to compete, expand, and hire more workers.

• Wrote the Bipartisan Jobs Creation Act with Republican Senator Susan Collins to create jobs by cutting taxes for businesses, investing in the nation's critical infrastructure, and extending the Payroll Tax Cut.

• Passed the HIRE Act aimed at hiring workers unemployed for more than six months.

• Freed up small business resources to boost employment with the Small Business Jobs Act, cutting taxes for small businesses by more than $12 billion without adding to the national deficit.

• Improved the ability for start-up companies to secure capital and create jobs with the Jumpstarting our Small Businesses (JOBS) Act, which is cutting red tape and restrictions on the way start-up companies can raise money from individual investors.

• Moved to protect contracting work for small businesses, chairing a Senate hearing aimed at protecting small businesses and exploring how to fix the complicated government bureaucracy that allows contracts awarded to, or performed by, large corporations to be counted as small business contracts.

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