[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H3511-H3527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RELIEF FOR ENTREPRENEURS: COORDINATION OF OBJECTIVES AND VALUES FOR 
                     EFFECTIVE RECOVERY ACT OF 2007

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 302 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 1361.

                              {time}  1425


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 1361) to improve the disaster relief programs of the Small 
Business Administration, and for other purposes, with Mr. Davis of 
Alabama in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the 
first time.
  The gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) and the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Chabot) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I will yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  After the 2005 gulf coast hurricanes, we witnessed a number of 
problems with the Small Business Administration's preparation and 
ability to assist entrepreneurs following a disaster. As the agency 
responsible for handling the disaster loan program, it was clear they 
were not adequately prepared.
  During that time, there were significant application backlogs, with 
the number ballooning to 204,000 unprocessed applications by December 
2005. Those that were lucky enough to get approved for assistance often 
waited months to receive any funds. It reached the point where 
entrepreneurs were simply avoiding the SBA, believing it was more of a 
hindrance than a help.
  There is no question the leading factor in SBA's poor response was 
its lack of preparation and tools to assist the gulf coast victims. 
H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act of 2007, provides for thorough disaster 
planning and directs SBA to ensure they are prepared for a wide range 
of disasters.
  This legislation will streamline SBA's loan processing and 
disbursement, as well as establish a bridge financing program. After 
the gulf coast storms, we saw entrepreneurs not only getting declined 
for loans but having to wait far too long for relief. This bill 
requires that within 36 hours of a disaster, qualified small businesses 
are provided with emergency small dollar financing, allowing them to 
stay in business and spur economic growth.
  For small businesses, success and failure often come down to adequate 
financing. Nowhere is that more true than following a disaster. The 
changes made in this bill will ensure we avoid the mistakes in the gulf 
where 62 percent of small businesses who applied for assistance were 
not approved.
  We cannot leave entrepreneurs with nothing to help them salvage their 
enterprises. For those that did get approved, the average wait time to 
receive their loan was 74 days, much longer than the SBA's goal of 21 
days.
  H.R. 1361 also provides for gulf coast entrepreneurs who still need 
assistance. The committee just came back from New Orleans, and there is 
no doubt that this community has a long way to go to get where it was 
before the hurricanes hit. By helping affected small businesses, we are 
also significantly aiding in the revitalization of the gulf coast.
  The RECOVER Act of 2007 will establish a grant program that allows 
the SBA to help the most significantly damaged small businesses that 
have been rejected for a conventional SBA loan. These grants are 
intended to spur redevelopment in communities directly affected by the 
2005 gulf coast storms where ordinary market forces are simply not 
enough. They will be granted under limited circumstances to provide aid 
to only the neediest of entrepreneurs that meet a number of 
qualifications.
  The legislation also fixes SBA's one-size-fits-all approach to the 
disaster loan process that has failed businesses in the gulf coast. To 
be more responsive to individual disaster victims, H.R. 1361 provides 
the SBA administrator with the authority to waive the prohibition on 
duplication of benefits for the 2005 hurricane victims. Taking state-
administered grant assistance and replacing it with loans that are not 
disbursed efficiently or in adequate amounts have left entrepreneurs 
without assistance to build their homes. Small businesses should not 
have to choose between their home and their business. This bill makes 
sure they are not faced with that choice.
  Eighteen months has passed since this Nation saw one of its largest 
natural disasters. There is no question small businesses are still very 
much in need of assistance. The RECOVER Act of 2007 modernizes and 
reforms the SBA's disaster programs and addresses key concerns still 
facing hurricane victims.
  H.R. 1361 has the support of America's Community Bankers, Independent 
Community Bankers of America, American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign 
Wars of the United States, the Black Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. 
Women's Chamber of Commerce.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to vote for the RECOVER Act of 2007.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume.
  Today, Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1361, the RECOVER 
Act. While there are many important things that this bill does, there 
are two provisions in particular, I believe, that unfortunately 
undermine the good work that has been done by the chairwoman in 
drafting the legislation.
  I want to make clear, I think she has worked very hard. I think the 
staff has worked very hard to craft what they thought was a good bill, 
and I think it still has the potential. There are two amendments that 
we are going to offer subsequent to the general debate argument here, 
and if those amendments are adopted, I think they fix the bill 
sufficiently that we can support it because, as I indicated, I think 
there are many good things in this bill. But without those two 
provisions being passed, we unfortunately have to oppose it in its 
current form.
  These two provisions, as I indicated, unfortunately make it 
impossible for me to support it as drafted, and the manager's amendment 
offered by the chairwoman, while making one of the provisions less 
problematic, does not assuage our underlying concerns about the two 
provisions that I just mentioned.
  I think everyone can agree that all branches of government failed to 
respond adequately to the devastation that was Hurricane Katrina, and 
one of those agencies that did not measure up is the Small Business 
Administration unfortunately. This is not the conclusion of Democrats 
or Republicans, or Louisiana or Mississippi Members of Congress. It is 
a conclusion reached by the GAO, small business owners in the region 
and even the SBA itself.
  While much of the focus on the response to Katrina has focused on the 
immediate aftermath and the failures of FEMA, the SBA plays a key role 
in the response to disasters by issuing loans to both homeowners and 
small businesses affected by the disaster. Thus, an inadequate response 
by the SBA undermines the recovery of communities devastated by natural 
disasters. It is vital that the SBA be prepared to handle future 
disasters, including some worst-case possible scenarios.
  Administrator Preston understands this and has taken a number of 
steps to improve the SBA's readiness and made efforts to ensure that 
the inadequate response does not repeat itself. Through his efforts, he 
has reduced backlogs, streamlined loan processing,

[[Page H3512]]

improved customer service and identified points where the processing of 
disaster loans broke down. Administrator Preston also will ensure that 
the computer systems at the SBA will be improved; establish a reserve 
corps; utilize non-SBA staff to process loans; establish a new disaster 
manual that will be finalized by June 1 for the start of the current 
hurricane season; and continually revise responses to disasters based 
on the experience of previous disasters.
  One may ask why a bill is necessary if Administrator Preston is 
making these changes. Well, as we have seen, other administrators may 
not have the same priorities and may reduce preparedness in the future 
to address other needs of the SBA. Therefore, incorporating many of 
these changes in statute will ensure that the administrator and SBA 
personnel will have the appropriate resources and congressional 
direction to ensure the SBA will have an adequate response to a 
disaster in the future.
  Title I of the bill makes important changes in the SBA's management 
structure to ensure that the agency is prepared not only for 
predictable disasters but also the unpredictable ones. Title I requires 
the administrator to, A, develop a comprehensive disaster response 
plan; B, conduct an annual disaster simulation exercise; C, maintain a 
disaster reserve corps; D, create plans to obtain additional office 
space needed for major disasters; E, coordinate disaster assistance 
programs with FEMA; and create, from existing personnel, the position 
of an associate administrator for disaster assistance that has 
experience in both disaster planning and disaster response. These 
changes are all beneficial and will ensure that the SBA has the 
necessary tools and experience to respond to disasters.
  These changes are supplemented by section 208, which provides 
enhanced lending authority to banks and other financial institutions 
that are preferred SBA lenders to process disaster loans in certain 
circumstances. Given the expertise of SBA preferred lenders, they 
should be able to supplement the SBA's capability to process disaster 
loans when necessary.
  There are other important changes in title II that also are 
beneficial, and I commend the chairwoman, Chairwoman Velazquez, for 
including those in this legislation. By themselves, these provisions 
would have made an effective bipartisan bill that ensures the SBA has 
the current planning and future capacity to respond to a disaster, 
whether it is a local tornado or an incident of national significance 
such as Hurricane Katrina.
  Unfortunately, the legislation has two critical provisions that, in 
my view, seriously undercut the otherwise excellent work of the 
committee in creating a structure that will ensure the SBA is prepared 
to respond irrespective of the scope of the disaster. The first 
provision would authorize, according to CBO estimates, $180 million in 
grants to small businesses that were denied SBA loans. The other 
provision would grant the administrator the authority to, in essence, 
create a grant program that replaces grant funds that must be applied 
against existing disaster loans issued by the SBA. In other words, it 
allows a double compensation, a person to be compensated for the same 
damage twice. Given my concern about these two provisions, I will be 
offering amendments at the appropriate time to strike these two 
provisions, two amendments that we will be offering.
  If these two provisions are removed, I think the House would then be 
able to pass a sound bill on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis that 
dramatically improves the administrative structure by which the SBA 
responds to disasters in a fiscally responsible manner.
  As I indicated before, if the two amendments are not passed, 
unfortunately I am going to have to oppose this particular piece of 
legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1440

