Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was very kind to the BRT in comments on the Senate floor this week, one of several places where BRT drew public attention following Tuesday's quarterly meeting of BRT-member CEOs.
I met yesterday with the Business Roundtable, a stellar organization with the finest business executives we have in America today. I told them that I know they are all doing well financially, and I went over what we had proposed a week or so ago; that is, we need to do something about infrastructure that is deteriorating.
The context was the recent defeat in the Senate of a tax surcharge of annual incomes above $1 million to finance infrastructure projects, hardly "an onerous suggestion," Sen. Reid observed. He then segued into a defense of health, safety and environmental regulation, decrying what he called the Republican mantra for "a wholesale repeal of so-called job-killing regulation."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addresses BRT, Nov. 15, Newseum.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also mentioned the BRT in floor remarks the following day. He urged Senate passage of H.R. 2250, the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, which would restrain the EPA from issuing draconian regulations on industrial boilers. The Senator said:
The House-passed version of this bill passed overwhelmingly. It got more than 40 Democratic votes. It’s supported by more than 300 business groups, including the American Forest and Paper Association, the National Association of Manufacturing, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the Business Roundtable. According to one estimate, this bill could save more than 200,000 jobs and provide greater certainty for businesses that are asking us for it. The EPA has asked for more time. Both parties support it. ...
BRT issued a statement in June lauding the bill's introduction.
Back to the CEO's Quarterly Meeting: The BRT also heard from the brand-new Commerce Secretary John Bryson, part of a round of business-oriented meetings he attended on Tuesday. From The Commerce Blog, "Secretary Bryson Meets With Key Business and Industry Groups ":
Today Secretary Bryson attended three meetings with key businesses and industry groups. In the morning, Bryson met with trade association leaders to discuss their top priorities and challenges and how the Commerce Department can help their member businesses grow and succeed.
After that meeting, Bryson met with the Business Roundtable (BRT) Executive Committee to discuss the issues affecting their membership and how Commerce can help their companies grow and succeed. BRT is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with over $6 trillion in annual revenues and more than 14 million employees.
Secretary Bryson also stopped by the full meeting for brief remarks, introduced by BRT Chairman Jim McNerney, president, chairman and CEO of Boeing. Before being nominated for Secretary, Bryson served since 1995 as a member of Boeing's board of directors, including a term as chairman of the board.
BRT Chairman Jim McNerney welcomes Commerce Secretary John Bryson.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, joined the BRT's Information and Technology Committee in the afternoon. He tweeted: "Met with 20 CEOs @BizRoundtable about preventing cybertheft in the private sector by countries like China; protecting US innovation and jobs." (The Congressman just got into tweeting last month @RepMikeRogers.) Last month, his committee held a hearing, "Cyber Threats and Ongoing Efforts to Protect the Nation."