[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 27, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H2580-H2591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   EXPRESSING SENSE OF THE HOUSE THAT AMERICAN SMALL BUSINESSES ARE 
              ENTITLED TO A SMALL BUSINESS BILL OF RIGHTS

  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 235, I call up 
the resolution (H. Res. 22) expressing the sense of the House of 
Representatives that American small businesses are entitled to a Small 
Business Bill of Rights, and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of House Resolution 22 is as follows:

                               H. Res. 22

       Whereas more than 90 percent of all American employers are 
     small businesses;
       Whereas small businesses generate approximately 70 percent 
     of the new jobs created in the United States each year;
       Whereas small businesses are crucial to the American 
     economy and account for a significant majority of new product 
     ideas and innovations;
       Whereas small businesses, together with innovation and 
     entrepreneurship, are central to the American dream of self-
     improvement and individual achievement;
       Whereas 60 percent of the 45,000,000 Americans without 
     health insurance are small business employees and their 
     families;
       Whereas most small businesses do not provide health 
     insurance to their employees, primarily because of the 
     surging cost;
       Whereas the death tax causes one-third of all family-owned 
     small businesses to liquidate after the death of the owner;
       Whereas frivolous lawsuits and the rising costs of 
     liability insurance represent serious threats to small 
     business owners;
       Whereas burdensome regulations and paperwork cost small 
     businesses more than $5,500 per employee; and
       Whereas Congress can help small businesses grow by 
     establishing a climate to encourage small businesses to 
     create jobs and offer more affordable health insurance to 
     employees: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that American small businesses are entitled 
     to the following Small Business Bill of Rights:
       (1) The right to join together to purchase affordable 
     health insurance for small business employees, who make up a 
     large portion of the millions of Americans without health 
     care coverage.
       (2) The right to tax laws that allow family-owned small 
     businesses to survive over several generations and offer them 
     incentives to grow.
       (3) The right to be free from frivolous lawsuits which harm 
     law-abiding small businesses and prevent them from creating 
     new jobs.
       (4) The right to be free of unnecessary, restrictive 
     regulations and paperwork which waste the time and energy of 
     small businesses while hurting production and preventing job 
     creation.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 235, the 
amendments to the text and preamble printed in the resolution are 
adopted.
  The text of House Resolution 22, as amended, is as follows:

                               H. Res. 22

       Whereas more than 90 percent of all American employers are 
     small businesses;
       Whereas small businesses generate approximately 70 percent 
     of the new jobs created in the United States each year;
       Whereas small businesses are crucial to the American 
     economy and account for a significant majority of new product 
     ideas and innovations;
       Whereas small businesses, together with innovation and 
     entrepreneurship, are central to the American dream of self-
     improvement and individual achievement;
       Whereas 60 percent of the 45,000,000 Americans without 
     health insurance are small business employees and their 
     families;
       Whereas most small businesses do not provide health 
     insurance to their employees, primarily because of the 
     surging cost;
       Whereas the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is exceedingly 
     complex, making it difficult for small businesses to 
     understand it and comply with its requirements;
       Whereas the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 discriminates, in 
     many instances, against small businesses and self-employed 
     persons by limiting the availability of certain tax 
     incentives to larger firms or corporations;
       Whereas the death tax causes one-third of all family-owned 
     small businesses to liquidate after the death of the owner;
       Whereas frivolous lawsuits and the rising costs of 
     liability insurance represent serious threats to small 
     business owners;
       Whereas burdensome regulations and paperwork cost small 
     businesses more than $5,500 per employee;
       Whereas adequate, affordable, and reliable energy supplies 
     are essential to the success of small businesses, especially 
     small manufacturers;
       Whereas lack of access to capital and credit stifles new 
     business growth and economic opportunity;
       Whereas both unsound contract bundling or consolidation and 
     the failure of various Federal agencies to closely monitor 
     the small business goals and subcontracting plans of large 
     businesses have dried up many procurement opportunities for 
     small businesses; and
       Whereas Congress can help small businesses grow by 
     establishing a climate to encourage small businesses to 
     create jobs and offer more affordable health insurance to 
     employees: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that American small businesses are entitled 
     to the following Small Business Bill of Rights:
       (1) The right to join together to purchase affordable 
     health insurance for small business employees, who make up a 
     large portion of the millions of Americans without health 
     care coverage.
       (2) The right to simplified tax laws that allow family-
     owned small businesses to survive over several generations 
     and offer them incentives to grow.
       (3) The right to be free from frivolous lawsuits which harm 
     law-abiding small businesses and prevent them from creating 
     new jobs.
       (4) The right to be free of unnecessary, restrictive 
     regulations and paperwork which waste the time and energy of 
     small businesses while hurting production and preventing job 
     creation.
       (5) The right to relief from high energy costs, which pose 
     a real threat to the survival of small businesses, to be 
     accomplished by reducing the Nation's reliance on imported 
     sources of energy and encouraging environmentally-sound 
     domestic production and conservation of energy.
       (6) The right to equal treatment, as compared to large 
     businesses, when seeking access to start-up and expansion 
     capital and credit.
       (7) The right to open access to the Government procurement 
     marketplace through the breaking up of large contracts to 
     give small business owners a fair opportunity to compete for 
     Federal contracts.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Keller) and 
the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) each will control 30 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Keller).
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the goal of the Small Business Bill of Rights is to 
provide a blueprint for Congress to help small business employers 
create more jobs. A job is the best social program in the world. It 
provides income, health insurance, and dignity.
  Significantly, 70 percent of all new jobs in the United States are 
created by small business people. In light of the fact that small 
business employers are the engine that drive this economy, I decided to 
meet with 20 very successful small business people in Orlando, Florida, 
to learn firsthand what, if anything, Congress could do to help small 
business employers create even more jobs.
  I learned a lot by sitting down and listening to small business 
people. First, I learned that the number one issue facing small 
business people today is the skyrocketing cost of health insurance. In 
fact, a growing number of small businesses today are not able to 
provide health insurance to their employees, primarily because of the 
surging cost. Of the 45 million Americans without health insurance, 60 
percent are small business employees and their families.
  Right now, small businesses are unable to achieve the bargaining 
power of large corporations when negotiating with insurance companies 
to obtain affordable health insurance for their employees. The premiums 
that small businesses pay are typically 20 to 30 percent higher than 
those of large companies.
  According to the Congressional Budget Office, small businesses that 
obtain insurance from association health plans can save up to 25 
percent.
  These small business people told me that they needed the right to be 
able to join together to purchase affordable health insurance for their 
employees so their workers have the opportunity to get the same health 
care benefits now reserved for those employees of Fortune 500 
companies.
  The second thing I learned is that many of these small businesses are 
family owned. Unfortunately, the death tax causes one-third of all 
family-owned businesses to liquidate after the death of the owner. If 
Congress does not undertake any meaningful reforms of the death tax 
laws, then small businesses will go back to paying up to 55 percent in 
tax rates in the year 2011. Unfortunately, the only small family-owned 
business in America that knows for sure whether they will die in the 
year 2010 is the Sopranos.
  Understandably, these small business people want the right to tax 
laws that allow family-owned small business people to survive over 
several generations and offer them incentives to grow.

[[Page H2581]]

  The third thing I learned is that frivolous lawsuits and the rising 
cost of liability insurance represent a very serious threat to small 
business owners. Unlike large, multinational corporations, small 
business owners do not have the resources to defend themselves against 
frivolous litigation and are often forced, for business reasons, to 
settle a claim for $5,000 to $10,000 rather than pay a defense attorney 
$100,000 to successfully defend them in court.
  Finally, I learned that burdensome regulations and paperwork cost 
small business more than $5,500 per employee, and these small business 
owners understandably want the right to be free of unnecessary, 
restrictive regulations and paperwork which end up wasting their time 
and energy and prevent them from creating additional jobs.
  After listening to the challenges and solutions proposed by various 
small business people, I worked with some of my Democrat colleagues to 
craft a Small Business Bill of Rights.