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Shuler).
  Mr. SHULER. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, today I rise in support of H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act. 
This bill is a strong step in the right direction to ensure that the 
problems small businesses face in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and 
Hurricane Rita will never repeat.
  I know firsthand the difficulties that small businesses face after a 
natural disaster. It is vital for our community to know that the 
government stands with them in their hour of greatest need.
  My district recently suffered disastrous weather, which wiped out 
nearly the entire crop of apples, strawberries and ornamental 
horticulture. I asked the people of the community to join together in 
prayer for the farmers and their families as they work through this 
crisis. Just like the small business owners of the gulf region and 
other areas affected by disaster, these farmers need the quick and 
effective response of their government in their time of greatest need.
  I commend Chairwoman Velazquez for her work on this legislation, and 
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he might consume to 
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) who, as one of the newer members 
of the committee, has been very active and is really contributing much 
to the committee already.
  Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank 
the chairwoman of the committee for her hard work and the entire 
committee on this legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose the bill for many of the reasons that 
the ranking member has cited. I believe the bill shortsightedly tries 
to move a good organization, the U.S. Small Business Administration, 
further from its original mission of helping create, strengthen and 
maintain small businesses across our country.
  The SBA was created by the Small Business Act of 1953. Its mission 
was to stand up for small businesses, and its main focus, other than 
loan guarantees, was promoting small businesses for Federal contracts. 
Since then, the SBA has grown to become the largest backer of small 
businesses in America. It has made progress toward its goal of 
improving small business and the engine of our free market economy.
  Of late, though, the SBA has done more in fueling small business to 
coordinating disaster relief for businesses and homeowners. This is 
certainly a worthy goal, but again, one that strays from its 
fundamental mission. As the ranking member pointed out, this bill would 
require the SBA to provide loans it once denied as bad risks. It would 
also allow recipients to receive disaster relief.
  Small businesses are successful in part because they are uniquely 
focused on their mission, and because they watch every single penny. 
This RECOVER Act will further blur the focus of SBA's mission while 
making it impossible for them, or us, to protect the integrity of tax 
dollars.
  Finally, I would urge my colleagues to support the amendments that 
the ranking member plans to offer. Those will, I think, improve the 
legislation and make it worthy of everyone's support in a broad, 
bipartisan manner.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson) who represents and has been very active 
in the committee addressing the issues of the Small Business 
Administration Disaster Loan program.
  Mr. JEFFERSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise today as a proud cosponsor of 
H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act.
  I want to thank Chairwoman Velazquez for her leadership in crafting 
this important piece of legislation and in bringing it to the floor.
  The storm that hit the gulf coast nearly 2 years ago exposed major 
flaws in the disaster planning system across all agencies of the 
Federal Government. Perhaps most appalling is that these storms exposed 
the fact that so many agencies had no plan at all for disasters such as 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Small Business Administration was just 
one of many agencies caught behind the curve, and the RECOVER Act aims 
to ensure that this never happens again by providing commonsense 
remedies for the many problems brought to light by the storms.
  We are all quite familiar with the problems of the SBA in the 
aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Six weeks after the storms, 
there had been about 54,000 disaster loan applications received from 
the region. Ninety-five

[[Page H3513]]

percent of these applications were denied, while only 1,050 loans were 
approved, and only 58 checks, totaling $533,400 or so, were sent out. 
During the 6-week period that followed Hurricane Charley in 2004, the 
SBA disbursed four times the amount that was disbursed after Hurricanes 
Katrina and Rita.
  Additionally, many people in the gulf coast region fell victim to 
long delays in the process of the applications, and their paperwork was 
lost because the SBA lacked a fully functioning disaster processing 
system, as well as the required staff. The SBA lacked adequate service 
and support for its information and telecommunications systems. Only 
one vendor in the region of the SBA's primary telecommunications hub 
could service the type of phone system that the SBA uses. The SBA also 
failed to completely stress test the agency's sole loan processing 
system prior to its implementation.
  The RECOVER Act mandates that the SBA develop a comprehensive written 
plan in order to deal with catastrophic disasters of this magnitude, as 
well as test the capacity of the system at least once each year.
  Administrator Steve Preston came before the Small Business Committee 
and made the claim that the problems involved in the loan processing 
system have been solved through a team case management solution. Yet in 
talking with various small business owners and homeowners as well, and 
in closely examining the loan processing numbers, doubt is cast on this 
assertion.
  One such example is Donna Colosino of New Orleans, who came before 
the committee and demonstrated the serious flaws that exist that this 
bill aims to remedy. After the storms flooded her electrical equipment 
business under 12 feet of water, she applied for a disaster loan from 
the SBA and was approved for $250,000. After 15 months of resubmitting 
paperwork lost by the SBA, she finally received a disbursement of 
$10,000 in May of this year.
  Under the current repayment structure, she would have to begin paying 
back her loan as if she had received the full $250,000, though she has 
only received $10,000 to date. This is just one more nonsensical policy 
of the SBA Disaster Loan program the RECOVER Act will change by 
altering the payment schedule so that repayment only begins on the 
money received.
  Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the current program to me, as 
well as to many of my constituents back home, is the requirement that 
money received from the Road Home program must be used to repay any 
outstanding loans from the SBA.
  Assume your home has a pre-Katrina value of $150,000, and it was 
completely destroyed by the storm. You qualify for an SBA loan in the 
amount of $100,000. The Road Home grant comes through in the amount of 
$50,000, enough perhaps to cover your pre-Katrina value, but you must 
then take the $50,000 Road Home grant and use it, not to complete your 
home, but to pay down the SBA loan by $50,000. The result is, you end 
up with only $100,000 in your hands to rebuild, $50,000 short of what 
you need.
  The truth is, replacement cost of a home now is much, much more, 
given the spikes in the cost of rebuilding with building materials and 
insurance far exceeding their pre-Katrina value. The requirement to pay 
down the SBA disaster loan to the extent of the Road Home grant will 
leave the homeowner with less than is needed to replace the lost home 
no matter the Road Home grant award.
  This SBA requirement has also kept many people from closing on their 
Road Home awards as they wait for this body to resolve this situation. 
The RECOVER Act would address this serious problem by allowing the SBA 
administrator to provide grants to replace compensation that has 
already been taken by the SBA as a duplication of benefits, as well as 
going forward to assist those who have yet to receive the Road Home 
awards to fully recover.
  The requirement in the bill to impose discretion in the SBA 
administrator not to treat a Road Home grant as an automatic double dip 
is safeguard enough to prevent true double dipping from occurring. 
Grants are authorized in the bill to selective businesses that have 
been in business 2 years, who are, in fact, true pioneers in going 
back, because there is no guarantee that they are going to have 
customers there to meet the demand is a reasonable addressing of the 
problem there.
  The flaws of the SBA Disaster Loan program have been exposed by the 
2005 storms, and it now falls to this body to remedy these flaws. We 
have long since moved past the rescue phase. We are now focused on 
recovery. Yet we cannot recover under the existing structure, as 77,000 
small businesses were damaged, along with 275,000 homes.
  Operating under the idea of business as usual is not enough. It is 
only through the passage of this bill and careful oversight in the 
coming months that we can ensure the SBA fulfills its obligations, not 
only to the victims of the storms of 2005, but also to deal more 
responsibly and efficiently with future disasters.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose any amendments that would weaken this 
bill and to vote on this bill for its final passage.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, we reserve the balance of our time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
New Hampshire (Mr. Hodes).
  Mr. HODES. I thank the chairman. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding 
her time.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act. 
This bill provided a much-needed overhaul to the Small Business 
Administration and its disaster aid program. After a disaster, the SBA 
issues loans to help individuals and small businesses rebuild their 
lives, often shattered by storms and other natural disasters.

