[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H3506-H3508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1361, RELIEF FOR ENTREPRENEURS:
COORDINATION OF OBJECTIVES AND VALUES FOR EFFECTIVE RECOVERY ACT OF
2007
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee
on Rules, I call up House Resolution 302 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 302
Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this
resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule
XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of
the bill (H.R. 1361) to improve the disaster relief programs
of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.
The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All
points of order against consideration of the bill are waived
except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI.
General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not
exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the
chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on
Small Business. After general debate the bill shall be
considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. The
amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the
Committee on Small Business now printed in the bill, modified
by the amendment printed in part A of the report of the
Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, shall be
considered as adopted in the House and in the Committee of
the Whole. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as the
original bill for the purpose of further amendment under the
five-minute rule and shall be considered as read. All points
of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are
waived. Notwithstanding clause 11 of rule XVIII, no further
amendment to the bill, as amended, shall be in order except
those printed in part B of the report of the Committee on
Rules. Each such further amendment may be offered only in the
order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member
designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall
be debatable for the time specified in the report equally
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent,
shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject
to a demand for division of the question in the House or in
the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such
further amendments are waived except those arising under
clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. At the conclusion of
consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall
rise and report the bill, as amended, to the House with such
further amendments as may have been adopted. The previous
question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and
amendments thereto to final passage without intervening
motion except one motion to recommit with or without
instructions.
Sec. 2. During consideration in the House of H.R. 1361
pursuant to this resolution, notwithstanding the operation of
the previous question, the Chair may postpone further
consideration of the bill to such time as may be designated
by the Speaker.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) is
recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I
yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida, my friend
and cochair of Florida's congressional delegation, Representative
Lincoln Diaz-Balart. All time yielded during consideration of the rule
is for debate only.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
{time} 1320
General Leave
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend
their remarks on House Resolution 302.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as the Clerk just read, this
rule provides for consideration of H.R. 1361, the Relief for
Entrepreneurs: Coordination of Objectives and Values for Effective
Recovery, or RECOVER, Act of 2007 under a structured rule.
[[Page H3507]]
Continuing our ongoing efforts to provide the minority with
opportunities to amend and improve legislation on the House floor, the
rule also makes in order all three Republican amendments that were
submitted to the Rules Committee.
Mr. Speaker, as someone who represents a district which has been
victim to countless natural disasters, I have known about the Small
Business Administration's disaster loan program for quite some time.
Businesses in the district I am privileged to serve and the district
of my good friend Mr. Diaz-Balart and throughout South Florida have
relied on this program to sustain themselves during the difficult days,
weeks and months following natural disasters. Loans provided under
SBA's disaster loan assistance program have, at times, literally kept
Florida's economy going.
While I have seen the greatness of this program, Mr. Speaker, I and
my constituents have also seen its shortcomings. Indeed, the problems
addressed in the underlying legislation, and I commend the Chair's
recommendations and their efforts in that regard, but the problems are
not new, and they certainly were not created by Hurricanes Katrina,
Rita or Wilma. On the contrary, they have manifested for quite some
time and have been raised by me and many of my colleagues in Florida
over the years.
In Florida, we saw SBA's limitations during the 2004 hurricane
season. By no fault of its own, SBA was inundated with loan
applications and overwhelmed by the situation. Long delays in
application processing and slow disbursements of approved loans led
many in my part of the country to question why Congress didn't do
anything at the time to increase the Small Business Administration's
capacity during disasters.
Although it took the largest disaster of our time for us to open up
our eyes, I am pleased that this Congress under this leadership is
giving the SBA the tools that it needs to keep America's small
businesses in business after a disaster.
The RECOVER Act enhances the SBA's capacity to provide assistance
during and after natural disasters. The legislation mandates that the
SBA establish and maintain a comprehensive disaster plan which will be
overseen by a new associate administrator for disaster assistance.
Using FEMA's citizen volunteer program as its model, the underlying
legislation establishes a disaster reserve corps capable of providing
the people-power necessary to respond to an influx of SBA loan
applications.
The RECOVER Act improves SBA's customer service operation and
increases the limit of SBA disaster loans from $1.5 million to $3
million. It also expands the scope of organizations which can qualify
for such loans and makes it easier for businesses to pay back their
loans.