                              {time}  1415

  I want to particularly thank the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Cramer) 
for being an original cosponsor of H. Res. 22.
  Now, we had a hearing on the Small Business Bill of Rights last 
month. At that hearing, witnesses from NFIB and the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce testified that the four issues identified in the Small 
Business Bill of Rights were in fact the top four issues affecting 
small businesses in the United States today, according to the surveys 
of their members.
  After the hearing, we added language relating to the importance of 
lower energy costs, increasing access to capital, and opening access to 
government contracts for small business. To my left here is a chart 
which shows the Small Business Bill of Rights.
  Number one. The right to join together to purchase affordable health 
insurance for small business employees, who make up a large portion of 
the millions of Americans without health insurance.
  Number two. The right to simplify tax laws that allow family-owned 
small businesses to survive over several generations, and offer them 
incentives to grow.
  Number three. The right to be free from frivolous lawsuits, which 
harm law-abiding small businesses and prevent them creating new jobs.
  Number four. The right to be free of unnecessary restrictive 
regulations and paperwork which waste the time and energy of small 
business people.
  Number five. The right to relief from high energy costs, which pose a 
real threat to the survival of small businesses.
  Number six. The right to equal treatment as compared with large 
businesses when seeking access to start-up and expansion capital and 
credit.
  Number seven. The right to open access to the government procurement 
marketplace through the breaking up of large contracts to give small 
business owners a fair opportunity to compete for Federal contracts.
  Now, if someone is not in favor of the Small Business Bill of Rights, 
if they would be voting ``no'' on this, then what would they be voting 
in favor of? In favor of higher health insurance costs, higher taxes, 
more frivolous lawsuits, more paperwork and regulations, higher energy 
costs, more obstacles to getting capital, more obstacles to getting 
Federal contracts for small business people?
  In fact, the Small Business Bill of Rights, as you might imagine, 
passed the Committee on Small Business on a voice vote. Not a single 
Republican or Democrat member voiced opposition to this. There is 
nothing here at any time that any Republican or Democrat during the 
markup process or the Committee on Rules or anywhere else sought to 
remove. There is no controversy that has been articulated so far about 
these seven things.
  To the extent people may have criticisms, it is criticism of what is 
not on here. Some folks wish that there were a couple of things that 
were added that were not here. I can tell you that when I met with 
small business people, various of them told me different items that 
were not on here. But when I interviewed 20 people and then had 
testimony from the witnesses of large organizations, I tried to put 
together the top-tier issues that affect people across the board in the 
United States. And while some issues may affect this person or that 
person, these are the top-tier issues.
  Now, it does not list every issue in the world affecting small 
business people. This is merely a blueprint. If I put every single 
issue affecting small business people, all people, then what we would 
probably have is something that is as thick as a phone book. But what 
we have here are some consensus noncontroversial items, and I urge my 
colleagues to vote ``yes'' in favor of H. Res. 22.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  As we are in the middle of recognizing National Small Business Week, 
most small business owners are going forward with their daily routine; 
waking up, heading into work, opening up their stores, and figuring out 
ways to pay their bills, manage their employees, and satisfy their 
customers.
  All day today we have been hearing about the numbers of challenges 
facing small firms, and we will continue to hear about these challenges 
over and over again. But the sad reality is that small businesses are 
facing tougher times today, now more than ever. With skyrocketing 
health care, energy and gas prices, rising interest rates and a $427 
billion budget deficit, there are already restrictions facing those 
entrepreneurs who want to start and expand their business ventures.
  And now I want to ask, what is Congress' answer to all this, to all 
these challenges facing small firms? The answer is: Give small 
businesses some rights. You should have the right to access health 
care, the right to be relieved of regulatory burdens, and the right to 
tax simplification. This is all good when it is said and done, but what 
is Congress going to do to carry through on those promises? What action 
is going to be taken to back up the rhetoric?
  Supporters of this bill will tell you that opposition to this 
resolution is opposition to helping small businesses. However, the 
truth is that if you votes ``yes'' on House Resolution 22, you have 
voted to do nothing more than offer empty promises to small businesses, 
empty promises that Congress probably will not keep.
  This is because tonight, when this Nation's small business owners go 
home, probably somewhere around 10 or 11, well after we have been done 
and gone for the day and after having missed a family dinner and maybe 
even a Little League game because they believe so much in their 
business venture, not one of their challenges will be solved because we 
voted ``yes'' for House Resolution 22. Today's actions will not fix 
even one of the problems that most small business owners went to work 
with this morning.
  The Small Business Bill of Rights will not provide health care, it 
will not give entrepreneurs more access to capital, it will not relieve 
them of regulatory burdens, and it definitely will not help minority- 
and women-owned firms to grow a successful business. So continue 
talking about what you want to do for small businesses today, keep 
talking about what the challenges are, but what I want to know is when 
my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are going to stop talking 
and start taking action.
  The bottom line here is that voting for House Resolution 22 today 
will not make a single thing better for this Nation's small businesses. 
It might make a great press release for some and another opportunity to 
boast support for entrepreneurs, but, sadly, that is all it will be.
  This Small Business Week all that our Nation's entrepreneurs will be 
getting are more empty promises. By voting for House Resolution 22, you 
are voting to make more empty promises to small businesses this week. 
What we need now is for small businesses to see some well-deserved and 
long-overdue action taken to address their challenges. No more 
rhetoric. That is the least we can do for this Nation's small 
businesses this week.
  This should be seen for what it truly is, a sham, and it should be 
voted down.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

[[Page H2582]]

  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
briefly address some of the items raised by the gentlewoman from New 
York. This bill, House Resolution 22, is what it says it is, a 
blueprint for Congress to follow; that, if followed, will help small 
businesses create additional jobs. She says, well, it is not enough 
just to have a blueprint, we should do something about some of these 
things; and why has this Congress not done anything about it?
  I had to smile when hearing that, and I will give three examples of 
why. The very first thing in the Small Business Bill of Rights says the 
right to join together to purchase affordable health insurance for 
small business employees. Now, I happen to be a cosponsor of that 
legislation, the Association Health Plans, as is the gentlewoman who 
uttered that statement. And, in fact, Congress has just acted on that 
bill on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, on which I serve, 
and we will be bringing that bill up to the floor for a vote in the 
future where it will surely pass the House of Representatives. I 
recently met with President Bush about that issue and asked him to help 
push this issue in the Senate.
  The second issue mentioned in the Small Business Bill of Rights is 
the right to simplify tax laws that allow family-owned small businesses 
to survive over several generations and offer them incentives to grow. 
Why have we not done anything about that? In fact, just last week we 
passed a law repealing the death tax. In fact, I cosponsored that 
legislation.
  The third issue was the right to be free from frivolous lawsuits 
which harm law-abiding small businesses and prevent them creating new 
jobs. In fact, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) has filed 
legislation called the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act, which I have 
cosponsored, which says we will have mandatory sanctions for frivolous 
lawsuits, and three strikes and you are out for those attorneys who 
file frivolous lawsuits. This is not really a Republican issue, but as 
well as having support of people like myself, it had the support of 
Senator John Edwards and Senator John Kerry on the campaign trail, who 
said we should have tough sanctions and a three-strikes-and-you-are-out 
penalty. That is legislation that passed the House last time and we 
will surely seek to pass it this time.
  So, Mr. Speaker, we have laid out the blueprint here and then said we 
are creating order out of chaos. Of all the different myriad issues, 
these are the top-tier issues, and now we must take action to pass 
these pieces of legislation. And in fact this Congress is committed to 
doing that and has already done that in the three instances I have 
talked about.
  Mr. Speaker, I am going to insert for the Record a copy of the 
exchange of letters between the chairman of the Committee on Small 
Business, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Manzullo); the chairman of 
the Committee on Ways and Means, the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Thomas); and the chairman of the Committee on Government Reform, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Davis) regarding H. Res. 22.
  And I will also insert into the Record a statement by the chairman of 
the Committee on Small Business, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Manzullo).

                                         House of Representatives,


                                  Committee on Ways and Means,

                                   Washington, DC, April 26, 2005.
     Hon. Donald A. Manzullo,
     Chairman, Committee on Small Business,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Manzullo: I am writing concerning H. Res. 22, 
     a resolution ``[e]xpressing the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that American small businesses are entitled 
     to a Small Business Bill of Rights,'' which was reported by 
     the Committee on Small Business on Thursday, April 21, 2005.
       As you know, the Committee on Ways and Means has 
     jurisdiction over the Internal Revenue Code. The second 
     resolution clause referring to the ``right'' afforded to 
     small businesses to simplified tax laws would require changes 
     to the Internal Revenue Code, and thus clearly falls within 
     the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. However, 
     the Committee will not take action on this particular 
     resolution. This is being done with the understanding that it 
     does not in any way prejudice the Committee with respect to 
     the appointment of conferees or its jurisdictional 
     prerogatives on this or similar legislation.
       I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming 
     this understanding with respect to H. Res. 22, and would ask 
     that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be 
     included in the Congressional Record during floor 
     consideration.
           Best regards,
                                                      Bill Thomas,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                                  Committee on Small Business,

                                   Washington, DC, April 26, 2005.
     Hon. William M. Thomas,
     Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Thomas: Thank you for your letter regarding 
     H. Res. 22, which expresses the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that American small businesses are entitled 
     to a ``Small Business Bill of Rights.'' As you noted, some of 
     the provisions of the bill fall within the Rule X 
     jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. I appreciate 
     your willingness to forgo consideration of the bill, and I 
     acknowledge that by agreeing to waive its consideration of 
     the bill, the Committee on Ways and Means does not waive its 
     jurisdiction over these provisions.
       A copy of your letter and this response will be included in 
     the Congressional Record during consideration of H. Res. 22 
     on the House floor.
       Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
           Sincerely yours,
                                               Donald A. Manzullo,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                               Committee on Government Reform,

