[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 84 (Monday, June 10, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6011-S6012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         SMALL BUSINESS AGENDA

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, this is Small Business Week, a time when we 
honor the entrepreneurs and risktakers who make this country great. It 
is also a good time for taking stock of what we are doing to enable 
this Nation's small businesses to grow and prosper--especially without 
the Federal Government standing in the way. The administration has 
portrayed itself as a friend of small business, claiming numerous 
accomplishments. Not surprisingly, those claims are hollow. The Senate 
and House Small Business Committees each had oversight hearings during 
the last few days. These hearings were intended to examine 
implementation of the small business agenda, all of which were part of 
the final recommendations of the 1995 White House Conference on Small 
Business. In almost every case, on issues of paramount importance to 
small business, the administration has opposed its agenda by either 
threatening to veto legislation, by actually vetoing legislation that 
gets to the President's desk, and by failing to implement the 
legislation he has signed into law. One example of the administration's 
tendency to talk but not to follow through is implementation of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act. GAO reported yesterday that the administration 
had set a Government-wide goal of 10 percent reduction. EPA set a 25-
percent reduction goal. The reality has been less than 1 percent 
reduction. The overall paperwork burden remains about the same: around 
7 billion hours per year, a huge problem for small businesses which 
have real work to do.
  The Small Business Committee cited a number of legislative 
initiatives which we have tried to advance. In every case, the 
administration has stood in the way. The Small Business Committee's 
report card on these issues gives the administration a failing grade.
  In some cases, President Clinton actually vetoed legislation of great 
importance to small business. Like the Balanced Budget Act, or product 
liability, which limited the amount of punitive damages that may be 
assessed against small businesses, but where the administration sided 
with the trial lawyers. President Clinton vetoed legislation which 
would have increased the deduction for health insurance costs of the 
self-employed. He vetoed estate tax reform, which would have reduced 
the estate tax when a family-owned business passes from one generation 
to the next. Almost as bad, the administration has threatened to veto 
almost every bill small business needed. Regulatory reform, which 
required that every rule ensure that benefits justify costs, was veto-
bait to the President. Ironically, these are requirements contained in 
President Clinton's own Executive order. But an Executive order lacks 
the enforceability of a statute, and apparently here, too, the 
administration did not have the courage of its convictions. Likewise, 
he has threatened to veto legislation that

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would ensure that farmers, small landowners, or any citizen would be 
entitled to the constitutional right of compensation if the Government 
takes his property. The property rights bill would also help small 
business get through the judicial quagmire they face now.

  President Clinton said he would veto OSHA reform legislation. He has 
threatened to veto the Team Act, which would allow managers and 
employees to work together to resolve workplace issues. Likewise, he 
has threatened to veto repeal of the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act, which makes 
it hard for many small businesses to participate in Federal contracts.
  All in all, the issues of great importance to small business have 
been blocked by this administration. But we will keep trying to clear 
the way for the real entrepreneurs who are the backbone of this Nation. 
We owe them all our thanks. But more importantly, we owe them real 
action, not just rhetoric.

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