[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 79 (Friday, May 12, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     RHODE ISLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY URGES SUPPORT OF SMALL BUSINESS 
                             ADMINISTRATION

                                 ______


                        HON. PATRICK J. KENNEDY

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 12, 1995
  Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, recently the General 
Assembly in my State of Rhode Island recently passed a resolution 
urging the Congress to support the 7(a) and 504 programs of the Small 
Business Administration.
  In my age when thousands of jobs are being created by small 
businesses, and thousands of people are finding new career 
opportunities as entrepreneurs, it is more important than ever to 
support these two important programs. We turn back on America's future 
when we fail to support these two initiatives.
  In the upcoming budget debate I hope my colleagues will listen to and 
heed the wisdom contained in this resolution which reads as follows:
       Whereas, the U.S. Small Business Administration was created 
     in 1953 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to foster the 
     growth of small entrepreneurs, and
       Whereas, our Nation's economic prosperity is linked 
     directly to the health of the small business community, and
       Whereas, the Rhode Island business community is comprised 
     of over 97 percent small businesses, and
       Whereas, small businesses have grown 49 percent since 1982, 
     they employ 54 percent of the American work force, account 
     for 50 percent of the gross domestic product, and account for 
     71 percent in new job growth in 1993, and
       Whereas, the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 504 and 
     7(a) financing programs are a public/private partnership that 
     leverages private dollars and allows for continued access to 
     capital for Rhode Island's small business community, and
       Whereas, SBA's technical resources including the Small 
     Business Development Center at Bryant College and the Service 
     Corps of Retired Executives provide much needed counselling 
     to the Rhode Island small business community, and
       Whereas, the Rhode Island SBA District Office has approved 
     over 800 loans totalling $160.5 million in guarantee and 504 
     financing to the Rhode Island small business community from 
     October 1992 to present, and
       Whereas, this financial assistance has played a vital role 
     in reviving the Rhode Island economy; now be it
       Resolved, That the General Assembly of the State of Rhode 
     Island and Providence Plantations hereby respectfully 
     requests the United States Congress to financially support 
     the U.S. Small Business Administration and its 7(a) and 504 
     financing programs, as well as its education/training and 
     advocacy programs, and be it further
       Resolved, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is 
     authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of 
     this resolution to the Speaker of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives and the President of the United States 
     Senate, and to the Rhode Island Delegation in the Congress of 
     the United States.
     

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