[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 99 (Friday, June 16, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8569-S8570]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNITION OF WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON SMALL BUSINESS

 Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, as I'm sure my colleagues are 
aware, this week Washington has been host to the White House Conference 
on Small Business. This officially sanctioned conference brings small 
businesspeople from all over the country together to make 
recommendations to the President and the Congress regarding policy 
changes that are needed to improve the Nation's business climate.
  In the past, many of the proposals made by the Conference have later 
been adopted by both the executive and legislative branches. The 
process of bringing together those that our actions affect directly for 
their input is a fine example of the kind of communication and 
democratic governance that sets our Nation apart.
  I take the recommendations of the Conference most seriously. Rhode 
Island is a State of small business. Of the nearly 25,000 firms doing 
business in my State, over 21,000 of those have fewer than 20 
employees. Enterprises with less than 20 employees account for more 
than 50 percent of the payroll expenditures in our State each year.
  Clearly, then, what helps small business helps Rhode Island. One of 
the most important themes Rhode Island's delegation has sounded 
throughout the Conference and the preliminary activities associated 
with its is the extraordinary role the Small Business Administration 
[SBA] has played in our State.
  As my colleagues will recall, Rhode Island suffered a double-whammy 
in the early 1990's. We had the same recession experienced by the rest 
of the Nation--but it was quite a bit worse in our manufacturing State. 
On top of that recession, we also had a private deposit insurance 
collapse that led to the closing of many of our credit unions, the 
lender of choice for many of our small businesses. The net result was 
an economic downturn compounded by a credit crunch of considerable 
proportions.
  It was at this point that our Providence SBA office began to work 
with our surviving private lenders to establish designated small 
business lending funds that the SBA would consider guaranteeing on a 
case-by-case basis. This activist, entrepreneurial approach is one 
important ingredient in the small business recovery that has occurred. 
Lending is up; in 1994 the SBA backed nearly 300 loans in Rhode Island, 
And in 1995 expectations are that the agency will guarantee over 500 
small business loans. 

[[Page S8570]]

  This rapid expansion is also a function of the Federal Government's 
decision to use fees to offset the cost of expanding SBA lending 
authority. It is likely that further reductions in SBA's subsidy rate 
will be used to preserve the SBA's ability to meet demand at the same 
time that SBA's cost of doing business are reduced. I applaud this and 
other changes being made at SBA that will allow programs to continue 
even while SBA does its part in reducing the Federal deficit.

  Thus, Mr. President, the SBA is important to Rhode Islanders. I look 
forward to working with the chairman of the Senate Small Business 
Committee, Senator Bond, and other small business backers as we work 
our way through this year's appropriations bills and try to preserve 
the positive contributions of the SBA.
  As further evidence of Rhode Islanders' strong support for this 
program, I ask that a resolution recently approved by the Rhode Island 
General Assembly be printed at the conclusion of my remarks.
  The resolution follows:

                            Joint Resolution

       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 counseling to 
     the Rhode Island small business community, and
       Whereas, the Rhode Island SBA District Office has approved 
     over 800 loans totaling $168.5 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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