                              {time}  1450

  After Hurricane Katrina, the average time for the SBA to process a 
loan, not including closing, was 74 days, far above the agency's goal 
of 21 days. This is absolutely unacceptable.
  As I speak here today, people all across my home State of New 
Hampshire are dealing with the aftermath of a recent powerful 
nor'easter. On April 15, 2007, New Hampshire experienced a severe storm 
that dropped almost 6 inches of water in a matter of hours. The State 
as a whole has experienced sustained power and communications outages, 
and there are currently over 100 local communities that are reporting 
significant damage to local infrastructure. Our Governor has declared a 
state of emergency.
  More than 60 percent of the businesses in New Hampshire are small 
businesses. This program is absolutely vital to my constituents now 
more than ever. We owe it to our small businesses nationwide to have 
access to critical relief services. I encourage my colleagues in the 
House to support this overhaul of SBA disaster aid, and reject proposed 
amendments.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas 
(Ms. Jackson-Lee) for a unanimous consent request.
  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise enthusiastically to 
support the Relief for Entrepreneurs: Coordination of Objectives and 
Values for Effective Recovery Act of 2007, to solve the frustration of 
those in my district who are fleeing Hurricane Katrina, and I thank the 
gentlewoman.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 1361, the Recovery Act of 
2007, which amends the Small Business Act to direct the Small Business 
Administration (SBA) to develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive 
written disaster response plan and to maintain a disaster reserve 
corps; to establish an Associate Administrator for Disaster Assistance; 
to authorize SBA disaster loans for incidents of national significance; 
to direct the Administrator to carry out an immediate Disaster 
Assistance program; to provide a revised disbursement process for SBA 
disaster loans; to provide enhanced lending authority for private 
lenders; to authorize SBA grants to small businesses located in 
disaster areas upon their certification that they will reestablish the 
business in the same area; and to require annual SBA reports on 
disaster assistance operations.
  Mr. Chairman, I applaud Chairwoman Velazquez for bringing this bill 
to the floor and in doing so acknowledging that we need to be better 
prepared to respond to the needs of disaster victims from the affected 
areas. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, we all 
saw the devastating consequences that came from not having disaster 
preparedness plans in place.

[[Page H3514]]

  After those devastating hurricanes, small businesses and in 
particular minority and disadvantaged businesses, in the affected areas 
were severely and negatively impacted because they did not receive 
financial support necessary to rebuild their businesses and participate 
in the rebuilding of the affected community.
  The Homeland Security Committee has learned that small businesses in 
particular are very important to economic recovery and stability in an 
affected region in the aftermath of a disaster-regardless of whether 
the disaster is natural or man-made. The Committee also has learned 
that it is good common sense to use the local business owners in the 
disaster recovery process because they are most connected, and 
knowledgeable about the local area and what the local community needs.
  That is why I offered two amendments to H.R. 1361 that would require 
the Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator to include in its 
disaster recovery processes, pre-negotiated contracts and to encourage 
inclusion of local, minority, and disadvantaged businesses in the 
disaster recovery response process.
  My first amendment would have encouraged the SBA to include local 
businesses from the affected area in the recovery process and to have 
in place in advance pre-negotiated contracts with these local 
businesses. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and have proven that failure to 
include small businesses in the recovery process was detrimental to 
speedy and efficient recovery for the affected areas and lead to 
astronomical costs for the affected areas as well as the entire 
country. These costs include money, time and lives. These are costs 
that we cannot afford to pay in future disasters.
  I also offered an amendment that would encourage the inclusion of 
minority and disadvantaged businesses in the disaster recovery response 
plans. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, small, 
minority, and disadvantaged businesses from the region were shut out of 
disaster-related contracts because goals and preferences were not in 
place. We must correct this very serious problem that is often 
representative of problems that the most vulnerable members of our 
society consistently face.
  Mr. Chairman, the federal contracting goal for small, minority and 
disadvantaged businesses is a 23% participation rate as set forth by 
the Small Business Administration. My amendment that I offered would 
have required the SBA to include in its comprehensive response plan, a 
contracting goal and work to meet that goal. If the SBA plans well, 
then this goal should be achievable.
  I understand that the bill also allows for mitigation loans and 
grants. We would hope that the SBA encourages similar inclusion 
measures with respect to minority and disadvantaged businesses in its 
loan and grant authorizations as those used in federal contracting in 
general.
  Since the late 1960s, it has been the policy of the federal 
government to assist small businesses owned by minorities and women to 
become fully competitive, viable business concerns. As a result, the 
Small Business Administration set forth government-wide goals to level 
the playing field for small and minority businesses seeking federal 
government contracts. My amendment to encourage the inclusion of 
minority and disadvantaged businesses in the disaster loan and grant 
process would have gone a long way to meet these goals. If these 
businesses are disadvantaged before disasters occur, then those who are 
negatively impacted after disasters would presumably suffer 
exponentially and disproportionately. Therefore, it is especially 
crucial to encourage the inclusion of minority and disadvantaged 
businesses in the disaster mitigation loan and grant recovery process.
  We have seen over and over again the incredible need to include 
local, minority and disadvantaged businesses in the recovery and 
rebuilding process. It is time to seriously address this extremely 
important need.
  I urge the Committee to support H.R. 1361 and to be ever-mindful of 
the need to include local, minority and disadvantaged businesses in 
disaster recovery response plans. Further, I vigorously oppose the 
Chabot amendment, which one in particular is particularly punitive 
against a business suffering from disaster by requesting a recipient of 
a grant to pay an SBA disaster loan back that they may have received.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Ellsworth).
  (Mr. ELLSWORTH asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. ELLSWORTH. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
this time.
  Less than 2 years ago, a devastating tornado ripped through my 
community in Evansville, Indiana, and although 25 residents of those 
two counties lost their lives, our emergency services organizations 
were applauded for their response to that devastating tornado. There is 
only one reason that we handled that; it is because we had a disaster 
plan in place and because we practiced that plan and we worked that 
plan so that when it hit, we did our job.
  A few months after that tornado, a much larger disaster, Hurricane 
Katrina, showed the horrors of these disasters on a more massive scale. 
In the days and weeks that followed, Hoosiers watched the citizens of 
New Orleans searching for food, clean water, and a safe place to sleep. 
With the local government underwater, people relied on the government 
in Washington to come to their aid. The failures of the Federal 
Government at that time are far too many to list right here. While we 
work to fulfill our promises to the citizens recovering from this 
disaster, we must also prepare for the future.
  America has suffered massive disasters in the past; and, 
unfortunately, we are going to see them in the future. As our families 
prepare themselves for the possible scenarios, Congress must ensure 
that a failure that we saw before does not happen again.
  The RECOVER Act, and I am proud to support this, is an important step 
in improving the government's response to large-scale disasters. And I 
am proud to support it, as I said.
  The RECOVER Act requires the Small Business Administration to prepare 
for future disasters by developing a comprehensive disaster plan. The 
government would be required to conduct regular disaster simulations 
and update its disaster plan in response to new challenges as we see 
them.
  This bill also requires the SBA to start to implement a new disaster 
plan, a 1,000-person disaster reserve corps that will receive annual 
training for future disaster responses. These additional employees 
would be prepared to meet the challenges posed by sudden disasters.
  If programs like these were in place before Hurricane Katrina, the 
government might have been able to invigorate the local economy and 
speed up the rebuilding effort. I can understand we can't change the 
past, but we can improve our response to disasters in the future.
  The RECOVER Act will make those improvements and help the government 
fulfill its responsibility to protect the citizens in the aftermath of 
disasters. I am proud to lend my support to the RECOVER Act, and I urge 
my colleagues to join me in helping protect disaster victims.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, we will continue to reserve our time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from New York (Ms. Clarke).
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Chairman, first, I want to commend Chairwoman 
Velazquez for her leadership on this issue and for bringing this bill 
to the House floor.
  I rise in support of H.R. 1361, a bill to improve the disaster relief 
program of the Small Business Administration and to provide relief for 
entrepreneurs. This bill addresses the problems with the SBA's disaster 
loan program, which was implemented to provide timely financial 
assistance in the form of low-interest loans and working capital for 
businesses devastated by disasters.
  In New York City, after 9/11, small businesses that once prospered 
near the World Trade Center had difficulty recovering from that 
tragedy. Four years later, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and 
Hurricane Rita, many applicants of SBA disaster assistance were 
frustrated with the agency's response or lack thereof.
  Many businesses found their loan applications were delayed in 
backlogs that took over a year to process without a well-informed, 
centralized point of contact within the agency.
  For entrepreneurs struggling to get back on their feet, the old adage 
``time is money'' is much more than a cliche. Economic distress can 
quickly digress into systemic unemployment for the thousands of 
employees and bring extreme hardship to America's families.
  I support the intent of this bill because it will ensure that the SBA 
performs comprehensive, risk-based, disaster planning on an annual 
basis and that the agency has mechanisms in place to maintain its 
disaster readiness over the long term.
  This new bill will also enhance the SBA's disaster loan program by 
improving the manner in which disaster