The bill also requires improved disaster response coordination
between the SBA and FEMA. This is a critical, yet unfortunate,
requirement of the bill. Critical because coordination during disasters
across agency lines is desperately needed; unfortunate, notwithstanding
of the fact that these things are going to occur, I am dumbfounded that
our agencies aren't already coordinating to the maximum extent possible
during disasters.
I have participated in the conversations, sat in the meetings where
coordination between agencies is nonexistent during disasters. Turf
battles supersede logic, and coordination is a distant memory of the
past.
I ask: Why does it take an act of Congress to get Federal agencies to
coordinate their efforts when authorization for such coordination
already exists? The only turf that matters and should matter during
disasters is the turf of the American people.
We have to be in the business of providing our citizens with every
available resource to respond to and recover from disasters. The
underlying legislation does just that.
I am proud to support this rule and the underlying legislation, and I
urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would like to
thank my good friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), the
co-chairman of the Florida congressional delegation, for the time, and
I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Small business, Mr. Speaker, is the engine that drives our economic
strength. Small businesses employ over half of all private sector
workers and pay approximately 45 percent of U.S. private payroll.
Over the last decade, small businesses have generated 60 to 80
percent of new jobs. We must not take the amazing performance of small
businesses for granted, however, Mr. Speaker. They often don't have the
financial structure and support to help them quickly recover from major
natural disasters. If small businesses fail in the aftermath of a
natural disaster, it only slows the recovery of the area.
Storms have often punished the community that I am honored to
represent. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew, a category 5 storm, devastated
much of South Florida. Until 2005, Hurricane Andrew was the costliest
natural disaster in our history, causing over $26 billion of damage to
South Florida. Entire communities were totally destroyed. Especially
hard hit were many of the small businesses that make up a major part of
the South Florida economy. Fifteen years later, the effects of that
storm can still be felt.
The SBA was one of the many Federal agencies that suffered a
breakdown in operations during the rebuilding efforts after the 2005
hurricane season. The disaster loan program of the SBA is the Federal
Government's main source of natural disaster rebuilding assistance and
has come under fire for problems and delays in granting loans to
homeowners, renters and businesses affected by the hurricanes.
I think we need to do all that we can to ensure that the backbone of
our country, small businesses, are not crippled in a storm's aftermath
and that those small businesses can play a leading role in the recovery
of affected areas.
This underlying legislation better prepares the SBA to handle future
disasters by requiring, among other reforms, that the agency develop a
comprehensive disaster response plan, improve training, streamline
information tracking systems, follow-up processes and more efficiently
distribute disaster loans by partnering with private lenders.
There is at least one point of contention in the underlying
legislation. Section 211 modifies the subsidy rate assigned to SBA
disaster loans by providing for double compensation under the provision
that a disaster victim could receive both a grant and a loan for the
same damage. This provision requires a direct appropriation. As such,
it violates PAYGO rules.
The manager's amendment by the distinguished chairman, Ms. Velazquez,
does correct the PAYGO problem by making the section subject to
available appropriations. It still does not address the underlying
issue in contention, however, Mr. Speaker, which is, why should someone
be compensated twice for the same injury? It is a legitimate point of
contention which obviously merits debate.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1330
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased at this time
to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida, our
colleague on the Rules Committee, Ms. Castor.
Ms. CASTOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague from the
Rules Committee.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the RECOVER Act and this
rule which charts a new direction for emergency and hurricane planning,
because the Federal Government simply must be ready to respond in a
crisis.
Small Business Committee Chair Nydia Velazquez and her committee
deserve credit for understanding the expectations of the American
people, who have insisted upon better disaster relief planning.
My colleagues from Florida, and indeed, our neighbors and citizens
across the gulf coast, begin to feel a bit apprehensive this time of
year because hurricane season is only a few weeks away. Yes, we are all
worried about the potential landfall of a hurricane, but we are also
just as concerned about the administration's ability to deal with the
aftermath.
[[Page H3508]]
Following the Bush administration's poor response to the 2005 gulf
coast hurricanes, the new Congress has pledged to strengthen disaster
planning and response, and we are following through here today. The
RECOVER Act will improve the Small Business Administration's disaster
response plans and assess its technology, telecommunications and
personnel in advance.
In the event of another hurricane or natural disaster, small business
owners will face costs of starting up again, so this act increases the
funds available for disaster loans from $1.5 to $3 million. And
importantly for the hardworking folks like those in my district in the
Tampa Bay area, small business owners will no longer be required to
pledge their homes as collateral for business loans less than $100,000.
