[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 80 (Thursday, June 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S5684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SANTORUM (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Abraham, Mr. 
        Kohl, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Torricelli, and Mr. Kerry):
  S. 2779. A bill to provide for the designation of renewal communities 
and to provide tax incentives relating to such communities, to provide 
a tax credit to taxpayers investing in entities seeking to provide 
capital to create new markets in low-income communities, and to provide 
for the establishment of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.


     the american community renewal and new markets empowerment act

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today I am joining colleagues on both sides 
of the aisle to introduce the American Community Renewal and New 
Markets Empowerment Act. Demonstrating that Congress can constructively 
work together and find common ground, we--Senators Lieberman, 
Torricelli, Kohl, Santorum, Abraham, and Hutchinson--unveiled a plan 
that creates economic incentives to help close America's wealth gap. 
Among many important initiatives, our plan includes my new markets 
legislation that I introduced last September, S. 1594, the Community 
Development and Venture Capital Act, and full funding for Round II of 
Empowerment Zones.
  This plan builds on the President's and Speaker's agreement by 
securing full, mandatory funding for Massachusett's Empowerment Zone. 
So far, the money has dribbled in--only $6.6 million of the $100 
million authorized over ten years--and made it impossible for the city 
to implement a plan for economic self-sufficiency. Some 80 public and 
private entities, from universities to technology companies to banks to 
local government, showed incredible community spirit and committed to 
matching the EZ money, eight to one. Let me say it another way--these 
groups agreed to match the $100 million in Federal Empowerment Zone 
money with $800 million. Yet, regrettably, in spite of this incredible 
alliance, the city of Boston has not been able to tap into that 
leveraged money and implement the strategic plan because Congress 
hasn't held its part of the bargain. I am extremely pleased that we 
were able to work together and find a way to provide full, steady 
funding to these zones. That money means education, daycare, 
transportation and basic health care in areas--in Massachusetts that 
includes 57,000 residents who live in Roxbury, Dorchester and 
Mattipan--where almost 50 percent of the children are living in poverty 
and nearly half the residents over 25 don't even have a high school 
diploma.
  Mr. President, this bill also includes an initiative that I 
introduced last year called the Community Development and Venture 
Capital Act. Its purpose is to stimulate economic development through 
public-private partnerships that invest venture capital in smaller 
businesses that are located in impoverished rural and urban areas, 
known as new markets, or that employ low-income people. We call these 
areas new markets because of the overlooked business opportunities. 
According to Michael Porter, a respected professor at Harvard and 
business analyst who has written extensively on competitiveness, ``. . 
. inner cities are the largest underserved market in America, with many 
tens of billions of dollars of unmet consumer and business demand.''
  Both innovative and fiscally sound, my new markets initiative is 
financially structured similar to Small Business Administration 
(SBA's), successful Small Business Investment Company (SBIC), program, 
and incorporates a technical assistance component similar to that 
successfully used in SBA's microloan program. However, unlike the SBIC 
program which focuses solely on small businesses with high-growth 
potential and claims successes such as Staples and Calaway Golf, the 
New Markets Venture Capital program will focus on smaller businesses 
that show promise of financial and social returns, such as jobs--what 
we call a ``double bottomline.''
  To get at the complex and deep-rooted economic problems in new market 
areas, my initiative has three parts: a venture capital program to 
funnel investment money into our poorest communities, a program to 
expand the number of venture capital firms that are devoted to 
investing in such communities, and a mentoring program to link 
established, successful businesses with businesses and entrepreneurs in 
stagnant or deteriorating communities in order to facilitate the 
learning curve.
  What I'm trying to do as Ranking Member of the Small Business 
Committee, and have been working with the SBA to achieve, is expand 
investment in our neediest communities by building on the economic 
activity created by loans. I think one of the most effective ways to do 
that is to spur venture capital investment in our neediest communities.
  But, Mr. President, this bill even goes further than funding 
empowerment zones and establishing incentives to attract venture 
capital into distressed communities. It enhances education 
opportunities, creates individual development accounts to help low-
income families save and invest in their future, increases affordable 
housing, improves access to technology in our classrooms and creates 
incentives to help communities remediate brownfields.
  Before closing, I want to thank my colleauges for working so hard on 
this compromise and for their admirable willingness to put aside our 
differences for a larger purpose.

                          ____________________