[[Page H3515]]

loans are processed, approved and disbursed, and by providing the 
agency with the additional financial assistance tools that are intended 
to better fit the various needs of small businesses following a 
disaster.
  I will cast an ``aye'' vote in support of an unamended H.R. 1361, and 
I encourage my colleagues to do the same.
  The RECOVER Act of 2007 is a bill that will ensure that members of 
Congress are adequately informed about all aspects of SBA's disaster 
assistance and disaster planning programs so that they may provide the 
SBA with the support they need to fulfill their vital mission following 
a disaster.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, we will continue to reserve our time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Iowa (Mr. Braley).
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding me this time, and for her extraordinary leadership on this 
important measure.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today as the voice for 350,000 Iowans who lost 
power during an ice storm in February, to express my strong support for 
H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act. This bill will develop a disaster plan so 
that the Small Business Administration can adequately assist small 
businesses in emergencies.
  Just this February, Iowa was hit with a massive ice storm, one of the 
worst in its history, which caused millions of dollars worth of damage 
throughout the State and left hundreds of thousands of people without 
power.
  Weather in Iowa, like in many parts of the country, can be 
unpredictable and dangerous, and this was no exception. I was 
personally affected by this ice storm when a 40-foot ice-coated branch 
struck my home in Waterloo. With the help of my neighbors and our chain 
saws, I was able to cope with some minor property damage and personal 
inconvenience; but my situation paled in comparison to the constituents 
I met while visiting emergency storm shelters in Iowa's First 
Congressional District. These Iowans were there seeking refuge after 
they had been displaced from their homes and businesses as a result of 
the ice storm.
  On March 15, the Small Business Committee held a markup of the 
RECOVER Act. I introduced an amendment that day to expand the scope of 
Federal disaster assistance available to small businesses. Currently, 
the SBA has to wait for the President to make a formal disaster 
declaration before giving disaster loans to small businesses.
  There are exceptions, however. These include severe situations such 
as ``floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires, explosions, 
volcanoes, windstorms, landslides or mudslides, tidal waves'' and other 
civil disorders.
  The amendment I proposed adds ``ice storms and blizzards'' to this 
list of exceptions. The language will benefit small business owners who 
are trying to get back on their feet following severe winter weather.
  I was pleased that the amendment received overwhelming bipartisan 
support and was passed by the committee unanimously. I urge my 
colleagues to recognize the importance of assisting small businesses in 
reopening following a disaster and ask them to support the RECOVER Act.

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, we will reserve the balance of our time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Melancon). And I want to take this opportunity to thank 
him for his leadership in working with us on this comprehensive 
legislation.
  Mr. MELANCON. Mr. Chairman, first, I want to thank Chairman Velazquez 
for the continued commitment to helping rebuild the gulf coast. Over a 
year and a half has passed since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated 
south Louisiana and other Gulf Coast States. I am pleased my colleagues 
remain committed to seeing us fully recover and rebuild.
  I come to the floor today to support H.R. 1361, the RECOVER Act. 
Recovering from the two hurricanes that devastated our State and the 
gulf coast in 2005 is the biggest and most important challenge 
Louisiana and the gulf coast have ever faced. Katrina was the biggest 
natural disaster ever in the United States, and Rita, which may have 
been dubbed the ``forgotten storm,'' was the third worst disaster. 
First and third in our Nation's history, and they hit the same region 
within one month each.
  After these storms hit, it became very clear that SBA was not 
prepared for a disaster of this caliber. SBA was understaffed, poorly 
trained, poorly managed and, overall, unprepared to respond effectively 
to the urgent need of disaster relief loans. The SBA's disastrous 
response effectively discouraged small business owners from applying 
for business or home loans.
  Also, inadequate and inaccurate communications from SBA's employees 
kept many customers from finishing applications. I have personally 
heard of several instances in which small business owners were 
frustrated to the point of giving up on the SBA and the hope of getting 
financial assistance. I remind my colleagues again that this was a 
critical time, when these people needed help more than ever.
  H.R. 1361 addresses those serious shortfalls experienced in the 
aftermath of Katrina. The RECOVER Act will better prepare the SBA to 
handle and fund disasters by requiring, among other things, that the 
agency develop a comprehensive disaster response plan, improve employee 
training, streamline their information tracking systems and follow-up 
process, and more efficiently distribute disaster loans by partnering 
with the private local lenders. SBA's unwillingness to immediately and 
effectively delegate responsibility to qualified private lenders 
created a critical choke point in loan disbursements following these 
hurricanes.
  H.R. 1361 includes a commonsense solution that will cure this problem 
and allow for large, maximum loan amounts and create a more streamlined 
application process by allowing private, local, SBA-approved bankers to 
administer these loans. These private lenders have the unique advantage 
of being on the ground and knowing the community and, more importantly, 
the people in the businesses within them. By allowing these private 
lenders to participate, it will greatly increase the speed and 
efficiency in getting the funds in the hands of the small businesses 
after a disaster.
  Another problem we faced after the storms was SBA's unwillingness or 
inability to provide maximum flexibility in the administration of these 
disaster loans. Instead of nurturing struggling businesses as they 
adapted to the new environment following Katrina and Rita, the SBA 
often strangled them with red tape and bureaucratic hurdles.
  After the storm, some businesses along the gulf coast were denied 
sufficient loans because the SBA judged their application solely based 
on their prestorm capabilities, rather than on the new realities they 
were trying to adjust to or their ability to meet poststorm demands. 
The RECOVER Act will make the SBA a more flexible agency and will 
permit them to approve larger grants for businesses that become major 
sources of employment following disasters.
  The RECOVER Act also addresses one of the most notorious problems 
that arose after the storms, the duplications of benefit provisions. 
Under current law, storm victims who took the initiative to apply for 
SBA loans are now being forced to repay their SBA loans with Road Home 
money. Hurricane victims in Louisiana and along the gulf coast need all 
the help they can get with rebuilding their homes and getting their 
lives back to normal. They don't need the Federal Government giving 
with one hand and taking with the other.
  Rebuilding in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been the 
biggest challenge the people on the gulf coast have ever faced. In 
order to continue to recover and rebuild, recovery money must stay in 
the disaster regions, not sent back to Washington.
  I understand the administration does not want people to double dip 
and must be effective stewards of taxpayers' money, but in this 
instance, victims of catastrophic disaster are essentially being 
punished for receiving these disaster loans before they get their 
recovery grants. Under this bill, borrowers will still have to repay 
their SBA loans; they will just be able to pay them over the extended 
time frame they originally agreed to when they got the loan.
  I am a fiscal conservative, but this policy is absolutely ridiculous. 
It is dooming the recovery to failure, and it is time that we correct 
it.

[[Page H3516]]