                                   Washington, DC, April 27, 2005.
     Hon. Donald A. Manzullo,
     Chairman, Committee on Small Business,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to you concerning the 
     jurisdictional interest of the Government Reform Committee in 
     matters being considered in H. Res. 22, expressing the sense 
     of the House of Representatives that American small 
     businesses are entitled to a Small Business Bill of Rights.
       I recognize the importance of H. Res. 22 and the need for 
     the legislation to move expeditiously. Therefore, while the 
     Committee has a valid claim to jurisdiction over certain 
     provisions of the resolution, I have not requested a 
     sequential referral of H. Res. 22. My decision to forego a 
     sequential referral does not waive, reduce or otherwise 
     affect the jurisdiction of the Government Reform Committee. I 
     respectfully request that a copy of this letter and of your 
     response acknowledging our valid jurisdictional interest will 
     be included in the Congressional Record when the bill is 
     considered on the House Floor.
       Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
           Sincerely,
                                                        Tom Davis,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                                  Committee on Small Business,

                                   Washington, DC, April 27, 2005.
     Hon. Tom Davis,
     Chairman, Committee on Government Reform,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for your recent letter 
     regarding the Government Reform Committee's jurisdictional 
     interest in H. Res. 22, expressing the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that American small businesses are entitled 
     to a Small Business Bill of Rights, and your willingness to 
     forego consideration of H. Res. 22 by the Government Reform 
     Committee.
       I agree that the jurisdiction of the Government Reform 
     Committee will not be adversely affected by your decision to 
     not request a sequential referral of H. Res. 22. As you have 
     requested, I will include a copy of your letter and this 
     response in the Congressional Record during consideration of 
     the legislation on the House floor.
       Thank you for your assistance, as I work toward the passage 
     of this resolution.
           Sincerely,
                                               Donald A. Manzullo,
     Chairman.
                                  ____


      Statement of the Honorable Donald A. Manzullo on H. Res. 22

       Mr. Chairman, I am pleased that the House is taking up this 
     resolution that essentially lists the small business 
     priorities for this Congress. It is particularly fitting that 
     on Small Business Week, we take time out of our busy schedule 
     to honor small businesses and list their top priority issues. 
     Representative Ric Keller has authored a commendable 
     resolution, based on input he has received from his small 
     business constituents, which expresses the sense of the House 
     of Representatives that the top challenges facing small 
     businesses are: staggering health care costs; a high tax, 
     regulatory and paperwork burden; frivolous lawsuits; growing 
     energy costs; inadequate access to capital and to federal 
     procurement opportunities. Surveys of small businesses 
     continually show similar priorities, which was reflected in 
     the hearing the Small Business Committee held last month. 
     These priorities should be the focus of Congressional action 
     to improve the climate for small businesses.

[[Page H2583]]

       On many fronts, Congress is making progress addressing 
     these issues. In February, we were finally able to break the 
     logjam in the Senate on class-action litigation reform and it 
     is now the law of the land.
       This Committee held two hearings on health care in recent 
     weeks and I am optimistic that we can build on the success in 
     the previous Congress that established Health Savings 
     Accounts to break the impasse in the Senate on Association 
     Health Plans and medical liability reform.
       I am pleased that the President's Fiscal Year 2006 budget 
     request and the House FY '06 Budget resolution includes 
     making the tax cuts we already passed into law permanent, 
     which helps about 85 percent of all small businesses that pay 
     their taxes on an individual--not corporate--basis. Two weeks 
     ago, the House passed making permanent repealing the estate 
     or ``death'' tax repeal so that small businesses can be 
     passed on to the next generation.
       I am going to work very hard this Congress to see 
     meaningful reform of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) to 
     insure that no federal agency bypasses the concerns of small 
     business in the regulatory process. As a first step, the 
     Committee held a hearing on legislation to improve the RFA 
     last month.
       Last week, the House passed a comprehensive energy bill 
     that is one part of the solution to help lower the price of 
     energy in the United States through increasing supply and 
     encouraging conservation.
       Finally, various SBA programs can help improve access to 
     capital and procurement opportunities for small business. Now 
     that the 7(a) loan guarantee program is on a stable footing, 
     it has grown by 27 percent during the first six months of 
     this fiscal year as compared to a similar period last year. 
     It is on track to reach a record level of usage both in terms 
     of the number of small businesses served and the dollar 
     amount loaned out. The 504 Certified Development Company 
     (CDC) and the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) 
     programs also play critical roles in meeting the expansion 
     and venture capital needs of small business. In addition, SBA 
     oversight over many of the federal procurement programs has 
     produced positive results for small businesses--for the first 
     time in many years, the federal government met its overall 23 
     percent small business goal by providing $65.5 billion in 
     prime contracting opportunities for small business in FY 
     2003.
       I encourage my colleagues to support H. Res. 22 and commend 
     Representative Keller's leadership in offering this 
     initiative.

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 20 seconds. I would say 
that a blueprint is important, but at some point we need to start 
building a house.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Price).
  (Mr. PRICE of North Carolina asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, it is ironic, or perhaps 
hypocritical is the right word, to be passing a Small Business Bill of 
Rights when in fact our Republican friends are gutting the very 
programs that support small businesses in this country. We will very 
likely pass this so-called bill of rights, but the danger is that in 
this Congress, this will become a smoke screen for inaction or worse.
  The Bush administration can find a trillion here and a billion there 
for tax cuts of questionable benefit to the economy, but they cannot 
find the funds necessary to help our small businesses that have time 
and time again proven their power to create jobs and spur economic 
growth.
  The Small Business Administration budget proposed by President Bush 
would provide the SBA with just over half the funds they had during the 
final year of the Clinton administration. That is like taking money 
right out of the hands of our small business owners.
  One out of every three small business loans in this country has been 
provided by 7(a). Last year the Bush administration eliminated funding 
to subsidize this critical program, and for the life of me I cannot 
figure out why.
  The return on this government investment is staggering. In 2004, 7(a) 
loans returned an estimated $12 billion on an $80 million investment. 
That is a more than a 100-fold return to the economy. It does not take 
a genius to realize that is good business and it is good common sense.
  Despite this, the President says he thinks it is not the government's 
business to support this program. Instead, he wants to pass the cost 
along to small business owners, significantly raising the fees they pay 
to use the program, up to $50,000 in some cases. That is ironic coming 
from a President who claims that any change in his tax policy will 
stall our economic recovery.
  Mr. Speaker, Democrats understand small businesses and their need for 
accessible capital. In vote after vote, we are willing to support this 
vital sector of our economy. If the Republican leadership of this body 
feels the same, I suggest we stop wasting our time with feel-good 
resolutions and start putting our money where our mouth is.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I recognize how important access to capital is to 
America's small businesses. That is why we listened to small business 
owners when they testified here last month and included language in 
this bill emphasizing the importance of capital and credit to small 
business growth. I am very happy that the 7(a) program, referenced by 
the gentleman, is not only thriving but that it is self-sufficient, 
operating at a zero subsidy and saving American taxpayers millions of 
dollars.
  With the passage of the Small Business Bill of Rights, we will be 
emphasizing Congress' commitment to access to capital for small 
businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1430

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Wynn).
  Mr. WYNN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this 
time.
  This is very interesting, this is a resolution, sense of the 
Congress. It is all the good things one can imagine. They have also 
just recently called it a blueprint. What it is not is action. It is 
not concrete action to solve the problems of the small business 
community, and that is what Democrats are trying to say today.
  If we look at it, and this is the irony, some of the things they are 
trying to advocate have already been passed. They talk about tort 
reform, and they passed some tort reform. This House has passed 
association health plans. I am for them; the gentlewoman is for them.
  My point is they are talking about things that have passed or things 
that they have no intention of passing. They have had every opportunity 
to do something about bundling, the consolidation of Federal contracts. 
They have not done a thing. Democrats have been talking about this for 
years.
  There are a lot of things in this bill that on its face are not 
necessarily objectionable, they are not so bad, but they do not mean 
anything. At the end of the day, they are empty platitudes. I do not 
take great offense at these platitudes, but Congress has to be candid 
with the American people and the American small business community and 
say these are platitudes that do not do anything. It is time we do 
something.
  Let me mention one other item, and that is what is not in this bill 
of platitudes, and that is it does not address the concerns of the 
minority community. The minority community in America is about 32 
percent of our population, 13 percent of our companies. The Democrats 
said, look, let us not just do platitudes, let us do some things to 
improve the condition of minority businesses, let us improve those 
government programs that are targeted at the minority communities, such 
as the 8(a) program. Let us streamline it and let us modernize it. They 
were not interested in that. The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Price) just pointed out we need to beef up the 7(a) program. The 
administration is trying to zero out that program so we do not have 
loans for small businesses.
  What we have here is a bill of platitudes that sound nice that 
ignores the minority community and does not really do anything except 
rehash some of the ideological positions of the Republican side of the 
aisle, without really offering the business community any real meat.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to reject this bill of platitudes, and 
let us do something for small businesses.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, again I have to smile listening to the gentleman's 
comments because he said this is a bill of platitudes that is a 
partisan Republican agenda, and then he turns around and