The act also requires the SBA to improve coordination with State and
local authorities and establishes a disaster relief corps of 1,000
trained individuals.
So, Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge approval of this rule and the
RECOVER Act so that our country is better prepared for hurricane season
and the swift recovery of our communities and small businesses.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege
to yield 4 minutes to my good friend, the gentleman from Georgia, Dr.
Gingrey.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I can certainly understand my former
colleagues on the Rules Committee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Hastings), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart), the gentlelady
from Florida (Ms. Castor) being in favor of this rule and this
underlying bill.
But I rise, Mr. Speaker, in strong opposition to the underlying
legislation, H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act. This legislation is bad fiscal
policy. It increases the cost to America's taxpayers of providing
disaster assistance, while increasing the probability that the Federal
Government will lose money to default losses.
It was Huey Long, the long-time Governor and Senator from Louisiana,
the gulf coast, the Kingfish, as he was known, who said, ``I can
frighten or buy 99 out of every 100 men.''
Mr. Speaker, I am not suggesting that my Democratic colleagues are
trying to buy votes with this bill. But I do know that we need to
closely examine the money our government spends to ensure that it is
spent responsibly.
We have worked hard to fund the redevelopment of the gulf coast,
committing more than $110 billion of Federal resources. That includes
$4.7 billion to FEMA to remove debris and repair and rebuild public
infrastructure and buildings; $17 billion from HUD for Community
Development Block Grants, the largest housing recovery program in
United States history; $6 billion for the Corps of Engineers to rebuild
and restore levees so that we can rebuild below sea level; $16.1
billion paid out in national flood insurance claims, $1 billion for
Health and Human Services to cover all of Louisiana's health care
costs. And the list, Mr. Speaker, goes on and on.
There are right ways and wrong ways to fund redevelopment. This
Congress has delivered $14 billion in incentives to spur private
business investment and economic development to create jobs, another
$600 million in Gulf Opportunity Zone tax credits to the region, with
an additional $400 million expected to be awarded this fall to
encourage more business investment. But today we are debating a bill
which would harm small business across the Nation by giving away money
that will never, and I repeat, that will never get repaid.
Mr. Speaker, provisions in title II of this bill would allow gulf
businesses whose application for a disaster loan has been denied, to
then receive $100,000 in grant money. And if a business has already
received a loan, this bill will make sure that same business can also
get a grant, and in the process, they will make certain that the grant
money is not used to repay the loan.
So, yes, Mr. Speaker, you heard right. If the SBA decides your
business is not viable enough for a loan, Congress is going to come in
and just give you the money. What is more, now you can get paid twice
for the same disaster.
Mr. Speaker, the sad fact is, this bill will hurt small businesses
across the country. When the SBA makes a loan and that loan is repaid,
the SBA loans that money to another business, and the cycle repeats
itself. But by removing the repayment part of this cycle and requiring
the SBA to send a $100,000 grant to those businesses who do not qualify
for a disaster loan in the first place, we are diluting the resources
of the SBA and hindering its ability to extend loans to businesses in
other parts of the country, businesses fully capable of repaying them.
Mr. Speaker, my Democratic colleagues are ignoring any semblance of
restraint by treating our Treasury as a bottomless pit. In raising the
risk of unrecoverable default losses, by giving away free money, it
would certainly seem they are doing their level best to prove Huey
Long's words to be true.
I urge my colleagues, vote against the rule and vote against the
underlying bill.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire of the
gentleman from Florida, Mr. Speaker, if he has any remaining speakers.
I am the last speaker for this side.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. I have no more speakers.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Then I will reserve my time until the
gentleman has closed for his side and yielded back his time.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, we have no further
speakers and yield back.
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, disasters in this country are
not limited to hurricanes or the Southeast. As I was saying yesterday
in the Rules Committee, the chairwoman had storms in her district
earlier this week, and there is massive drought going on in parts of
this country. All of these are disasters and all of these have major
SBA implications.
I have lived, and continue to live, in disaster-prone areas, like so
many others in Congress and in this country. If our failures of the
past have taught us anything, it is that we can no longer be response
oriented when it comes to disasters.
Mitigation and planning saves money, saves time, and most
importantly, saves lives.
The RECOVER Act creates a comprehensive and universal plan at the SBA
for disaster response. It is the first step on this important path to
improving the Federal Government's response to disasters.
I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule, the previous question, and the
underlying legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and move the
previous question on the resolution.
The previous question was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on adoption of the
resolution.
The resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________