  I urge my colleagues to support the RECOVER Act today. With hurricane 
season approaching fast, this bill is critical to the survival of small 
businesses. Small businesses are the lifeblood of this country, and we 
must be ready to protect them from another, possible, future disaster.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, we will continue to reserve our time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I have no further speakers. If the 
minority is ready to close, I am ready to close.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, prior to yielding back all our time, if I 
could just make a comment or two. I will yield myself as much time as I 
may consume. I will be very brief.
  I just want to reiterate that there are things within this bill which 
I think are very good efforts in resolving some of the difficulties 
that we saw in Katrina.
  First of all, the SBA's response time for loans and other things was 
unacceptable, and it is absolutely critical that it be improved upon. 
And I think there are some things in this bill that do just that. For 
example, better coordination between the SBA and FEMA; the requirement 
of a plan ahead of time, a disaster plan ahead of time that everybody 
knows about so you are not looking for a plan or trying to put one 
together after the disaster has already hit; it makes sense to do that 
ahead of time. This calls for this.
  It calls for a reserve corps of trained personnel, which I 
particularly like because you are talking about training people ahead 
of time, but not necessarily hiring them as new government employees 
that then one has to pay and pay compensation to over a long period of 
time. So I like the fact that we are talking about training a reserve 
corps ahead of time.
  I think the idea of having simulation exercises called for ahead of 
time makes a lot of sense so that people are prepared.
  As I indicated before, however, there are a couple of, in my view, 
fatal flaws to this particular piece of legislation, which we are going 
to address in a few moments here in a couple of amendments. And if they 
pass, then we would be very supportive of the whole act. If they don't, 
unfortunately, we would have to oppose the bill.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Chairman, we are now barely over a month away from hurricane 
season. Many small businesses have been struggling for a year and half 
to recover after the gulf coast storms of 2005. Following the 
hurricanes, delays in disaster loans, overwhelming amounts of paperwork 
and a lengthy application process left many small business owners 
frustrated and discouraged. In fact, entrepreneurs avoided what is 
supposed to be their primary source of assistance, the SBA.
  Our Nation's 25 million small businesses need to know that the next 
time a disaster happens they will not be left with nothing, but will 
have efficient and reliable assistance. They need to know that what 
happened after the gulf coast hurricanes will not ever happen again.
  The RECOVER Act of 2007 will require that the SBA have a disaster 
plan in place, provides assistance to the neediest of entrepreneurs and 
helps in the redevelopment of the community. H.R. 1361 will given 
entrepreneurs the relief and assistance they deserve after a disaster.
  With 44 days left till hurricane season, we simply cannot afford not 
to act.
  At this point, I want to take a moment to thank the staff who worked 
on this legislation. From Mr. Chabot's staff, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Mike 
Smullen and Barry Pinellis; from the majority staff, Michael Day, Adam 
Minehardt and Andy Jiminez and Tim Slattery.
  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1361, the 
Relief for Entrepreneurs: Coordination of Objectives and Values for 
Effective Recovery (RECOVER) Act of 2007. This bill makes crucial 
improvements to the Small Business Administration's disaster relief 
programs. It will help provide greater access to, and more effective 
distribution of, loans and grants to those affected individuals in the 
aftermath of natural disasters.
  One of the many lessons learned from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina is 
that the Federal Government must be better prepared to assist all the 
people of this Nation in times of greatest need. In legislating to 
improve disaster relief programs, Congress must keep in mind the 
multifaceted nature of any solution and strive to create equitable 
access for all affected communities.
  While this bill takes great strides in making funds available to 
individuals affected by natural disasters, more must be done to ensure 
access for the segments of the population that may not be reached 
through standard means, including limited English proficient 
communities. Among the communities severely impacted by Hurricane 
Katrina were the Vietnamese American and Cambodian American shrimpers 
of the Gulf Coast. For many, their livelihoods were destroyed as their 
boats were left damaged and not seaworthy. These losses were compounded 
by the inaccessibility of government aid as many of these shrimpers are 
limited English proficient and were unable to learn of government 
programs that could have helped them. Unfortunately, the Federal 
Government fell short of servicing the needs of this segment of the 
American population.
  Mr. Chairman, it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to 
ensure equitable access to Federal disaster relief programs for all 
Americans. We do not know where the next disaster will strike, but we 
will be better prepared if we acknowledge that different communities 
have different needs; access to information in the appropriate language 
is vital. Congress must do its part. The RECOVER Act certainly adds 
necessary amendments to the Small Business Act, but I stress to my 
colleagues in the House, we cannot stop there. To ensure equitable 
access to all affected individuals and communities, Congress and the 
Small Business Administration must take the extra steps to ensure that 
information, outreach, and loan and grant disbursement are made 
available to communities that are difficult to serve. I trust that this 
House will continue to ensure proper preparation and full and equitable 
access to relief programs for affected individuals and communities in 
the next natural disaster to affect this Nation.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired.
  Pursuant to the rule, the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
printed in the bill, modified by the amendment printed in part A of 
House Report 110-97 is adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be 
considered as an original bill for the purpose of further amendment 
under the 5-minute rule and shall be considered read.
  The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:

                               H.R. 1361

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Relief for 
     Entrepreneurs: Coordination of Objectives and Values for 
     Effective Recovery Act of 2007'' or the ``RECOVER Act''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

                           TITLE I--PLANNING

Sec. 101. Comprehensive disaster response plan.
Sec. 102. Annual disaster simulation exercise.
Sec. 103. Disaster reserve corps.
Sec. 104. Plans to secure additional office space.
Sec. 105. Coordination of disaster assistance programs with FEMA.
Sec. 106. Associate Administrator for Disaster Assistance.

                           TITLE II--LENDING

Sec. 201. Incidents of National Significance.
Sec. 202. Information tracking and follow-up system.
Sec. 203. Immediate Disaster Assistance program.
Sec. 204. Increased deferment period.
Sec. 205. Revised repayment terms.
Sec. 206. Revised disbursement process.
Sec. 207. Revised collateral requirements.
Sec. 208. Enhanced lending authority for private lenders.
Sec. 209. Disaster processing redundancy.
Sec. 210. Grant program.
Sec. 211. Waiver of prohibition on duplication of certain benefits.
Sec. 212. Increase legislative limit.
Sec. 213. Net earnings clauses prohibited.
Sec. 214. Economic injury disaster loans to nonprofits.
Sec. 215. Applicants that will constitute a major source of employment 
              due to changed economic circumstances.
Sec. 216. Preliminary application process for assistance for small 
              business concerns with essential employees ordered to 
              serve on active duty in the Armed Forces.
Sec. 217. Economic injury disaster loans in cases of ice storms and 
              blizzards.
Sec. 218. Economic injury disaster loans for businesses affected by 
              lack of snowfall.

                          TITLE III--OVERSIGHT

Sec. 301. Reports on disaster assistance.

[[Page H3517]]

                           TITLE I--PLANNING

     SEC. 101. COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER RESPONSE PLAN.

       The Small Business Act is amended by redesignating section 
     37 as section 99 and by inserting after section 36 the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 37. COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER RESPONSE PLAN.

       ``(a) Plan Required.--The Administrator shall develop, 
     implement, and maintain a comprehensive written disaster 
     response plan. The plan shall include the following:
       ``(1) For each region of the Administration, a description 
     of the disasters most likely to occur in that region.
       ``(2) For each disaster described under paragraph (1)--
       ``(A) an assessment of the disaster;
       ``(B) an assessment of the demand for Administration 
     assistance most likely to occur in response to the disaster;
       ``(C) an assessment of the needs of the Administration, 
     with respect to such resources as information technology, 
     telecommunications, human resources, and office space, to 
     meet the demand referred to in subparagraph (B); and
       ``(D) guidelines pursuant to which the Administration will 
     coordinate with other Federal agencies and with State and 
     local authorities to best respond to the demand referred to 
     in subparagraph (B) and to best use the resources referred to 
     in that subparagraph.
       ``(b) Completion; Revision.--The first plan required by 
     subsection (a) shall be completed not later than 180 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this section. Thereafter, 
     the Administrator shall update the plan on an annual basis 
     and following any incident of national significance (as 
     declared by the President or his designee).
       ``(c) Knowledge Required.--The Administrator shall carry 
     out subsections (a) and (b) through an individual with 
     substantial knowledge in the field of disaster readiness and 
     emergency response.
       ``(d) Report.--The Administrator shall include a report on 
     the plan whenever the Administrator submits the report 
     required by section 47(a).''.

     SEC. 102. ANNUAL DISASTER SIMULATION EXERCISE.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 37 (as added by section 101) the following:

     ``SEC. 38. ANNUAL DISASTER SIMULATION EXERCISE.

       ``(a) Exercise Required.--The Administrator shall conduct a 
     disaster simulation exercise at least once each fiscal year. 
     The exercise shall include the participation of, at a 
     minimum, not less than half of the individuals in the 
     disaster reserve corps and shall test, at maximum capacity, 
     all of the information technology and telecommunications 
     systems of the Administration that are vital to the 
     activities of the Administration during such a disaster.
       ``(b) Report.--The Administrator shall include a report on 
     the disaster simulation exercise whenever the Administration 
     submits the report required by section 47(a).''.

     SEC. 103. DISASTER RESERVE CORPS.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 38 (as added by section 102) the following:

     ``SEC. 39. DISASTER RESERVE CORPS.

       ``(a) Corps Required.--The Administrator shall maintain 
     within the Administration a disaster reserve corps, the 
     purpose of which is to perform the functions of the 
     Administration related to disaster response. The corps shall 
     consist of at least 1,000 individuals, each of whom--
       ``(1) does not ordinarily have the duties of a full-time 
     officer or employee of the Administration; but
       ``(2) is able to assume duties related to disaster response 
     when the Administrator so requires.
       ``(b) Training.--The Administrator shall ensure that each 
     individual in the corps receives training each year in one or 
     more functions relating to disaster response. To the maximum 
     extent practicable, the function in which an individual is 
     trained in one year shall be different from the function in 
     which the individual was trained in prior years.
       ``(c) Geographic Distribution.--The Administrator shall 
     ensure that not more than 30 percent of the individuals in 
     the corps reside in any one region of the Administration.
       ``(d) Report.--The Administrator shall include a report on 
     the corps whenever the Administration submits the report 
     required by section 47(a).''.