[[Page H2584]]

said that he proudly supports association health plans, along with the 
ranking member, and we need action on them. I think that is a bit 
inconsistent, although I will agree with the gentleman, association 
health plans are very important. I think it is fair to say that they 
will pass overwhelmingly in the House. We want to make that a priority. 
I think it is fair to say the Senate has not taken them up, should have 
taken them up, and darn well better take them up and finally pass them 
this term. I think we want to send a strong message that the House 
considers this a top priority of small businesses.
  With respect to the other issues, certainly we want to focus on the 
top-tier issues, such as repealing the death tax, and not just a 
platitude. We want it to pass and we took action last week, and it is 
going to come back in the form of a conference report. We want the 
small business community to be on record as saying that we think that 
is important that we finally repeal the death tax once and for all.
  With respect to frivolous lawsuits and liability concerns, we will 
have an opportunity to address that this Congress. We want this country 
to know we are listening to small business people when they say that 
they are concerned about frivolous lawsuits and there should be some 
sanctions. So we have simply taken many, many issues, identified them 
in this blueprint by saying these are the top-tier issues that the NFIB 
says are the top issues to their members, the Chamber of Commerce says, 
and the regular people that I have interviewed say, and say, we hear 
you, we know you want action, and we are identifying these top 
priorities, and we intend to take action on those top priorities.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, yes, I agree with the gentleman that we have association 
health plans, and that is a bipartisan issue that has support; but we 
have voted in this House four times on that issue. How many more times 
do we need to vote in the House? The other side controls the White 
House and the Senate. On the one issue where there is bipartisan 
support, the other side cannot get the President to call the Senate and 
get this legislation passed. That is how much the other side of the 
aisle cares about access to health care for small businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Grijalva).
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
this time.
  The resolution we are talking about today is supposed to express the 
sense of Congress that we are committed to meeting the needs of small 
businesses. But, frankly, as we fiddle away, we ignore that small 
businesses need action now. We have been speaking of the most glaring 
example, where Congress and the administration have been long on 
promises and very short on action. A comprehensive health care reform 
for small business needs to be a priority.
  The number one challenge facing our Nation's businesses today is 
inability to access affordable health care. The problem has deepened in 
the past 5 years, an increase in cost of over 60 percent over the past 
5 years. While it seems that everybody recognizes there is a problem, 
there has been no major reforms in the last 5 years. Since 2001, the 
President has repeatedly talked about bringing down health care costs 
for small businesses, but he has done little in the way of making any 
real changes.
  In the meantime, we have passed a bankruptcy bill, four tax cuts, a 
Medicare bill, a class-action bill; but the number one problem facing 
small businesses continues to see no action. Meaningful support means a 
comprehensive approach to health care reform for small business and not 
merely an unworkable gesture. Bringing down health care costs for small 
business and the self-employed is and should be a top priority. 
Unfortunately, Congress and the President have failed to do so. That 
means health care costs are going to continue to skyrocket.
  We need to end the back and forth. We need comprehensive health care 
reform and to start taking steps forward to implement a solution that 
is workable and actually helps small business owners.
  As the economic engines of this great Nation, small businesses 
deserve to be confident in their ability to provide health care for 
themselves, their families, and their employees. I urge a ``no'' vote 
on this resolution.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) just urged a 
``no'' vote. Now what does that mean: A Member is not for the things 
that we have here in the bill of rights, seven things that no person at 
any time on the Committee on Small Business has ever moved to strike, 
and we are voting on this Small Business Bill of Rights. We are not 
voting on what is not here; we are voting on what is in front of us.
  I want to be very clear to Members who are heeding this gentleman's 
advice that they should vote ``no.'' If a Member votes ``no'' on what 
we are advocating, you are voting ``yes'' for higher health insurance 
costs, ``yes'' for higher death taxes, ``yes'' for more frivolous 
lawsuits, ``yes'' for more paperwork, ``yes'' for higher energy costs, 
``yes'' for more obstacles to getting capital, and ``yes'' for more 
obstacles for getting contracts from the Federal Government for small 
businesses.
  I believe the appropriate vote here is a ``yes'' vote to send a 
message to the small business people in this country that we appreciate 
the fact that they are creating 70 percent of all the new jobs in this 
country. We hear their concerns. We want to help them. We have listened 
to their top priorities; and by golly, we are going to work to pass 
each and every one of these items in this Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Nevada (Ms. Berkley).
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
this time.
  Mr. Speaker, today we are going to vote on a resolution that will do 
nothing to help small businesses in Nevada and throughout this country. 
My friends on the other side of the aisle call this resolution the 
Small Business Bill of Rights; yet in my opinion this is another case 
where their rhetoric does not match the reality.
  Small business is very important to me. Half of the businesses in 
Nevada are small businesses. We are all concerned about the cost of 
health care to small businesses. We are all concerned about the amount 
of paperwork that small businesses are deluged by, and we are all 
concerned about the skyrocketing costs of energy for all business, 
including small business.
  But the bill before us does a disservice to small business. It fails 
to recognize the importance of women-owned small businesses. This is 
especially important in Nevada which has over 50,000 women-owned small 
businesses and has the fastest growing number of women-owned small 
businesses in the country.
  The number one issue for the women in Nevada that own small 
businesses is access to capital. It is the number one issue for women. 
It is the number one issue for women-owned businesses. Gutting the 7(a) 
loan program and microloans is a disaster for these businesses.
  House Resolution 22 also fails to condemn the illegal practice of 
Federal Government contract bundling. When small business owners come 
to see me, one of the first issues they bring up is lack of access to 
Federal contracting opportunities. Contract bundling shuts small 
businesses out of the marketplace and should certainly be included in 
any genuine Small Business Bill of Rights.
  Nevada has been rated among the best States for entrepreneurs to 
start a small business. These businesses must have opportunities in the 
Federal marketplace. Increasing small business participation in Federal 
contracts will result in lower cost to taxpayers and give small 
businesses more opportunities in the Federal marketplace. Small 
businesses make up 97 percent of all business in the United States; yet 
the Federal Government does more than 77 percent of its business with 
only 3 percent of our Nation's companies.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on House Resolution 
22 and ``yes'' on the Velazquez motion to recommit.

[[Page H2585]]

  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. 
Berkley) had the opportunity to read the bill. She said it does not say 
anything about access to capital or contract bundling. In reality, it 
specifically says small businesses shall have the right to equal 
treatment as compared to large businesses when seeking access to start-
up and expansion capital and credit. It says small businesses should 
have the right to open access to the government procurement marketplace 
through the breaking up of large contracts to give small business 
owners a fair opportunity to compete for Federal contracts.
  We specifically added those provisions knowing that they were of 
concern to the minority members on the Committee on Small Business.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Watt).
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, there are some things in this resolution I 
agree with, and there are some things that I do not agree with; but the 
real problem that I have with the resolution is it does nothing. It is 
just a bunch of rhetoric. Where I come from, we say it is a lot of 
words with sound and fury signifying nothing. Nothing will be done for 
small businesses at the end of the day under this bill.
  Why we need a blueprint or a road map to address something in 
Congress escapes me. This bill does nothing.
  The 20 businesses the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Keller) says he 
talks to obviously did not include any minority businesses, and the 
number one issue that minority people are indicating to us as members 
of the Congressional Black Caucus is they cannot even get into 
business.
  Mr. Speaker, that is 21 percent of the population, 7 percent of the 
small businesses, 7 percent of the businesses in this country; and yet 
when we tried to offer amendments to this bill to address the access to 
capital needs, 8(a), 7(a) and the things that are important to 
incentivizing minority businesses, the committee objected to including 
those things in this bill, and the Committee on Rules said, no, you 
cannot offer those amendments.
  We want access to capital. We want the ability to just be able to get 
into business. We want access to contracts; and while the bill talks 
about unbundling Federal contracts, nobody on the other side of the 
aisle has done anything about unbundling contracts.
  We have met with administration officials time after time after time, 
and they have done nothing. This resolution does nothing, and I 
encourage my colleagues to vote against it.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I certainly respect the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Watt) and appreciate the gentleman agreeing with at least some of 
the positions in here, although the gentleman's position is somewhat 
interesting to me because on the one hand he is demanding that certain 
items be included that are not included, and on the other hand he says 
the resolution is meaningless.

