[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 18, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13423-S13424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL BUSINESS

  Mr. KERRY. I thank the Chair.
  I was at this time going to ask unanimous consent to move to the 
small business bill. I am not going to do that at this point in time, 
having had a conversation with the majority leader, a conversation with 
Senator Bond and other Senators. But I say to my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle that we have been for several months trying to 
get emergency assistance through the normal lending process of the 
Small Business Administration to the small businesses that have not 
been helped. We have helped airlines. We have been talking about help 
for the insurance companies. We have a lot of small businesses. We 
always hear the speeches on the floor of the Senate extolling the 
virtues of the people who really make the businesses of our country 
grow; the place where all of the growth of the Nation exists--not in 
the Fortune 500 companies but in the small businesses.
  Many of those businesses simply need a small tide-over with access to 
credit that they have been denied because of the downturn in the 
economy.
  If you talk about stimulus, helping small businesses at this point in 
time is one of the most important ways we can invigorate our economy.
  I hope and plead with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. I 
have yet to have the administration come to us and say, here is the way 
we can improve your bill, or here is a change we really would like 
besides gutting the bill altogether, or simply not spending any money 
on small business.
  In fact, by creating lending through the program that 63 of our 
colleagues have joined as cosponsors, we would, in fact, be making loan 
guarantees. This is not direct lending. These are loan guarantees that 
would be made at a less expensive rate than the disaster assistance 
loans currently being made. This is a way to get much more leverage for 
the dollars we invest.

[[Page S13424]]

  I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--and I see the 
minority assistant leader is here. I hope we can try to break through 
on this small business bill this afternoon and find a way to reach some 
kind of compromise so those 63 colleagues could have their interests 
met.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.

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