     SEC. 104. PLANS TO SECURE ADDITIONAL OFFICE SPACE.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 39 (as added by section 103) the following:

     ``SEC. 40. PLANS TO SECURE ADDITIONAL OFFICE SPACE.

       ``(a) Plans Required.--The Administrator shall develop 
     long-term plans to secure additional office space to 
     accommodate an expanded workforce in times of disaster.
       ``(b) Report.--The Administrator shall include a report on 
     the plans whenever the Administration submits the report 
     required by section 47(a).''.

     SEC. 105. COORDINATION OF DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS WITH 
                   FEMA.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 40 (as added by section 104) the following:

     ``SEC. 41. COORDINATION OF DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS WITH 
                   FEMA.

       ``(a) Coordination Required.--The Administrator shall 
     ensure that the disaster assistance programs of the 
     Administration are coordinated, to the maximum extent 
     practicable, with the disaster assistance programs of the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency.
       ``(b) Regulations Required.--The Administrator, in 
     consultation with the Director of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency, shall establish regulations to ensure that 
     each application for disaster assistance is submitted as 
     quickly as practicable to the Administration or directed to 
     the appropriate agency under the circumstances.
       ``(c) Completion; Revision.--The initial regulations shall 
     be completed not later than 270 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this section. Thereafter, the regulations shall 
     be revised on an annual basis.
       ``(d) Report.--The Administrator shall include a report on 
     the regulations whenever the Administration submits the 
     report required by section 47(a).''.

     SEC. 106. ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 41 (as added by section 105) the following:

     ``SEC. 42. ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

       ``(a) In General.--There is established in the 
     Administration an Associate Administrator for Disaster 
     Assistance, appointed by the President by and with the advice 
     and consent of the Senate, from among individuals who have--
       ``(1) proven management ability; and
       ``(2) substantial knowledge in the field of disaster 
     readiness and emergency response.
       ``(b) Director of Disaster Planning.--
       ``(1) Appointment.--There is established in the 
     Administration a Director for Disaster Planning, appointed by 
     the Administrator from among the personnel of the 
     Administration.
       ``(2) Duties.--Subject to the authority, direction, and 
     control of the Associate Administrator for Disaster 
     Assistance, the Director shall--
       ``(A) develop and implement the Administration's plans for 
     responding to disasters; and
       ``(B) direct the Administration's training exercises with 
     respect to disasters.
       ``(3) Coordination.--In carrying out the duties under 
     paragraph (2), the Director shall coordinate with--
       ``(A) the Associate Administrator for the Office of 
     Disaster Assistance of the Administration;
       ``(B) the Director of the Federal Emergency Management 
     Agency; and
       ``(C) other Federal, State, and local disaster planning 
     offices, as necessary.
       ``(c) Director of Disaster Lending.--
       ``(1) Appointment.--There is established in the 
     Administration a Director for Disaster Lending, appointed by 
     the Administrator from among the personnel of the 
     Administration.
       ``(2) Duties.--Subject to the authority, direction, and 
     control of the Associate Administrator for Disaster 
     Assistance, the Director shall direct all aspects of the 
     disaster lending program under section 7(b).
       ``(d) Resources.--The Administrator shall ensure that the 
     Associate Administrator for Disaster Assistance, the Director 
     of Disaster Planning, and the Director of Disaster Lending 
     have adequate resources to carry out the duties under this 
     section.''.

                           TITLE II--LENDING

     SEC. 201. INCIDENTS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE.

       (a) Disaster Loans to Private Nonprofit Organizations.--
     Section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     636(b)(2)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (D) by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; or''; and
       (2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:
       ``(E) an incident of national significance, as declared by 
     the President or his designee, in which case assistance under 
     this paragraph may be provided, subject to the other 
     applicable requirements of this paragraph, to a private 
     nonprofit organization (as that term is defined in section 
     29(a)(2)) that is located in an area affected by the incident 
     of national significance.''.
       (b) Mitigation Loans to Small Business Concerns.--Section 7 
     of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636) is amended by 
     inserting after subsection (d) the following:
       ``(e) Disaster Mitigation Loans.--
       ``(1) Authority.--The Administrator may make or guarantee a 
     mitigation loan to a small business concern that receives a 
     loan under section 7(b)(1)(A) for the damage or destruction, 
     by reason of an incident of national significance (as 
     declared by the President or his designee), of property owned 
     by the small business concern.
       ``(2) Amount of loan.--The amount of a loan under paragraph 
     (1) shall not exceed 20 percent of the total amount of the 
     cost of the damage or destruction referred to in paragraph 
     (1). The total amount shall be calculated without regard for 
     any costs for which the small business concern is reimbursed 
     under any insurance policy or otherwise.''.
       (c) Applicability for Fiscal Year 2006 to Hurricanes 
     Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.--
       (1) In general.--For fiscal year 2006, the Administrator--
       (A) may carry out subsection (e) of section 7 of the Small 
     Business Act (as added by subsection (b) of this section) 
     with respect to a private nonprofit organization that was 
     located, as of August 28, 2005, in a hurricane-affected area; 
     and
       (B) may carry out such subsection (e) with respect to a 
     small business concern that was located, as of August 28, 
     2005, in a hurricane-affected area, for damage or destruction 
     by reason of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, or Hurricane 
     Wilma.
       (2) Hurricane-affected area defined.--In this section, the 
     term ``hurricane-affected area'' means a county or parish in 
     the State of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, or 
     Texas, that has been designated by the Administrator of the 
     Small Business Administration as a disaster area by reason of 
     Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, or Hurricane Wilma under 
     disaster declaration 10176, 10177, 10178, 10179, 10180, 
     10181, 10203, 10204, 10205, 10206, 10222, or 10223.

[[Page H3518]]

     SEC. 202. INFORMATION TRACKING AND FOLLOW-UP SYSTEM.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 42 (as added by section 106) the following:

     ``SEC. 43. INFORMATION TRACKING AND FOLLOW-UP SYSTEM FOR 
                   DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

       ``(a) System Required.--The Administrator shall develop, 
     implement, and maintain a centralized information system to 
     track communications between personnel of the Administration 
     and applicants for disaster assistance. The system shall 
     ensure that whenever an applicant for disaster assistance 
     communicates with such personnel on a matter relating to the 
     application, the following information is recorded:
       ``(1) The method of communication.
       ``(2) The date of communication.
       ``(3) The identity of the personnel.
       ``(4) A summary of the subject matter of the communication.
       ``(b) Follow-up Required.--The Administrator shall ensure 
     that an applicant for disaster assistance receives, by 
     telephone, mail, or electronic mail, follow-up communications 
     from the Administration at all critical stages of the 
     application process, including the following:
       ``(1) When the Administration determines that additional 
     information or documentation is required to process the 
     application.
       ``(2) When the Administration determines whether to approve 
     or deny the loan.
       ``(3) When the primary contact person managing the loan 
     application has changed.''.

     SEC. 203. IMMEDIATE DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 43 (as added by section 202) the following:

     ``SEC. 44. IMMEDIATE DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

       ``(a) Program Required.--The Administrator shall carry out 
     a program, to be known as the Immediate Disaster Assistance 
     program, under which the Administration participates on a 
     deferred (guaranteed) basis in 85 percent of the balance of 
     the financing outstanding at the time of disbursement of the 
     loan if such balance is less than or equal to $25,000 for 
     businesses affected by a disaster.
       ``(b) Eligibility Requirement.--To receive a loan 
     guaranteed under subsection (a), the applicant must also 
     apply for, and meet basic eligibility standards for, a loan 
     under section 7(b).
       ``(c) Use of Proceeds.--A person who receives a loan under 
     section 7(b) must use the proceeds of that loan to repay all 
     loans guaranteed under subsection (a), if any, before using 
     the proceeds for any other purpose.
       ``(d) Approval or Disapproval.--The Administrator shall 
     ensure that each applicant for a loan under the program 
     receives a decision approving or disapproving of the 
     application within 36 hours after the Administration receives 
     the application.''.

     SEC. 204. INCREASED DEFERMENT PERIOD.

