[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 31, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3460-S3461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DASCHLE (for Mr. Kerry (for himself, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. 
        Harkin, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Pryor, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Bingaman, and 
        Mr. Levin)):
  S. 2266. A bill to amend the Small Business Act to provide adequate 
funding for Women's Business Centers; to the Committee on Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship.
  (At the request of Mr. Daschle, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)

[[Page S3461]]

 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today as ranking member of the 
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I offer the Women's 
Business Center Safeguard Act, legislation to fix a funding gap that 
exists for the most experienced meritorious women's business centers.
  I would first like to express my sincere disappointment that the 
Republican majority refused to include the bipartisan women's business 
center compromise that was agreed to by Chair Snowe and the bipartisan 
leadership of the House Small Business Committee, and, in the best 
interest of women business owners across the country, I urge them to 
reconsider.
  I also want to comment on the Bush administration's proposals to 
eliminate experienced, efficient, and effective women's business 
centers in favor of new, untested, and inexperienced centers. Moving 
forward with the administration's proposal and failing to correct this 
funding gap immediately would jeopardize women's business centers in 39 
States and eliminate assistance for thousands of women in business. 
While, as my bill demonstrates, I support opening new centers to help 
women entrepreneurs who do not currently have access to this important 
assistance, this should only occur when the existing centers, whether 
in their initial or a later funding period, are fully funded. The 
administration's policy to sacrifice successful, experienced centers in 
the interest of opening new centers is unwarranted and unwise. Women 
entrepreneurs and their businesses are critically important to our 
economy and to U.S. job creation, and women's business centers help 
them succeed. I intend to continue to advocate on their behalf.
  This legislation contains a small adjustment to the Women's Business 
Center program that updates an outdated funding formula, without added 
cost to the Treasury. The adjustment changes the portion of funding 
allowed for women's business centers in the sustainability part of the 
program to keep up with the increasing number of centers that will need 
funding this fiscal year. In short, this change directs the SBA to 
reserve 54 percent of the appropriated funds for the sustainability 
centers, instead of 30 percent, which will allow for full funding of 
the most experienced centers, while still allowing for new centers and 
protecting existing ones.
  Currently there are 88 women's business centers. Of these, 35 are in 
the initial grant program and 53 will have graduated to the 
sustainability part of the program in this funding cycle. These 
sustainability centers make up more than half of the total women's 
business centers, but under the current funding formula are only 
allotted 30 percent of the funds. Without the change to 54 percent, all 
grants to sustainability centers could be cut in half--or worse, 23 
experienced centers could lose funding completely. Cutting funding for 
these, our most efficient and successful centers, would not only be 
detrimental to the centers themselves, but also to the women they 
serve, to their local communities, to their States, and to the national 
economy.
  As the author of the Women's Business Centers Sustainability Act of 
1999, I can tell you that when the bill was signed into law, it was 
Congress's intent to protect the established and successful 
infrastructure of worthy, performing centers. The law was designed to 
allow all graduating Women's Business Centers that meet certain 
performance standards to receive continued funding under sustainability 
grants. This approach allows for new centers to be established--but not 
by penalizing those that have already demonstrated their worth. It was 
our intention to continue helping the most productive and well-equipped 
women's business centers, knowing that demand for such services was 
rapidly growing.
  Today, with women-owned businesses opening at one-and-a-half times 
the rate of all privately held firms, the demand and need for women's 
business centers is even greater. Until Congress makes permanent the 
Women's Business Center Sustainability Pilot Program, as intended in 
Senate-passed legislation, an extension of authority and increase in 
sustainability funds is vital--not only to the centers themselves, but 
to the women's business community and to the millions of workers 
employed by women-owned businesses around the country.
  This bill is necessary to continue the good work of SBA's Women's 
Business Center network, and I urge all of my colleagues to support it 
and its inclusion as part of any extension of SBA programs. I ask that 
the full text of this bill be printed in the Record.
  The bill follows.

                                S. 2266

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Women's Business Center 
     Safeguard Act''.

     SEC. 2. WOMEN'S BUSINESS CENTERS.

       (a) In General.--Section 29(k) of the Small Business Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 656(k)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following:
       ``(C) Funding priority.--Subject to available funds, and 
     reservation of funds, the Administration shall, for each 
     fiscal year, allocate--
       ``(i) $150,000 for each women's business center established 
     under subsection (b), except for any center that requests a 
     lesser amount;
       ``(ii) from the remaining funds, not more than $125,000, in 
     equal amounts, to each women's business center established 
     under subsection (l), to the extent such funds are reserved 
     under subsection (k)(4)(A), except for any center that 
     requests a lesser amount; and
       ``(iii) any funds remaining after allocations are made 
     under clauses (i) and (ii) to new eligible women's business 
     centers and eligible women's business centers that did not 
     receive funding in the prior fiscal year under subsection 
     (b). ''; and
       (2) in paragraph (4)(A), by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(v) For fiscal year 2004, 54 percent.''.
       (b) Sunset Date.--The amendments made by this section are 
     repealed on October 1, 2004.
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