Hundreds of ABC members traveled to Washington, D.C., June 16-17, to attend ABC’s 2010 Legislative Conference.  Attendees heard from former and current legislators and political experts on issues such as the economy and what can be done to help small businesses.  

During the opening general session, 2010 ABC National Chairman Jim Elmer, president of James W. Elmer Construction, Co., Spokane, Wash., emphasized how important it is for ABC members to continue to make their voices heard among their political leaders after leaving the conference.  

“At a time when taxes should be lower and barriers to access to capital removed, those in power have done just the opposite,” Elmer said. “Your efforts must not end once you leave Washington; take this message home and become involved in your communities.”  

House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio), who recently introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives congratulating ABC on its 60th anniversary, told attendees that governmental growth needed to be curbed and that there should be more transparency.  He noted that if he becomes Speaker of the House he will address these issues.  

“The bigger government gets, the smaller the American people get,” Boehner said. “The more government takes, the less we have to invest in our families and businesses…the American people want more control over the government and I aim to give it to them.”  

Former U.S. Representative Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) expressed great concern over America’s growing deficit and the prospect that the next generation will be worse off for the first time.  Toomey also expressed concern over the Democrats’ solutions to solving the economic crisis noting “wealth and opportunity doesn’t come from the government.”  

In addition, Brett McMahon, vice president of business development for Miller & Long Concrete Construction, Bethesda, Md., and winner of ABC’s first Merit Shop Political Leadership award, spoke about the success of the ABC Free Enterprise Alliance’s Halt the Assault campaign.  

“Since ABC’s inception, we have never backed down from a fight,” McMahon said. “You owe it to yourself, your employees and your family to defend what you own and your way of life.”  

Keynote speakers Mary Matalin and James Carville, coauthors of the bestselling memoir, All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President, talked about their differing views of the political landscape and their shared passion for the impact the gulf oil spill will have on the nation.