                              {time}  1445

  So if in reality the resolution is meaningless, then why is it so key 
to him to have those things included?
  The second thing he mentioned is we must not care about minority- or 
women-owned businesses. There is not one single thing in the Small 
Business Bill of Rights that says anything bad about women or minority 
businesses. I have not heard from any colleague any ill feelings to any 
women or minority businesses. There is language talking about equal 
access to capital and government contracts.
  His saying next, I believe, we must not have talked to any folks 
representing minority-owned businesses, in reality we had testimony 
from the Chamber of Commerce at this hearing which said they represent 
3 million businesses, testimony from NFIB representing 600,000 small 
businesses, small business owners, white, black, Hispanic and others; 
and they gave us their top four issues as surveyed by their own members 
as association health plans, repealing the death tax, cracking down on 
frivolous lawsuits, and reducing paperwork. So these were the top-tier 
issues of these organizations, which do include small businesses.
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. KELLER. I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's yielding to me.
  I just want to be clear on whether this committee considered any 
amendments dealing with 8(a) or any of the incentivizing provisions and 
what disposition this committee made and what disposition the Committee 
on Rules made of efforts to amend this resolution to include some 
incentives for minority business participation that would close the gap 
that exists between minority individuals in business and other 
individuals in business. Did they consider anything?
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, with respect to what was 
considered by the committee, the committee, minority members included, 
got a full hearing. Everybody got to ask questions twice. They then had 
three provisions added to the original Small Business Bill of Rights by 
me through substitute amendments, and then they got a vote on four of 
their six amendments before time expired. No, there was not a vote on 
the 8(a) program. There is nothing in here that says 8(a) is bad or 
good.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. KELLER. I yield to the gentlewoman from New York.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, two things. Only one person, one witness, 
testified on behalf of the 8(a) program. So she represented 100 percent 
of minority businesses in this country. Secondly, is it not true that 
in the list of priorities for NFIB, frivolous lawsuit does not make the 
top 50, it does not rank?
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, and certainly she can 
get her own time to respond, but, no, there was a lady who was invited 
to testify before the committee representing herself. She certainly did 
not represent 100 percent of all minorities in the country. She did not 
pretend to represent any minorities other than herself.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez).
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H. Res. 22, the so-called Small 
Business Bill of Rights. There is nothing that is right about this 
resolution since it does not recognize the right of small businesses to 
have access to capital that meets their needs.
  Last night I offered an amendment to the Committee on Rules that 
recognized the right of small businesses to have access to capital; and 
I am extremely disappointed that, despite valiant efforts on the part 
of Democrats, this amendment was not made in order. Small businesses 
need the 7(a) loan program, the microloan program, and other SBA access 
to capital programs that help them maintain and expand their 
businesses.
  My amendment would have also recognized the importance of the 
microloan program, which provides small loans to startups that are not 
served by traditional lenders. I know for a fact that access to capital 
programs are vitally important to small businesses in my district 
because when I held a small business roundtable meeting, access to 
capital was the number one issue each business brought forward as being 
an obstacle; and I know that this is the number one issue across the 
country.
  Why are we not helping small businesses? They produce two-thirds to 
three-quarters of all the new jobs in this country, and they are the 
backbone of our economy. Unfortunately, many small businesses continue 
to face barriers to accessing the capital they need.
  And I believe that Congress needs to take a stand today and 
strengthen these programs. It is time for Congress to go on the record 
in support of access to capital programs, like the microloan program, 
like the 7(a) loan program. Small businesses need more than just 
rhetoric and good intentions. They need action by this Congress.

[[Page H2586]]

  So I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution because it leaves 
out this critical priority.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I will respond to the comments of the gentlewoman from California. 
Mr. Speaker, no one, no one, at the hearing of this resolution, either 
submitted written testimony or spoke about the Small Business 
Administration's microloan program. That is not to say that the program 
is unimportant. The Committee on Small Business has argued against 
eliminating the microloan program in the past. However, the main 
purpose of this resolution is to include only those issues that affect 
a broad cross-section of all small businesses. The microloan program 
serves a small niche marketplace. Access to capital issues are already 
addressed in the Small Business Bill of Rights. We specifically say 
small businesses should be entitled to the right to equal treatment as 
compared to large businesses when seeking access to startup and 
expansion capital and credit.
  Again, this is an example of someone criticizing the resolution not 
for what it says. They do not disagree with what it says. It is 
something that is not even there in it, and it confounds me a little 
bit. And I have to tell my colleagues when I interviewed various 
businessmen, they had a lot of ideas that they thought should be 
included and focused on in Congress that, frankly, I did not include in 
this resolution, even though I like them and they are sincere and it is 
important to them, because it was not a top-tier issue. It did not 
affect a broad cross-section of people. It was not a consensus 
noncontroversial issue.
  Just to give one example, one of the businessmen I interviewed was 
Mr. Bruce O'Donohue, who installs traffic lights. He says the biggest 
frustration as a small business person is getting reimbursed from the 
local, State, and Federal Government when they install traffic lights. 
It has a big impact on a small business guy to do work and then wait 4 
or 5 months to get paid much more than it does a Fortune 500 company. I 
am sure for him this is more important than death tax laws and 
association health plans and frivolous lawsuits, and I do not doubt the 
sincerity. But I did not include it because it was the only time I 
heard it. It did not come up in the hearing. It was not a broad 
consensus issue.
  So I could have made this piece of legislation as thick as a phone 
book and included everything in the world, but then nothing would ever 
get done. Instead, we decided to go with a blueprint of the top-tier 
issues that essentially says to Congress these are important; and if we 
do nothing else, let us at least achieve these top priorities.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I just would like to say that more than 50 percent of 
the microloan program loans went to minority entrepreneurs, making it a 
critical source for funding for new minority-owned firms. That is quite 
a niche for us. It might not be for the other party.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California 
(Mrs. Napolitano).
  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I am sitting here listening to the 
information being disseminated in regards to small business.
  I have been for many years a small business entrepreneur, if the 
Members will. I have sat on the committee for 6 years and have seen how 
the funding for some of the programs that are most helpful to minority 
business and other small business have dwindled and we have had to 
fight, especially for women-owned businesses. One year it was from 8 
million, increased by 3 million to all of 11 million for the whole of 
the United States. Yet women-owned businesses were the biggest growing 
segment of new business in the United States.
  So here we have areas that need help. The ability for some of our 
small business to grow, to be able to start up, grow, to be able to 
expand, to create the jobs. Small business is the recovery engine of 
our United States; and yet we are saying these are important things, 
that it does not really say anything about it, it just does not say 
anything about them to help them grow in these hard economic times that 
we are facing right now. When we are talking about the reimbursement of 
business license, that is a local issue. That is local government. It 
has nothing to do with the Federal Government. Those are reimbursement 
issues that procurement at the local level is handling. That has 
nothing to do with assistance in programs that will enable small 
business to be able to produce the jobs that we need to recover.
  And, yes, there are a lot of other issues that I could bring up, but 
I stand here and cannot help but wonder why they are so adamantly 
opposed to add provisions in a bill this year that we can institute to 
be able to further along our engine of recovery through our small 
business assistance.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Barrow).
  Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of today's Small Business 
Bill of Rights, but I feel it necessary to address the concerns of the 
one small business community whose concerns are not addressed in this 
resolution, America's minority-owned businesses. This is not a small 
part of the small business marketplace. It is not a niche market, 
though this resolution treats the minority small business market as 
though it were a niche market.
  Despite the fact that nearly one-third of America's population 
consists of minorities, these individuals own only 15 percent of 
America's small businesses.
  Earlier this month, the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore) and I 
attempted to offer an amendment to address this disproportion. Our 
amendment was simply a call for modernizing and streamlining the 
eligibility criteria of the Small Business Administration's 8(a) 
program so that minority-owned small businesses had substantially the 
same eligibility criteria that we use to serve the rest of the small 
business community.
  The 8(a) program was created nearly 40 years ago, and it is the major 
business development program that this government offers to help 
minority business development.
  Currently, businesses applying for 8(a) certification have to meet a 
number of restrictive criteria. These include a net worth cap of 
$250,000; a 9-year maximum time in the program; a weaning off of 
government contracts; having been in business for 2 years prior to 
entering the program; and having to show written proof of ``prospects 
for success.''
  Today these restrictions apply only to the 8(a) program. The 
eligibility criteria for the 8(a) program has not been updated, 
revised, or changed at all in the last 17 years. During that time, we 
have seen many other improvements in the Federal marketplace, including 
three new procurement programs targeting specific sectors of the small 
business community: the HUBZone program, the Women's Procurement 
program, and the Small Disadvantaged Business program. These are good 
initiatives that help America's small businesses; but in order to 
qualify for them, they do not have to jump through the same hoops they 
have to jump through to get 8(a) certification.
  Mr. Speaker, 17 years without a legislative update is the equivalent 
of repeal by neglect. Instead of ensuring that minority entrepreneurs 
have equal access to Federal contracts and subcontracts, this 
resolution does nothing to eliminate out-of-date and unnecessary 
obstacles for minority-owned companies.
  Mr. Speaker, this amendment was not even given the chance to be 
considered in committee. Just when it was time for us to introduce our 
amendment, a motion for previous question was made, preventing us from 
even introducing our amendment.
  Yesterday, I argued before the Committee on Rules that this amendment 
be considered today, and that request too was denied.
  Mr. Speaker, I understand that this is a House of procedure and 
protocol. But the curious and unusual procedure and protocol afforded 
this amendment has been unfair and unjust.
  This resolution offered us an opportunity to help remove antique 
barriers that limit the potential of our Nation's minority-opened 
businesses. Until this Congress addresses the fact that minority small 
businesses have to jump

[[Page H2587]]

through hoops that do not apply in other small business programs, 
minority small businesses will continue to be second-class concerns.
  A bill of rights for small businesses ought to fix that.

