Though the Congressional majority and the administration have stabilized the economy and prevented another Depression, they have neglected America’s number one priority—creating more than 20 million jobs needed over the next 10 years, according to the U.S. Chamber.

U.S. Chamber Chairman Tom Bell says that growing economic uncertainty is being caused by burdensome federal tax and regulatory policy.

To refocus Congress and the administration on job creation, the Chamber and its American Free Enterprise: Dream Big. campaign hosted a policy forum, Jobs for America: Summit 2010, attended by 500 business, trade association, nonprofit, and government leaders on July 14. The Chamber issued an Open Letter to President Obama, Congress, and the American people that warns of great economic uncertainty being created by government policies and outlines concrete solutions for creating jobs and reviving economic growth.

“The business community shares the view of most Americans that current approaches are not working,” Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue said during the summit. “We are offering an achievable road map to greater economic growth and more jobs, and we don’t care who gets the credit.”

The Chamber is urging lawmakers to temporarily extend all of the tax relief passed in the prior decade, act on pledges to expand export markets, take immediate action to address the new regulatory stranglehold placed on America’s job creators, and rebuild and expand America’s infrastructure by removing the regulatory, legal, and financial roadblocks to private investment.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) tells the Jobs Summit audience that the Bush tax cuts should be extended. He is joined on the panel by Mort Kondracke, executive editor and columnist for Roll Call, and Bruce Josten, Chamber executive vice president for Government Affairs.

The soaring national debt was also a hot topic of conversation at the summit. To increase government revenues without raising taxes, the Chamber supports restraining and modernizing entitlement programs and generating additional royalties and user fees through the development of natural resources, including oil, gas, and timber, on federal lands.

Summit participants, including Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, pointed out that the country’s debt levels are unsustainable. Both Bowles, a former chief of staff to President Clinton, and Simpson, a former Republican U.S. senator from Wyoming, endorsed a lower U.S. corporate tax and reduced entitlement spending. Bowles gave tentative support to timber harvesting and the issuance of oil, gas, and shale leases on government land, provided that exploration be done in “a responsible and environmental manner.”

Simpson said that the commission he is leading is focused on cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid spending. He also recommends looking at the more than 200 popular tax breaks, including home mortgage interest deductions. The deficit commission will issue its report in December.

Read the Chamber’s Open Letter and more about the Jobs Summit at www.uschamber.com/jobs.