[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 120 (Thursday, September 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF PRIORITY SMALL BUSINESS PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT

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                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 5, 1996

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, last year the 104th Congress marked up and 
passed the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. I was pleased to support 
that legislation in committee and on the House floor. In fact, I was 
successful in including an amendment to this new law which makes it a 
top priority for the Office of Management and Budget [OMB], when 
collecting information and applying new information technology, to make 
certain that small businesses selling goods and services to the Federal 
Government get paid on time.
  But this new statute still does not assign nearly enough priority to 
cutting the redtape and paperwork on the smallest of the small 
businesses that are most in need of relief. This is because the 
executive branch generally defines a small business to mean any 
employer of 500 or fewer employees.
  Most businesses in Vermont have 10 or fewer employees. Furthermore, I 
venture to say that most Americans don't think of a company that 
employs 499 employees as having the same needs and problems as a 
company that employs 25 or fewer employees.
  We need to focus the attention and limited resources of OMB and other 
Federal agencies on reducing burdensome paperwork on those it is 
hurting the most--the smallest businesses that can least afford the 
time, personnel, and additional costs associated with meeting all of 
the Federal Government's regulatory and reporting requirements.
  This bill does just that. It defines microenterprises to be small 
businesses in America that employ 25 or fewer employees. In addition, 
it calls upon the Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs within OMB to make it a priority to first consider the adverse 
effects on the smallest of small businesses, when directing and 
overseeing efforts to cut Federal paperwork and information reporting.
  It also makes helping the smallest of small businesses a priority for 
voluntary pilot projects when OMB, other Federal agencies, and non-
Federal entities test alternative policies, practices, regulations, and 
procedures to reduce the Federal paperwork burden.
  We live in a time when the Federal Government must learn to do more 
with less. Therefore, in setting out to cut Federal regulatory costs 
and paperwork for American businesses, we should first strive to help 
the truly vulnerable small enterprises who operate much closer to the 
margin and whose survival is always in greater jeopardy.

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