Associated Builders and Contractors President and CEO Kirk Pickerel said his group is a strong supporter of the “Pledge to America” that U.S. House Republicans unveiled Thursday.

The pledge is a list of goals the GOP will work toward if they are given control of the chamber following November’s midterm elections. The include cutting federal spending, reducing taxes and creating jobs.

“ABC applauds the ‘Pledge to America’ agenda offered by House Republicans,” Pickerel said. “Small businesses are the backbone of economic recovery and job creation in America, and it is proposals like these that will get our economy back on track and people back to work.”

Pickerel said the U.S. government needs to change its current path and policies.

“Washington recently has made it increasingly difficult for our free-market system to flourish by failing to provide much needed tax relief while creating more burdensome regulations and bureaucratic red tape,” he added. “Out-of-control government spending and a cloud of uncertainty have played a major role in slowing the economic recovery.”

A number of polls have shown Republicans in position to make major gains in the number of seats they control in Congress, and possibly retake the House after losing it in 2006. Democrats currently have a 253-178 majority in the House. A total of 218 seats are needed for a majority.

“ABC believes the ‘Pledge to America’ includes the common-sense reforms and fiscal responsibility that our economy and our nation desperately need,” Pickerel said. “That is why ABC strongly supports this effort, and we look forward to working with Congress to promote free enterprise, open competition and a less intrusive government.”