David M. Cote, the chairman and CEO of Honeywell International, Inc. and Business Roundtable's vice chair, appeared on CNBC this morning to discuss the economy and jobs. Basic message? To ensure economic growth, the United States must address critical fiscal issues, taxes and trade.

Action is lacking, Cote said in a segment recorded at the Newseum, where BRT's CEOs are holding their quarterly meeting.

If you take a look at standard of living in a country, it comes from business. Government needs to both regulate and enable, and we need to focus on the enabling side in addition to regulation so that business can do what it does. Right now we're not seeing the kind of progress that we need to to create that enabling kind of structure, if you will, and that's why we need to address the debt, we need an energy policy and we need to address trade.

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