The private sector, not government, is, was, and always will be the source of America’s economic success.  That’s our strength, the dynamism（活力，动态） of our economy.  And that’s why one of the first things Harry Reid did, one of the first things we did, was cut dozens of taxes -- not raise them, cut them -- for middle class and small business people.  And we extended loan programs to put capital in the hands of startups.  And we worked to reduce the cost of health care for small businesses.

And right now, Harry is fighting to pass additional tax breaks and loan authority to help small businesses grow and hire all across the country.  But he has also tried to look out specifically for Nevada.  He understands, for example, that tourism is so enormous an aspect of our economy, and so helped to move our trade promotion act that is going to be helping to do exactly what it says -- promote tourism -- and bring folks here to enjoy the incredible hospitality.

The point is, our role in government, especially in difficult times like these, is to break down barriers that are standing in the way of innovation; to unleash（发动，解除） the ingenuity（心灵手巧，独创性） that springs from our people; to give an impetus（动力） to businesses to grow and expand.  That’s not some abstract theory.  We’ve seen the results.  We’ve seen what we can do to catalyze（催化，刺激） job growth in the private sector.

And one of the places we’ve seen it most is in the clean energy sector -- an industry that will not only produce jobs of the future but help free America from our dependence on foreign oil in the process, clean up our environment in the process, improve our national security in the process.

So let me give you an example.  Just yesterday, I took a tour of Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City, Missouri, on the way here.  This is a company that just hired its 50th worker, it’s on the way to hiring 50 more, and is aiming to produce 500 electric vehicles at that plant alone.  (Applause.)  And these are spiffy-looking trucks.  I mean, they are -- and they’re used by Fortune 500 companies for distribution -- PepsiCo, Frito-Lay. They’re also used for the United States military –- electric trucks with a lot of -- they’re very strong, great horsepower.

And the reason for their success is their entrepreneurial drive.  But it’s also partly because of a grant that we’re offering companies that manufacture electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.

Because of these grants, we’re going to be going from only having 2 percent of the global capacity to make advanced batteries that go in trucks and cars, run on electricity -- we’re going to go from 2 percent of advanced battery market share to 40 percent just in the next five years -- just in the next five years.  (Applause.)  And that will create thousands of jobs across the country -- thousands of jobs across the country, not just this year, not just next year, but for decades to come.  So it’s a powerful example of how we can generate jobs and promote robust（强健的，健康的） economic growth here in Nevada and all across the country by incentivizing private sector investments.

That’s what we’re working to do with the clean energy manufacturing tax credits that we enacted（制定，颁布） last year, thanks to Harry’s leadership.  Thanks to Harry’s leadership.  (Applause.)

Some people know these tax credits by the name 48c, which refers to their section in the tax code.  But here’s how these credits work.  We said to clean energy companies, if you’re willing to put up 70 percent of the capital for a worthy project, a clean energy project, we’ll put up the remaining 30 percent.  To put it another way, for every dollar we invest, we leverage（手段，影响力） two more private sector dollars.  We’re betting on the ingenuity and talent of American businesses.  (Applause.)

Now, these manufacturing tax credits are already having an extraordinary impact.  A solar panel company -- a solar power company called Amonix received a roughly $6 million tax credit for a new facility they’re building in the Las Vegas area -– a tax credit they were able to match with roughly $12 million in private capital.  That's happening right now.  And that’s just one of over -- (applause)  -- that's just one of over 180 projects that received manufacturing tax credits（税收抵免） in over 40 states.

Now, here’s the -- the only problem we have is these credits were working so well, there aren’t enough tax credits to go around.  There are more worthy projects than there are tax credits.  When we announced the program last year, it was such a success we received 500 applications requesting over $8 billion in tax credits, but we only had $2.3 billion to invest.  In other words, we had almost four times as many worthy requests as we had tax credits.

Now, my attitude, and Harry’s attitude, is that if an American company wants to create jobs and grow, we should be there to help them do it.  So that’s why I’m urging Congress to invest $5 billion more in these kinds of clean energy manufacturing tax credits, more than doubling the amount that we made available last year.  (Applause.)  And this investment would generate nearly 40,000 jobs and $12 billion or more in private sector investment, which could trigger an additional 90,000 jobs.

Now, I’m gratified（满足，高兴） that this initiative is drawing support from members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, including Republican Senators Richard Lugar and Orrin Hatch.  Unfortunately, that kind of bipartisanship（两党合作，两党制） has been absent on a lot of efforts that Harry and I have taken up over the past year and a half.

We fought to keep Nevada teachers and firefighters and police officers on the job, and to extend unemployment insurance and COBRA so folks have health insurance while they’re looking for work.  We fought to stop health insurance companies from dropping your coverage on the basis of preexisting conditions, or right when you get sick, or placing lifetime limits on the amount of care that you can receive. 

We fought to eliminate wasteful subsidies（补贴，津贴） that go to banks that were acting as unnecessary middlemen for guaranteed student loans from the federal government, and as a consequence, freed up tens of billions of dollars that are now going directly to students, which means more than a million students have access to financial aid that they didn't have before.  (Applause.)

And we’re now on the cusp（尖头，尖端） of enacting Wall Street reforms that will empower consumers with clear and concise（简明的，简洁的） information that they need to make financial decisions that are best for them -- (applause) -- and to help prevent another crisis like this from ever happening again, and putting an end to some of the predatory（掠夺的） lending and the subprime（次级的） loans that had all kinds of fine print and hidden fees that have been such a burden for the economy of a state like Nevada and haven’t been fair to individual consumers in the process.

So that’s what Harry and I fought for.  And, frankly, at every turn we’ve met opposition and obstruction from a lot of leaders across the aisle.  And that’s why I’m glad I’ve got a boxer in the Senate who is not afraid to fight for what he believes in.  (Applause.)  And Harry and I are going to keep on fighting until wages and incomes are rising, and businesses are hiring again right here in Nevada, and Americans are headed back to work again, and we’ve recovered from this recession, and we’re actually rebuilding this economy stronger than before.  (Applause.)  That’s what we’re committed to doing.  (Applause.)

So, Nevada, I know we’ve been through tough times.  And not all the difficult days are behind us.  There are going to be some tough times to come.  But I can promise you this:  We are headed in the right direction.  We are moving forward.  We are not going to move backwards.  (Applause.)

And I’m absolutely confident that if we keep on moving forward, if we refuse to turn backwards, if we’re willing to show the same kind of fighting spirit as Harry Reid has shown throughout his career, then out of this storm brighter days are going to come.

Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless you.  (Applause.)

END
9:52 A.M. PDT