       Section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636) is 
     amended by inserting after subsection (e) (as added by 
     section 201(b)) the following:
       ``(f) Additional Requirements for 7(b) Loans.--
       ``(1) Increased deferment authorized.--
       ``(A) In general.--In making loans under section 7(b), the 
     Administrator may provide, to the person receiving the loan, 
     an option to defer repayment on the loan.
       ``(B) Period.--A deferment under subparagraph (A) may not 
     exceed 4 years.''.

     SEC. 205. REVISED REPAYMENT TERMS.

       Section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636) is 
     amended in subsection (f) by adding after paragraph (1) (as 
     added by section 204) the following:
       ``(2) Revised repayment terms.--In making loans under 
     section 7(b), the Administrator--
       ``(A) shall not require repayment to be made until 12 
     months after the date on which the final disbursement of 
     approved amounts is made; and
       ``(B) shall calculate the amount of repayment based solely 
     on the amounts disbursed.''.

     SEC. 206. REVISED DISBURSEMENT PROCESS.

       Section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636) is 
     amended in subsection (f) by adding after paragraph (2) (as 
     added by section 205) the following:
       ``(3) Revised disbursement process.--In making loans under 
     section 7(b), the Administrator shall disburse the loan 
     amounts in stages as follows:
       ``(A) Loans up to $150,000.--If the total amount approved 
     is less than or equal to $150,000--
       ``(i) the first disbursement shall consist of 40 percent of 
     the total loan amount, or a lesser percentage of the total 
     loan amount if the Administrator and the borrower agree on 
     such a lesser percentage;
       ``(ii) the second disbursement shall consist of 50 percent 
     of the amounts that remain after the first disbursement, and 
     shall be made when the borrower has produced satisfactory 
     receipts to demonstrate the proper use of the first half of 
     the first disbursement; and
       ``(iii) the third disbursement shall consist of the amounts 
     that remain after the preceding disbursements, and shall be 
     made when the borrower has produced satisfactory receipts to 
     demonstrate the proper use of the first disbursement and the 
     first half of the second disbursement.
       ``(B) Loans from $150,000 to $500,000.--If the total amount 
     approved is more than $150,000 but less than or equal to 
     $500,000--
       ``(i) the first disbursement shall consist of 20 percent of 
     the total loan amount, or a lesser percentage if the 
     Administrator and the borrower agree on such a lesser 
     percentage;
       ``(ii) the second disbursement shall consist of 30 percent 
     of the total loan amount remaining after the first 
     disbursement, and shall be made when the borrower has 
     produced satisfactory receipts to demonstrate the proper use 
     of the first half of the first disbursement;
       ``(iii) the third disbursement shall consist of 25 percent 
     of the total loan amount remaining after the first and second 
     disbursements, and shall be made when the borrower has 
     produced satisfactory receipts to demonstrate the proper use 
     of the first disbursement and the first half of the second 
     disbursement; and
       ``(iv) the fourth disbursement shall consist of the amounts 
     that remain after the preceding disbursements, and shall be 
     made when the borrower has produced satisfactory receipts to 
     demonstrate the proper use of the first and second 
     disbursements and the first half of the third disbursement.
       ``(C) Loans greater than $500,000.--If the total amount 
     approved is more than $500,000--
       ``(i) the first disbursement shall consist of at least 
     $100,000, or a lesser amount if the Administrator and the 
     borrower agree on such a lesser amount; and
       ``(ii) the number of disbursements after the first, and the 
     amount of each such disbursement, shall be in the discretion 
     of the Administrator, but the amount of each such 
     disbursement shall be not less than $100,000.''.

     SEC. 207. REVISED COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS.

       Section 7 of the Small Business Act is amended in 
     subsection (f) by adding after paragraph (3) (as added by 
     section 206) the following:
       ``(4) Revised collateral requirements.--In making a 
     business loan under section 7(b), the total approved amount 
     of which is less than or equal to $100,000, the Administrator 
     shall not require the borrower to use the borrower's home as 
     collateral.''.

     SEC. 208. ENHANCED LENDING AUTHORITY FOR PRIVATE LENDERS.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 44 (as added by section 203) the following:

     ``SEC. 45. ENHANCED LENDING AUTHORITY FOR PRIVATE LENDERS.

       ``(a) Program Authorized.--The Administrator may, and 
     during a period specified in subsection (b) shall, carry out 
     a program under which the Administrator permits banks and 
     other financial institutions to process, approve, close, and 
     service disaster loans under section 7(b) for a fee not to 
     exceed 2 percent of the total loan amount.
       ``(b) Periods During Which Program Is Required.--The 
     program under subsection (a) is required to be carried out 
     during the following periods:
       ``(1) Any period of an incident of national significance 
     (as declared by the President or his designee).
       ``(2) Any period during which the average time for the 
     Administration to approve disaster loans in response to any 
     single disaster is 30 days or more.
       ``(c) Exclusion of Lenders.--If the number or rate of 
     defaults on loans processed, approved, and closed by a lender 
     under the program under subsection (a) are inordinate, as 
     determined by the Administrator, the Administrator may do any 
     one or more of the following:
       ``(1) Exclude the lender from participating in the program 
     under subsection (a).
       ``(2) Exclude the lender from participating in the 
     Preferred Lenders Program under section 7(a)(2)(C)(ii).
       ``(d) Factor in Preferred Lenders Program.--In determining 
     whether a lender is to be certified or recertified to 
     participate in the Preferred Lenders Program under section 
     7(a)(2)(C)(ii), the Administrator may consider as a factor 
     the following:
       ``(1) The loans processed, approved, and closed by the 
     lender under the program under subsection (a).
       ``(2) The participation or non-participation of the lender 
     in the program under subsection (a).''.

     SEC. 209. DISASTER PROCESSING REDUNDANCY.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 45 (as added by section 208) the following:

     ``SEC. 46. DISASTER PROCESSING REDUNDANCY.

       ``(a) In General.--The Administrator shall ensure that the 
     Administration has in place a facility for disaster loan 
     processing that, whenever the Administration's primary 
     facility for disaster loan processing becomes unavailable, is 
     able to take over all disaster loan processing from that 
     primary facility within 2 days.
       ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such 
     sums as may be necessary.''.

     SEC. 210. GRANT PROGRAM.

       Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) 
     is amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (3) the 
     following:
       ``(4) Grants to disaster-affected small businesses.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Administrator may make a grant of up 
     to $100,000 to a small business concern that--
       ``(i) was located in a designated disaster area affected by 
     disaster declaration 10176, 10177, 10178, 10179, 10180, 
     10181, 10203, 10204, 10205, 10206, 10222, or 10233, and was 
     located in a county or parish that, as a result of Hurricanes 
     Katrina, Rita, or Wilma of 2005, experienced a loss of at 
     least 100 housing units, experienced a loss of at least 1 
     percent of available housing stock, and required Federal 
     infrastructure assistance of a least $200,000;
       ``(ii) submits to the Administrator a certification by the 
     owner of the concern of intent to reestablish the concern in 
     the same county or parish in which the business was 
     originally located, or in any other county or parish 
     described in clause (i);
       ``(iii) has applied for, and was rejected for, a 
     conventional disaster assistance loan under section 7(b); and

[[Page H3519]]

       ``(iv) was in existence for at least 2 years before the 
     date on which the applicable disaster declaration was made.
       ``(B) Priority.--In making grants under this paragraph, the 
     Administrator shall give priority to a small business concern 
     that the Administrator determines is economically viable but 
     unable to meet short-term financial obligations.
       ``(C) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term `disaster-
     affected area' means an area that has been designated by the 
     Administrator as a disaster area.
       ``(D) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
     authorized to be appropriated for grants under this paragraph 
     such funds as may be necessary.''.

     SEC. 211. HURRICANE ASSISTANCE REPLACEMENT GRANT PROGRAM.

       (a) Program Established.--The Administrator may carry out a 
     program under which the Administrator may, in the 
     Administrator's discretion, make grants to individuals who--
       (1) are victims of a disaster under disaster declaration 
     10176, 10177, 10178, 10179, 10180, 10181, 10203, 10204, 
     01205, 10206, 10222, or 10223; and
       (2) receive (whether before, on, or after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act) 7(b) disaster assistance because of 
     that disaster.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out 
     this section.
       (c) Eligibility.--An individual is eligible to receive a 
     grant under this section only if the individual--
       (1) receives benefits (other than the 7(b) disaster 
     assistance) because of the disaster; and
       (2) is required to remit those benefits to the Small 
     Business Administration because of a duplication of benefits.
       (d) Amount.--The amount of a grant under this section to an 
     individual shall not exceed the amount of the benefits 
     required to be remitted by the individual, as described in 
     subsection (c).
       (e) Time.--The Administrator shall ensure that, to the 
     maximum extent practicable, a grant made under this section 
     is made--
       (1) concurrent with the Administration's receipt of the 
     remittance, if the remittance is made after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act; and
       (2) as soon as possible after the Administration's receipt 
     of the remittance, in all other cases.
       (f) Treatment of Grants.--Grants made under this section 
     shall not be considered a duplication of benefits by the 
     Administrator.
       (g) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of 
     the Small Business Administration.
       (2) The term ``7(b) disaster assistance'' means assistance 
     under paragraph (1) or (2) of section 7(b)(2) of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)).