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire of the Chair how 
much time is remaining on both sides.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Foley). The gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Keller) has 9 minutes remaining; the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. 
Velazquez) has 8 minutes remaining.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Mrs. Jones).
  (Mrs. JONES of Ohio asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I want to, so the world knows, speak 
in support of all of the work that the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. 
Velazquez) has done on behalf of small business across this country. 
Without her leadership, small businesses might not have a voice in this 
Congress.
  I rise to speak in opposition to this resolution and, specifically, 
on the importance of tax relief for American small businesses. This 
bill specifies that small businesses have ``the right to be free of 
unnecessary, restrictive regulations and paperwork which waste the time 
and energy of small business, while hurting production and preventing 
job creation.''
  My only question is, what have the Republicans done since they took 
the majority in 1994 to relieve the tax burden on small business? Over 
a decade ago, when Republicans took control of the House, they promised 
that they would make our tax laws more simple and fair. Former 
Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer promised on many 
occasions that he was going to rip the code out by its roots and 
replace it with a simpler one. This has not happened.
  Actually, Mr. Speaker, the truth is no action has been taken. The 
Republicans have done the very opposite of what they promised.
  Here are some disturbing facts. The IRS estimates that the average 
taxpayer with self-employed status has the greatest compliance burden 
in terms of preparation: 59 hours. This is about 10 hours longer than 
in 1994. According to the GAO, in 2000 and 2001, small businesses 
overpaid their taxes by $18 billion because of return errors and 
complexity in the Tax Code. The Small Business Act of 1996 made 657 Tax 
Code changes that expanded the code by more than 50 pages. The Job 
Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2003 made 51 Tax Code changes and expanded 
the Tax Code by nearly 12 pages. During the 108th Congress, the 
Republicans orchestrated nearly 900 changes to the Tax Code. And it 
goes on.
  I just rise to say, Mr. Speaker, that I rise in opposition to the 
legislation. Small businesses need a simplified Tax Code.
  An analysis of the legislation by the Joint Committee on Taxation 
describes how the new law will require more than 10 percent of all 
small businesses to keep additional records, result in more disputes 
with the IRS, increase tax preparation costs, and require additional 
complex calculations.
  Mr. Speaker, small businesses are the foundation of our economy. They 
need a tax system that frees resources for investment and encourages 
job creation. We must support small businesses and American 
entrepreneurship.
  When this resolution before us states that small businesses have 
``The right to be free of unnecessary, restrictive regulations . . .,'' 
we can't help but question the sincerity of that declaration.
  Since they took the majority in 1994, Republicans have enacted 42 new 
tax laws. These new laws contain 4,268 changes to our tax code, 
resulting in over 500 additional pages to our tax code. These changes 
have made the tax code significantly more complex for Americans and 
small businesses, with no serious effort to provide tax simplification.
  Mr. Speaker, when we say that small businesses have the right to be 
free from unnecessary regulation and deserve tax simplification, we 
cannot just ``talk the talk.'' We must also ``walk the walk.'' This is 
the time in which we need to initiate fundamental tax reform; it has 
become vital to our small businesses and American entrepreneurship. We 
must act now.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
just to respond to one allegation by the gentlewoman which essentially 
was that Republicans have been in power for a while and have done 
nothing to help small businesses with respect to tax relief. I would 
dispute that pretty vigorously, and I do not need to look for too many 
examples of that.
  When I was elected to Congress in the year 2000, small businesses, 
most of which are subchapter S pass-through entities, were paying a tax 
rate of 40 percent. On the other hand, the Fortune 500 corporations 
were paying a corporate tax rate of 35 percent. President Bush thought 
that was unfair, and we passed President Bush's tax relief initiative 
and brought small businesses from 40 percent down to 35 percent. We 
have seen 2 million new jobs created in the past year in large part 
because of that tax policy, and, in fact, 70 percent of those new jobs 
were created by small business people.
  He also thought it was important that people have incentives to 
invest, so he asked us and we complied, and we lowered the capital 
gains tax from 20 percent down to 15 percent. We have had extraordinary 
tax growth. So I think the President has taken the lead with respect to 
tax relief, and the Congress has agreed with him, and we have had some 
pretty good success with that.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, small businesses got only $500. That is 
nothing compared to the $3,000 that they have to pay in fees through 
the 7(a) program.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes, 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from 
Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).
  (Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend her remarks.)
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I will not repeat the many 
cogent remarks that my colleagues have made, but I would like to 
address some of the things that the gentleman from Florida has said.
  First of all, minority- and women-owned businesses are very, very 
proud to have contributed to this economy. The 3 million businesses 
with close to 5 million workers have generated close to $600 billion in 
revenue. My concern is that there will be a serious attrition because, 
in fact, the programs that have helped to create these businesses are 
being gutted and have not been improved in 17 years. As a result of our 
not modernizing these programs, there has been a loss of $10 billion in 
Federal contracting opportunities.
  I would also like to address the gentleman's remarks about no one 
having a complaint about things in this bill. I suppose, Mr. Speaker, 
that the welcome for me, a new Member of Congress, is that I was not 
even allowed to debate my amendment, something that I regret, because I 
feel that I am a great contributor.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just like to share a few of the staggering 
economic statistics in my district of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the past 
5 years, the city of Milwaukee has lost 33,000 manufacturing jobs. We 
have had an 80 percent unemployment increase among residents in the 
city of Milwaukee. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 59 
percent, 59 percent of African American males are unemployed, and 92 
percent of them live in the city of Milwaukee.
  The late great Ronald Reagan once said anecdotally, the best way to 
address minority business unemployment is to create minority 
businesses. I could not have said it better.
  Mr. Speaker, small businesses create nearly 75 percent of all new 
jobs, account for 99 percent of all employers, and make up half of our 
nation's Gross Domestic Product, GDP. Many people of color have 
embraced the idea of the American dream through business ownership, as 
minorities own more than 3 million businesses with close to 5 million 
workers and generate close to $600 billion in revenue.
  However, despite the fact that minorities make up one-third of the 
population, minority-owned businesses account for only 15 percent of 
all U.S. companies. It seems that an ownership divide exists in this 
country and more of an effort should be made to encourage minority 
entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, H. Res. 22 does not adequately reflect 
the challenges facing many of today's minority entrepreneurs.
  Let me briefly run down a few staggering statistics in terms of my 
district:

[[Page H2588]]

