[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 17, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H582-H584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS UNDER SMALL BUSINESS 
             ACT AND SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT ACT OF 1958

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 434) to provide for an additional temporary extension of 
programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment 
Act of 1958 through December 31, 2007, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 434

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

     SECTION 1. ADDITIONAL TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF 
                   PROGRAMS UNDER THE SMALL BUSINESS ACT AND THE 
                   SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT ACT OF 1958.

       The authorization for any program, authority, or provision, 
     including any pilot program, that was extended through 
     February 2, 2007, by section 1 of Public Law 109-

[[Page H583]]

     316 is further extended through December 31, 2007, under the 
     same terms and conditions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Velazquez) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the legislation being offered today will extend the 
authorization of the Small Business Administration and its programs. 
This short-term extension will ensure that small businesses have many 
of the tools that they need to be successful in today's economy. As the 
current authorization is set to expire in February, it will ensure that 
programs can operate through the end of the calendar year while 
Congress considers legislative changes.
  The 109th Congress adjourned without making the necessary changes to 
get the SBA and its programs running efficiently and effectively. 
Clearly, a lot of work needs to be done to ensure that the Small 
Business Administration can adequately respond to the needs of small 
businesses. Today we have an opportunity to give Congress time to 
review, evaluate and, if need be, modernize the Small Business 
Administration programs.
  I want to commend Congressman Chabot, the Small Business Committee's 
new ranking member, for recognizing these issues and working with me to 
expedite them.
  For many entrepreneurs across the country, SBA programs are the 
difference between success and failure. Our Nation's 24 million small 
businesses often rely on these programs for affordable financing and 
entrepreneurial training, as well as assistance in accessing the 
Federal marketplace. Given the importance and the significant impact 
that SBA has on our Nation's entrepreneurs, it is our duty to 
thoroughly review and assess the SBA and its programs. This is 
especially true in light of the fact that there have been no major 
changes in over 6 years. We need to make sure that SBA is able to meet 
the needs of small businesses in the 21st century economy.
  The administration asks for this extension, recognizing the time 
needed to evaluate the structure, programs and possible modifications 
that need to be made agency-wide.
  The short-term extension that H.R. 434 provides would allow us to 
hold hearings on various topics and examine each of the issues brought 
forth by the SBA. Most importantly, it will give us the opportunity to 
draft a bipartisan bill that has each Member's input. Small businesses, 
the Nation's largest job creator, deserve nothing less than our full 
commitment to ensuring that they can be successful.
  I urge Members to support H.R. 434, to ensure that this Nation's 
entrepreneurs have access to all of the resources they need to grow and 
expand their businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill simply extends all the programs, including 
pilot programs, the authorities or provisions of the Small Business Act 
and the Small Business Investment Act as they are presently constituted 
until the end of this year. Currently, the programs and authorities of 
the Small Business Administration expire on February 2. Passage of this 
bill will give the committee the time necessary to work in a bipartisan 
manner on a more comprehensive Small Business Administration 
reauthorization bill during the rest of this session.
  I am pleased to enclose for the Record a letter dated January 8, 
2007, from the administrator of the SBA, Steven Preston, endorsing a 
longer-term extension of the authorities of the SBA.

         U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of the 
           Administrator,
                                                   Washington, DC.
     Hon. Steve Chabot,
     Ranking Member, Committee on Small Business, House of 
         Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Chabot: I am writing to you regarding the 
     authorization of the U.S. Small Business Administration's 
     (SBA) programs for fiscal year 2007. As you know, those 
     programs were temporarily extended by Public Law 109-316. 
     That authorization is due to expire on February 2, 2007. 
     While SBA's major loan programs will still function without 
     that express authorization several other important 
     authorizations will expire. These include SBA's co-
     sponsorship authority which enables our district offices to 
     conduct much of their outreach and assistance functions.
       Therefore, rather than place the SBA in the unfortunate 
     position of suspending the operation of these programs, I ask 
     that you and your colleagues extend the authorization of 
     SBA's programs through the end of fiscal 2007. Continuing the 
     current authorization without any further amendment will 
     prevent any interruption in the services of the SBA and allow 
     SBA and Congress to work unimpeded on multi-year 
     authorization legislation.
       Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. If 
     you or your staff have any questions please contact C.E. 
     ``Tee'' Rowe in our Office of Congressional and Legislative 
     Affairs at (202) 205-6703.
           Sincerely yours,
                                                Steven C. Preston.

  Mr. Speaker, many of the programs of the SBA do not operate under a 
direct appropriation. This includes the 7(a) General Business Loan 
Guarantee Program, the Certified Development Company Program and the 
Small Business Investment Company Program. Passage of this bill will 
make it absolutely certain that there is no legal ambiguity as to 
whether or not the Federal Government can continue to guarantee these 
critical loan and debenture programs for the rest of this year.
  In addition, this bill would extend the authority of the Small 
Business Administration to operate several smaller programs, including 
grants to small business development centers to participate in the 
Drug-Free Workplace Program, sustainability funding for women business 
centers, the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Pilot Program, the New Markets 
Venture Capital Program, and BusinessLinc. It would also extend the 
SBA's cosponsorship and gift authority, which enables the SBA to accept 
private donations to help put on events or print publications, thus 
saving the taxpayer substantial dollars. Finally, H.R. 434 gives the 
SBA all the authority it needs to continue the operations of the 
Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is quite simple. It contains the exact same 
language, with only the dates changed, that was signed into law four 
times in the 108th Congress. It was also passed one time in 2006 when 
Congress confronted the same problem during previous efforts to pass an 
SBA reauthorization bill into law.
  Extending the authorities of the SBA until December 31 of this year 
will give the Small Business Committee unimpeded time to develop a 
comprehensive SBA reauthorization bill without having to confront every 
few weeks another expiration deadline.
  I look forward to working in a bipartisan manner with Chairwoman 
Velazquez and other committee members to produce a good, fiscally 
responsible reauthorization bill that can eventually be signed into law 
by the President. I especially want to thank the graciousness of 
Chairwoman Velazquez for agreeing to bring up this bill in such an 
expeditious manner, and look forward to working with her in the 
upcoming session of Congress.
  I want to emphasize what the chairwoman said about the importance of 
small business to our country. After all, about 99 percent of the 
businesses in this country have fewer than 500 employees, which by 
definition means they are small business, and 60 to 80 percent of new 
jobs in this country are created by these small businesses. Oftentimes 
the regulations, the taxation, the litigation, there are a whole range 
of problems which they have to bear.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that we can over the next 2 years work in a 
bipartisan manner in order to help small businesses. It is really not a 
Democrat or Republican issue, it is an issue which benefits all 
Americans. So I think this is especially a committee in which I think 
bipartisanship is called for, and I am optimistic we will be able to do 
that.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 434, so that our 
Nation's small businesses will see no interruption of service from the 
SBA over the next 11 months while Congress works uninterrupted on a 
comprehensive reauthorization bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

[[Page H584]]

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, so I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 434.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those voting have responded in the affirmative.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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