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    January 12, 2012

US Chamber Says Business-Friendly Policies Needed to Grow Economy

   Mil Arcega

   The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the economy is starting to show signs
   of life. But the business federation says the world's biggest economy
   is still growing too slowly. The Chamber, which represents more than
   three million U.S. companies, acknowledges very little is likely to get
   done in an election year. But it's calling on lawmakers to enact
   policies to get America working again.
   In his annual address on the state of American businesses, U.S. Chamber
   President Thomas Donohue says the economy is improving. But he says
   it's not growing fast enough to significantly reduce unemployment.
   "Unfortunately, we think the economy will actually slow down in the
   early months of 2012," said Donohue. "We expect growth to average 2.5
   percent or lower in the first half and then hopefully, depending on the
   actions of government, to work its way up to 3 percent by the end of
   this year."
   With a tough re-election battle facing some lawmakers this year, Bruce
   Josten, who heads the Chamber's Government Affairs unit, expects the
   group will be busy lobbying Congress to move quickly on
   business-friendly policies.
   "In some respects politicking is going to take precedence over policy
   making," said Josten. "We hope to change that."
   Among the Chamber's top priorities is construction of the proposed
   Keystone XL pipeline. The 3,000 kilometer pipeline will carry more than
   700,000 barrels of Canadian oil a day to refineries in Texas. Donohue
   says the $7 billion dollar project will improve America's energy
   security and create thousands of new jobs.
   "The project has passed every environmental test," he said. "There is
   no legitimate reason, none at all to subject it to further delay."
   Despite bipartisan approval for the pipeline, President Barack Obama is
   under intense pressure from environmentalists to scrap it. The Chamber,
   which insists it does not get involved in presidential politics, says
   it will lean hard on the president to move forward. It also chastised
   Republican candidates on Thursday for criticizing front-runner Mitt
   Romney's business experience.