  Since 1999, the number of unemployed residents in Milwaukee has 
increased by close to 80 percent.
  According to the 2000 census, 59 percent of African American working 
age males in Milwaukee are either unemployed or out of the workforce.
  In the past 5 years, the city of Milwaukee has lost 33,000 
manufacturing jobs.
  Ninety-two percent of the Metropolitan Milwaukee area's African 
American labor force lives in the city of Milwaukee.
  I know the creation of a handful of new small businesses in my 
district would be a step in the right direction towards addressing some 
of the eye-opening figures I mentioned a moment ago. But the resources 
have to be made available in order to make this happen. Sadly, the 
actions of the federal government indicate the opposite.
  It concerns me that programs established by Congress to promote 
minority business development, such as the SBA's 8(a) program, have 
been ignored and allowed to fall behind the times--with no action taken 
during the past 17 years to ensure that these vital services are able 
to meet the demands of today's small business marketplace. This is 
unacceptable.
  In the meantime, numerous reforms occurred in the federal procurement 
process that made it quicker and easier to participate in contract 
practices. Regrettably, minority-owned firms were unable to capitalize 
on these improvements due to the outdated procurement initiatives 
offered through minority business development programs. As a result, 
these companies lost out on nearly $10 billion in Federal contracting 
opportunities.
  In addition, there are significant racial disparities in Small 
Business Administration's lending practices. The average loan size for 
7(a) loans is $170,000. However, the average 7(a) loan for African 
American-owned companies is $86,000, and the average 7(a) loan for 
Hispanic-owned businesses is $128,000.
  The Federal Government has also added to the barriers to success 
already facing minority small business owners though the shutdown of 
the Small Business Investment Company's, SBIC, Participating Securities 
program. In 2003, 14 percent of all SBIC's program financings in 2003 
went to minority-owned businesses. Entrepreneurs now have one less 
avenue for capital.
  Furthermore, the administration also recommended eliminating the 
SBA's MicroLoan and PRIME programs, which provide financing and 
technical assistance to budding minority entrepreneurs. Given the 
importance of small businesses to the American economy and the serious 
problems facing urban communities, Congress should take proper action 
to accommodate the needs of small business owners.
  Mr. Speaker, along with my colleague from Georgia, Representative 
Barrow, I made a good faith effort to introduce an amendment during the 
Small Business Committee Markup of H. Res. 22 which would have added 
the concerns of minority small business owners. Unfortunately, we were 
never granted the opportunity to offer our amendment.
  To paraphrase former President Reagan, ``the best way to increase 
employment in minority communities is to increase the number of 
minority-owned businesses.'' I couldn't have said it better myself.
  This Small Business Bill of Rights does not accurately reflect the 
concerns of all small businesses in my district. Therefore, I cannot 
support the resolution. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H. Res. 
22.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire how much time is 
left.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from New York has 3\3/4\ 
minutes remaining; the gentleman from Florida has 7\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, in my community, there is an old 
saying that goes: After all is said and done, much more is said than 
done.
  Now, we have heard a great deal about what some people have called 
the do-nothing, the empty-promises Small Business Bill of Rights. The 
gentleman from Florida asked the question, if you vote against this, 
what are you really voting against? What you are voting against is the 
gamesmanship of playing games with the needs of small businesses.
  Yes, small businesses need some things. They need access to capital, 
money, cash. They need venture capital, money, cash to expand and grow 
their businesses. They need protection from the inopportunity to do 
business. They need the big contracts broken up, unbundled, so that 
they can compete. So they need assistance. They do not need rhetorical 
commentary, they do not need advice, they need help.
  I am afraid that my colleagues have been correct. This legislation is 
full of empty promises. As my colleague from North Carolina said, sound 
and fury signify nothing.
  We all love small businesses, but we want them to know the truth. The 
Bible says, ``Know ye the truth, and the truth will set you free.''
  The truth is, this administration has not been supportive of small 
businesses.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Again, I respect the comments and enthusiasm of the gentleman from 
Illinois, and I wish I had his wonderful voice, by the way; maybe I 
would be more persuasive.
  We hear criticisms that, well, this is just a blueprint, we need 
action. And then it is criticized because it does not have a thing or 
two that they want in there. So if it is, in fact, a meaningless 
blueprint and does not in fact do what I say it does, and that is 
provide a blueprint of action for this Congress, why are they so 
desperately trying to get their provisions in here?
  I have to tell my colleagues that there are some folks who do not 
agree with their characterization that this is not important. The NFIB, 
which represents 600,000 small businesses, sent out a letter yesterday 
to every Member of Congress, please vote for the Keller Small Business 
Bill of Rights. This is important to us to have this blueprint.
  The Chamber of Commerce sent out a letter on April 25, 2 days ago, 
which represents 3 million people, asking each Member of Congress, 
please vote for this Small Business Bill of Rights. This is a blueprint 
that is critical to have on the record so that this Congress will 
follow it.
  I believe that we do need to have action after this. I believe that 
the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) was smart and right to 
cosponsor the Association Health Plans. I share her criticism as to why 
the Senate has not acted, but we are going to act on this, and we are 
going to demand they act.
  She inquired of me earlier, well, you, and I assume she meant my 
party, control the White House and the Senate; why do you not do 
something and get the President to act? I have to share with my 
colleagues that on March 18, just a little while ago, I had the happy 
privilege of flying down to my home district of Orlando with President 
Bush on Air Force One and he invited me up to his cabin there where his 
mom, Barbara Bush was, and I got the chance to chat with them, just he 
and I and Senator Martinez, for an hour. He said, if you could have me 
do anything, what would you want me to do? I said, sir, I want you to 
use your bully pulpit to help us pass association health plans in the 
Senate. He said he supports it and he would agree to do that.
  So I do not know what more I can do, other than asking the Commander 
in Chief, one on one, and getting his commitment that he is going to 
push for that. But I have tried. I wish I were a dictator for a day 
sometimes, because if I was, we would have association health plans.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo).
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a provision of H. 
Res. 22 that states that small businesses have a right to be free from 
unnecessary regulation and paperwork. Small business is important to 
me, Mr. Speaker, since 95 percent of the businesses in Guam are small 
businesses. My concern is the practical aspect of including this 
language in a bill that is meant to serve essentially as a statement of 
legislative goals for the 109th Congress.
  The Regulatory Flexibility Act is routinely ignored by Federal 
agencies who are supposed to review regulations every 10 years. The 
Office of Advocacy and the Office of Information and Regulatory Policy 
are the offices assigned to review proposed regulations.
  The point is that sufficient authority exists to protect small 
businesses against unnecessary regulatory burdens but, unfortunately, 
Mr. Speaker,

[[Page H2589]]

these laws are not being carried out to the intended level by the 
executive branch. I agree with the regulatory provision of H Res. 22. 
However, this issue should remain where it belongs: in the committee's 
oversight plan.
  Mr. Speaker I, therefore, support House Resolution 22.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to address a provision of H. Res. 22 that states 
that small businesses have a right to be free from unnecessary 
regulation and paperwork. My purpose is not to judge the merits of this 
provision in the rhetorical sense, as I too agree that we need to do 
more to relieve the regulatory and paperwork burden on small 
businesses. My concern is the practical aspect of including this 
language in a bill that is meant to serve essentially as a statement of 
legislative goals for the 109th Congress, particularly a bill such as 
H. Res. 22 that has unfortunately poisoned some of the bipartisan 
spirit that I believe made the Small Business Committee so strong and 
effective in past Congresses.
  Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act requires federal 
agencies to review regulations every ten years in order to strike or 
revise those provisions which are obsolete or for which a more modern 
perspective would lead to a better rule. This Act is routinely ignored 
by federal agencies. The Office of Advocacy and the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Policy are the offices assigned to review 
proposed regulations for their impact on small businesses and to ensure 
that agencies comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act and the 
paperwork Reduction Act. Both offices have been provided fewer 
resources than in previous years, with the administration now proposing 
to eliminate the line item for advocacy's research budget.
  The point is that sufficient authority exists to protect small 
businesses against unnecessary regulatory burdens, but unfortunately 
these laws are not being carried out to the intended level by the 
executive branch. I agree with the regulatory provision of H. Res. 22 
in substance, however, this issue should remain where it belongs: in 
the committee's oversight plan. As the ranking member of the Regulatory 
Reform and Oversight Subcommittee, I am very much looking forward to 
conducting oversight hearings on the challenges facing the Federal 
agencies in complying with existing mandates. The chairman of my 
subcommittee is a good man, with whom I know there exists much common 
ground for which we can work on a bipartisan basis.
  Last year, we worked on a bipartisan basis to advance an SBA 
reauthorization that had many important provisions. We worked together 
on a number of other items such as small business health care and 
restoring funding for the 7(a) Loan Program that we felt were of mutual 
interest to small businesses despite objections from other members of 
our own parties. Unfortunately many of the bipartisan points were 
scuttled, including a very important provision for my district, and 
many of the issues for which there is not as strong a consensus are now 
being advanced. I don't question the commitment to small businesses of 
those supporting or not supporting H. Res. 22. I do however question 
whether or not this strategy is conducive to what we really need to be 
doing as a committee and as a Congress in advancing the interests of 
our small business community, particularly those issues on which we all 
agree.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, who was the right to close?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida has the right to 
close.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for an additional 
1\1/2\ minutes for myself.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New 
York (Ms. Velazquez).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman is yielded an additional 1 
minute then, for 2\1/4\ minutes.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remaining time.
  My colleagues have all heard about the challenges facing small 
business today during this debate. It has become very clear that House 
Resolution 22 will do nothing to address these issues, and it is 
nothing more than pure rhetoric.
  This resolution fails terribly in providing strong solutions and 
action items to help this Nation's small businesses. It also fails 
terribly in representing the needs of all sectors of the small business 
community. With all the respect due to the main sponsor of this 
resolution, 20 small businesses from his district do not represent 20 
small businesses in my district, or 20 small businesses in any other 
Members' district. By voting for House Resolution 22, you are merely 
casting a blank ballot. This bill of rights is nothing more than empty 
promises to our Nation's small businesses.
  I am going to request a motion to recommit this bill back to the 
committee. By voting for this motion to recommit, you will be voting to 
give small businesses the opportunity to truly receive more capital 
through SBA lending programs and to protect them from free trade 
agreements. Most importantly, you will be voting to make the needs of 
women- and minority-owned businesses a true priority. These are 
critical provisions that need to be addressed.

