[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S9447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. Bond):
  S. 2821. A bill to reauthorize certain programs of the Small Business 
Administration, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the ``Small 
Business Reauthorization and Manufacturing Assistance Act of 2004,'' 
that reauthorizes programs administered by the Small Business 
Administration under the Small Business Act and the Small Business 
Investment Act of 1958, and contains significant improvements to SBA 
programs.
  I am confident that the bill before us will accelerate our efforts to 
work with the other body to resolve outstanding issues that are 
blocking passage of a larger Small Business Administration 
reauthorization bill. It is my hope Congress can send a final bill to 
help small businesses to the President for signature before the close 
of the 108th Congress.
  The bill before us contains many provisions that are substantively 
similar to the Small Business Administration 50th Anniversary 
Reauthorization Act of 2003, S. 1375, which was passed by the Senate on 
September 26, 2003.
  The fundamental purpose of the SBA is to ``aid, counsel, assist, and 
protect the interests of small-business concerns.'' The methods for 
carrying out the mandates set forth by Congress include a wide array of 
financial, procurement, management, and technical assistance programs 
tailored to encourage small business growth and expansion. As the 
economy continues to recover and grow, it is essential that Congress 
send a message that affirms long-term stability in the programs the SBA 
provides to the small business community.
  In the 50-year period since the establishment of the SBA, there have 
been many revisions and additions to the methods and organizational 
structure used by the SBA to respond to the evolving needs of the small 
business. This bill I introduce today builds on those changes.
  Since 1953, nearly 20 million small business owners have received 
direct or indirect help from one of the SBA's lending or technical 
assistance programs, making the agency one of the government's most 
cost-effective instruments for economic development.
  SBA's current loan portfolio of more than 200,000 loans worth more 
than $45 billion makes it the largest single supporter of small 
businesses in the country. In this year alone, lenders have made 83,912 
loans to small businesses in the SBA's two major loan programs, with a 
total value of $16.5 billion.
  Moreover, the SBA's Small Business Investment Company program's 
current portfolio of more than 16,900 financings with an initial 
investment amount of $17.2 billion makes it the largest single equity-
type backer of U.S. businesses in the Nation. Since 1958 the venture 
capital program has put more than $42.3 billion into the hands of small 
business owners, and this year it has produced investments of more than 
$2.6 billion in small businesses.
  The SBA estimates that thus far in the current fiscal year its loan 
and venture capital programs have provided small businesses with $19.7 
billion in various forms of financing, and have allowed small 
businesses to create or retain 716,144 jobs.
  In my home State of Maine, almost 2,500 SBA loans have been made 
since 1999, for a total of over $288 million, to small businesses that 
might not have qualified for loans through lending channels not 
supported by the SBA.
  Each year, there are 3 to 4 million new business start-ups and one in 
25 adult Americans are taking steps to start a business. These small 
business owners now want to make plans for the future, including 
decisions that will create approximately two-thirds of all net new jobs 
and help sustain local communities, according to a recent survey by the 
National Federation of Independent Business.
  Over the last five years the SBA's programs and services have helped 
create and retain over 6.2 million jobs. According to the SBA, the 
$65.5 billion awarded to small businesses in Federal prime and 
subcontracts in FY 2003 will create or retain close to 500,000 jobs.
  The SBA also estimates that reauthorizing the agency will result in 
the creation or retention of an estimated 3.3 million jobs over the 
next 5 years. During that same period, the SBA and its programs are 
predicted to support over 1 million jobs through prime contracts and 
subcontracts.
  In September 2003, the Senate unanimously passed a bill that I had 
introduced to reauthorize for 3 years the SBA and its programs, the 
Small Business Administration 50th Anniversary Reauthorization Act of 
2003. However, the other body has been stalled for almost a year in its 
consideration of legislation to reauthorize the SBA.
  In a highly competitive and dynamic economy, too much is at stake for 
small firms, and the economy as a whole, to let this legislation 
languish. With passage of a new multi-year reauthorization bill, we 
will ensure that the SBA is well-positioned to help small businesses. 
Clearly, this is not the time to delay legislation that directly 
benefits the backbone of our economy, and our hope for the future--the 
small firms that are most responsible for putting people to work.
  With the close of the 108th Congress rapidly approaching, the time to 
act is now!
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill for the benefit of small 
businesses, our economy, and our Nation.
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