A bipartisan consensus of economists has told us repeatedly that one of the keys to creating jobs is increasing small businesses' access to loans. Yet while the economy is inching toward recovery, large and small banks are still reluctant or unable to lend. In every state in the nation, credit unions are ready to make responsible loans. But federal law currently prohibits them from lending more than 12.25% of their total assets. It's an arbitrary and outmoded cap that's unnecessarily holding our economy back.

We need to remove that barrier to capital and allow credit unions to help small businesses grow. That's why last year, I introduced bipartisan legislation called the Small Business Lending Enhancement Act to allow credit unions to ramp up their small business lending.

Credit unions have proven to be responsible lenders that can provide capital for worthy small business owners who need loans to make investments in inventory, expand their businesses and ultimately hire new workers. It's estimated that our bill could create more than 100,000 jobs within its first year of enactment, all without costing taxpayers a dime.