                              {time}  1515

  This resolution does not represent the needs of all our Nation's 
small businesses. In order to enhance House Resolution 22, I urge you 
to vote ``yes'' on the motion to recommit this legislation to the 
committee. And I urge you to vote ``no'' on final passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Foley). The gentleman from Florida has 
the right to close.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have 
remaining.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida has 4\1/2\ 
minutes remaining.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, let us talk a little bit about this Small Business Bill 
of Rights and whether or not it accurately represents small business 
people. When I was assigned to the Small Business Committee, before 
accepting my Chair there, I decided to personally go interview small 
business people in my district.
  I did not pretend to have any idea as to what their top issues were. 
I just knew that they were creating 70 percent of all new jobs in this 
country; and I wanted to see what, if anything, I and other Members of 
Congress could do to help them. I went into those meetings with an open 
mind. I then came out learning that the skyrocketing health insurance 
was the number one issue, and they wanted association health plans.
  I learned their number two issue was small family-owned businesses 
wanting to pass the businesses from one generation to the next under 
some reformed death tax laws. Right now what we have was unacceptable.
  I have learned that they had concerns about frivolous lawsuits, and 
their liability premiums were going up, and that it was hard for them 
to defend a case in court, even if they were not at fault, because 
attorneys are so expensive, and so they would rather pay 10 grand to 
settle a case where they did nothing wrong rather than pay $100,000.
  I also learned that they were spending about $5,500 per employee on 
unnecessary paperwork and regulations. I learned from these meetings 
that, in fact, those were not only the top four issues, but in about 
that order.
  And then later, when the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) 
said that she wanted to have a hearing on this matter, we had the 
majority and minority call witnesses. And I did not know what these 
witnesses were going to say at that hearing.
  But when we got to the hearing, we had the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 
which does represent 3 million businesses, and not just the 20 I spoke 
of, say that, in fact, according to the polls of those members, those 
four issues that consistently came up in my district of Orlando were 
the top four issues in the country facing small businesses.
  We then had a gentleman testify on behalf of NFIB named Jerry Pierce. 
And he testified those were the top four issues according to him and 
NFIB. And so, in fact, we had isolated the top four issues affecting 
small businesses, and they rightfully deserve to be there.
  So we put together this Small Business Bill of Rights; did not do it 
alone, sat down and talked with a Democrat colleague of mine who is the 
original cosponsor of this, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Cramer), 
and put together what we thought were the top four issues.
  We then had a hearing. And the minority said, well, there are some 
other issues that are also important dealing

[[Page H2590]]

with energy costs and access to capital and contract bundling. We put 
those there as well.
  And so we came up with this Small Business Bill of Rights, not by 
accident or witchcraft or consulting some psychic. We came up with 
these issues by talking directly to business people out in the field, 
in congressional hearings, and listening to what they said in their 
surveys. And we came up with a pretty good bill that almost everyone, 
Republican and Democrat, should support.
  Now, there is a reason not to support this; and I will tell you, in 
the interest of straight talk. If you disagree with what this says, and 
you believe there should be higher health insurance, then do not 
support it. If you think there should be more taxes, then do not 
support it. If you think we should have more frivolous lawsuits, do not 
support it. If you want more red tape and paperwork, do not support it. 
If you want higher energy costs, do not support it. If you want more 
obstacles to getting contracts, do not support it. If you want it to be 
harder to get access to capital, do not support it. But if you are a 
small business person and you represent small business people, realize 
that this Small Business Bill of Rights represents what they tell us 
they want Congress to do.
  During this week, National Small Business Week, let us send a message 
to small business people: we hear you, we have a resolution listing 
these as the blueprint for our priorities in Congress, and we are going 
to vote ``yes'' to send a message that we are going to get these things 
done, if nothing else.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to vote ``yes'' on H. Res. 22 and vote ``no'' on the motion to 
recommit.


                             General Leave

  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H. Res. 22.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing me the 
opportunity to offer my remarks today regarding H. Res. 22. As a member 
of the House Small Business Committee, small business creation and 
development is one area in which I take great interest. As the 
Representative from a largely rural district, I understand that small 
businesses are the livelihood of rural America. They bring goods and 
services to these communities, providing the foundation for local rural 
economies. They also are the main source of employment in many rural 
areas.
  In many rural areas, it is a priority to ensure small businesses 
access to capital. Without access to financing, small businesses are 
unable to target new markets, grow, or even hire new workers. Often, 
undercapitalized businesses go bankrupt, leaving a void in rural 
communities across the country.
  The Small Business Administration's 7(a) loan program was created to 
fill this void as well as to ensure that small businesses would always 
have an available source of affordable capital. The program is 
administered by a network of lenders, which based on SBA rules, sets up 
its own processes. SBA provides a guarantee on a portion of the loan, 
and allows the bank to extend more capital than they would without the 
guarantee. The 7(a) loan program, which is the SBA's core lending 
program, is responsible for 30 percent of all long-term lending to 
small business owners.
  Unfortunately, the Administration recently shifted the cost of the 
7(a) program to small businesses and their lenders--raising fees on 
these loans for both the borrowers and lenders. Upfront fees were 
raised by nearly $1,500 for smaller loans and as much as $3,000 for 
larger loans. For the largest loans available, which are for $2 
million, these fees are now over $50,000. This has doubled lenders' 
annual costs for making loans and reduced their incentives for 
participating in the program.
  The Administration's actions are starting to take their toll. During 
the last quarter of FY04, when the program was operating unfettered and 
with lower fees in place, the program did $3.94 billion worth of 
business. Recent quarterly figures show that this has dropped to $3.42 
billion--a 14 percent decline. And the Administration has now proposed 
more fees for next year. This will only serve to further harm small 
businesses and the communities that they are located in.
  There are many creditworthy businesses that are in need of capital 
but that do not fit a lender's traditional underwriting standards. Some 
entrepreneurs put off needed improvements or forgo potential expansion. 
Others are forced to turn to costly lending alternatives and end up 
financially strapped with insurmountable debt before their companies 
have even had a chance to get off the ground.
  To make things worse, credit conditions are tightening for small 
business owners. The Federal Reserve has just raised interest rates for 
the seventh time since last June. Many lenders have followed suit, 
lifting their prime lending rates to 5.75 percent. Small business loans 
are tied to the prime lending rate, and as a result many small 
businesses will face higher interest rates.
  It is evident that many small business owners are unable to access 
the capital they need. This creates a situation where not only is the 
entrepreneur unable to achieve their goal, but our local communities 
lose out on the potential job creation and economic growth that these 
new firms bring with them.
  Small businesses are critical to our nation's economy and we must 
ensure that they have access to capital. Yet, this resolution fails to 
call for Congress to help strengthen the SBA programs that best help 
small businesses. This resolution falls far short of helping small 
businesses. As such, I urge my colleagues to oppose H. Res. 22.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 235, the previous question is ordered on 
the resolution and the preamble, as amended.


              Motion to Recommit Offered by Ms. Velazquez

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentlewoman opposed to the 
resolution?
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Yes, in its current form.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to 
recommit.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Ms. Velazquez moves to recommit the bill, H. Res. 22, to 
     the Committee on Small Business.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to recommit.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 188, 
nays 222, not voting 24, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 140]

                               YEAS--188

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (OH)
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carson
     Chandler
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cooper
     Costello
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth
     Higgins
     Hinchey
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kilpatrick (MI)
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Maloney
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Menendez
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz (PA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Wasserman Schultz

[[Page H2591]]


     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Wexler
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn

                               NAYS--222

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachus
     Baker
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boren
     Boustany
     Bradley (NH)
     Brown (SC)
     Burgess
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Carter
     Case
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Conyers
     Costa
     Cox
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Cunningham
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeLay
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Ferguson
     Fitzpatrick (PA)
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (WI)
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hostettler
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Jenkins
     Jindal
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Jones (NC)
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kildee
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Obey
     Osborne
     Otter
     Oxley
     Paul
     Pearce
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Platts
     Poe
     Pombo
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Royce
     Ryun (KS)
     Salazar
     Saxton
     Schwarz (MI)
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Sodrel
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Whitfield
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--24

     Brady (TX)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burton (IN)
     Cubin
     Doolittle
     Feeney
     Flake
     Hensarling
     Hinojosa
     Istook
     Johnson, Sam
     Lynch
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Pence
     Pitts
     Rothman
     Ryan (WI)
     Scott (GA)
     Shadegg
     Souder
     Westmoreland
     Wicker


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Foley) (during the vote). Members are 
advised there are 2 minutes remaining in the vote.

                              {time}  1546

  Messrs. KIND, THORNBERRY, LEACH, PETERSON of Pennsylvania and REGULA 
changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay''.
  Messrs. ENGEL, DAVIS of Tennessee and OBERSTAR and Mrs. MALONEY 
changed their vote from ``nay'' to ``yea''.
  So the motion to recommit was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  Stated for:
  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 140, had I been present, I 
would have voted ``yes.''
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________