[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 28, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E797]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE MILITARY RESERVISTS SMALL BUSINESS RELIEF ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID D. PHELPS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 28, 1999

  Mr. PHELPS. Mr. Speaker, today I introduced the Military Reservists 
Small Business Relief Act of 1999 to aid small businesses whose owner, 
manager or key employee has been or may be called to active duty in the 
Balkans. I am pleased to note that I have been joined by a bipartisan 
group of my colleagues in sponsoring this legislation. A companion bill 
is being introduced in the Senate, and we are hopeful that Congress 
will address this issue expeditiously.
  Eight years ago, at the beginning of the Gulf War, substantially 
identical legislation was introduced and passed. Now, as then, we in 
Congress owe it to those brave men and women who are answering their 
nation's, and the world's, call to help resolve the situation in 
Kosovo. Small businesses which rely on the talents and energies of 
reservists called up for active duty can suffer immeasurable harm from 
the absence of those individuals.
  The bill I am introducing today provides three forms of assistance to 
small businesses affected by the call up of reservists. Briefly, the 
bill would address the following matters:
  Deferral of Loan Repayments. Payments would be deferred on any direct 
loans from the Small Business Administration, including disaster loans, 
which have been extended to reservists or guard members who have been 
called to report for active duty. SBA is further directed to develop 
policies consistent with this approach for microloans and for 
guaranteed loans under SBA's financial assistance programs. Deferrals 
will be available from the date of call up until 180 days after he or 
she is released from active duty.
  Economic Injury Loans. The bill establishes a new program, to be 
administered by SBA's disaster loan program, to provide interim 
operating capital to any small business where the departure of a 
reservist causes economic harm to that business. This program applies 
when the individual called up is an owner, manager or a key employee; 
businesses can apply from the date of a call up until 180 days after 
the reservist is released from active duty.
  Technical Assistance, Counseling and Training. SBA and its private 
sector partners, such as the Small Business Development Centers, are 
directed to reach out to businesses affected by the call up of 
reservists and guard members. The goal would be to mitigate business 
disruptions through counseling, training and other assistance for those 
left behind to run the business.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge you and all our colleagues to join with me in 
moving forward to pass this bill and provide this much needed relief to 
our reservists. As former Senator Bumpers said when he introduced a 
similar bill in 1991 during the Gulf war, ``. . . some small business 
will be irretrievably lost due to this war . . . We may not be able to 
save all them. But where government can offer a helping hand, surely we 
must.'' The year is different, and the war in the mountains of 
southeast Europe rather than the sands of the Mideast. But the needs 
are the same, as is our responsibility.

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