Small Business Job Protection Act of 2013

Mr. Speaker, the President has unilaterally delayed the employer mandate again. It is hard not to blame him.

Last week, CMS reported that 11 million Americans who work at small businesses will have higher premiums because of the President's health care law. The employer mandate will make this bad situation worse.

That might be why the President decreed that it will only apply to businesses with more than 100 employees, instead of those with 50 employees, as the law requires, at least for now.

This is a needed temporary reprieve, but it should be granted by Congress, not Presidential decree.

The President's behavior is lawless. As The Washington Post described it, the President has shown an ``increasingly cavalier approach to picking and choosing how to enforce this law.''

I encourage our colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 2577, the Small Business Job Protection Act, which is my bill to permanently codify this relief. Let's not forget that Congress, not the President, makes the laws.