     SEC. 212. INCREASE LEGISLATIVE LIMIT.

       Section 7(b)(3)(E) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     636(b)(3)(E)) is amended by striking ``$1,500,000'' and 
     inserting ``$3,000,000'' both places such term appears.

     SEC. 213. NET EARNINGS CLAUSES PROHIBITED.

       Section 7 of the Small Business Act is amended in 
     subsection (f) by adding after paragraph (4) (as added by 
     section 207) the following:
       ``(5) Net earnings clauses prohibited.--In making loans 
     under section 7(b), the Administrator shall not require the 
     borrower to pay any non-amortized amount for the first 5 
     years after repayment begins.''.

     SEC. 214. ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOANS TO NONPROFITS.

       (a) In General.--Section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 
     U.S.C. 636) is amended in subsection (b)(2)--
       (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)--
       (A) by inserting after ``small business concern'' the 
     following: ``, private nonprofit organization,''; and
       (B) by inserting after ``the concern'' the following: ``, 
     organization,''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (D) by inserting after ``small business 
     concerns'' the following: ``, private nonprofit 
     organizations,''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Such section is further amended 
     in subsection (c)(5)(C) by inserting after ``business'' the 
     following: ``, organization,''.

     SEC. 215. APPLICANTS THAT WILL CONSTITUTE A MAJOR SOURCE OF 
                   EMPLOYMENT DUE TO CHANGED ECONOMIC 
                   CIRCUMSTANCES.

       Section 7(b)(3)(E) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     636(b)(3)(E)) is amended by inserting after ``constitutes'' 
     the following: ``, or will due to changed economic 
     circumstances constitute,''.

     SEC. 216. PRELIMINARY APPLICATION PROCESS FOR ASSISTANCE FOR 
                   SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS WITH ESSENTIAL 
                   EMPLOYEES ORDERED TO SERVE ON ACTIVE DUTY IN 
                   THE ARMED FORCES.

       Section 7(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     636(b)(3)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (C)--
       (A) by striking ``90 days'' and inserting ``1 year''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following: ``The Administrator 
     may, when appropriate (as determined by the Administrator), 
     waive the ending date specified in the preceding sentence and 
     provide a later ending date.''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(G) The Administrator shall establish a process under 
     which a small business concern described in subparagraph (B) 
     may file a preliminary application for assistance under this 
     paragraph, accompanied by supporting documentation, before 
     the date on which the essential employee is ordered to active 
     duty. The Administrator may not actively consider such an 
     application or provide assistance to the small business 
     concern based on such an application until the date on which 
     the essential employee is ordered to active duty.''.

     SEC. 217. ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOANS IN CASES OF ICE 
                   STORMS AND BLIZZARDS.

       Section 3(k)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     632(k)(2)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``and'';
       (2) in subparagraph (B) by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(C) ice storms and blizzards.''.

     SEC. 218. REPORT REGARDING LACK OF SNOWFALL.

       Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 
     shall conduct a study of, and submit a report to the 
     Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 
     and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 
     the Senate that describes--
       (1) the ability of the Administrator to provide loans under 
     section 7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     636(b)(2)) to small business concerns that depend on high 
     snowfall amounts and sustain economic injury (as described 
     under that section) due to a lack of snowfall;
       (2) the criteria the Administrator would use to determine 
     whether to provide a loan under section 7(b)(2) of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) to a small business 
     concern that has been adversely affected by a lack of 
     snowfall;
       (3) other Federal assistance (including loans) available to 
     small business concerns that are adversely affected by a lack 
     of snowfall; and
       (4) the history relating to providing loans under section 
     7(b)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(2)) to 
     small business concerns that have been adversely affected by 
     a lack of snowfall.

                          TITLE III--OVERSIGHT

     SEC. 301. REPORTS ON DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

       The Small Business Act is amended by inserting after 
     section 46 (as added by section 209) the following:

     ``SEC. 47. REPORTS ON DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

       ``(a) Annual Report Required.--Not later than 45 days after 
     the end of a fiscal year, the Administrator shall submit to 
     the Committee on Small Business of the Senate and the 
     Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a 
     report on the disaster assistance operations of the 
     Administration for that fiscal year. The report shall--
       ``(1) specify the number of Administration personnel 
     involved in such operations;
       ``(2) describe any material changes to those operations, 
     such as changes to technologies used or to personnel 
     responsibilities;
       ``(3) describe and assess the effectiveness of the 
     Administration in responding to disasters during that fiscal 
     year, including a description of the number and amounts of 
     loans made for damage and for economic injury; and
       ``(4) describe the plans of the Administration for 
     preparing to respond to disasters during the next fiscal 
     year.
       ``(b) Incidents of National Significance.--During the 
     period of an incident of national significance (as declared 
     by the President or his designee), the Administrator shall, 
     on a monthly basis, submit to the committees specified in 
     subsection (a) a report on the disaster assistance operations 
     of the Administration with respect to that incident of 
     national significance. The report shall specify--
       ``(1) the number of applications distributed;
       ``(2) the number of applications received;
       ``(3) the average time for the Administration to approve or 
     disapprove an application;
       ``(4) the amount of disaster loans approved;
       ``(5) the average time for initial disbursement of loan 
     proceeds; and
       ``(6) the amount of disaster loan proceeds disbursed.''.

  The CHAIRMAN. No further amendment to the committee amendment is in 
order except those printed in part B of the report. Each further 
amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report by a 
Member designated in the report, shall be considered 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.


                 Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Chabot

  The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed 
in part B of House Report 110-97.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 1 offered by Mr. Chabot:
       Strike section 211.

                              {time}  1510

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 302, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Chabot) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This amendment is really rather simple. It just strikes section 211 
of the bill as amended by the manager's amendment. Even though the 
manager's amendment addresses the direct cost provision of the original 
section as

[[Page H3520]]

determined by the CBO score, section 211 still is fraught with one 
major problem. And that is that it allows double compensation for the 
same injury or destruction or problem that the person had.
  As I understand section 211 in the manager's amendment, here is how 
that provision operates: For example, a homeowner applies for a 
physical disaster loan from the SBA for, say, $100,000. The homeowner 
then receives a grant from the State for $50,000 for the same 
destruction. Under existing law, the homeowner would have to 
immediately pay back $50,000 of the SBA loan because the SBA loan only 
covers amounts not otherwise compensated for through some other 
financial resource. Typically, that is insurance, but it does not have 
to be. Section 211 does not change the requirement that the homeowner 
would have to pay down the $50,000 in the disaster loan. Instead, 
section 211 would then allow the homeowner to apply for a grant from 
the SBA to replace the same amount of money that they had just paid to 
the SBA to reduce their loan.
  Now you are probably asking yourself why go through this convoluted 
process. Well, this is the only way for the majority to obtain a 
program that does not require direct spending, and therefore, it gets 
around the PAYGO problem. But even though this is an improvement over 
the bill as reported out of the committee because it has no direct 
spending and therefore is in compliance with PAYGO, it remains 
fundamentally flawed.
  The disaster loan program is just that: the Federal Government's 
program designed to provide redress to those homeowners and small 
businesses injured in a disaster. And it is important to note that the 
vast majority of loan recipients, both businesses and homeowners, 
receive loans at heavily subsidized interest rates of 3 or 4 percent 
interest. It is not a grant program and was never designed to be a 
grant program. The interest rate subsidy, a 30-year term, and the SBA's 
authority to suspend payment on principal and interest constitute the 
compensation needed to rebuild many areas, from Chatsworth in 
California to Homestead in Florida.
  Now, section 211 of H.R. 1361 has the recipient of a disaster loan 
obtaining a grant from a source other than the SBA, using that money to 
pay off all or a portion of the SBA disaster loan, and then apply to 
the SBA for a grant to replace the grant money that the recipient of 
the disaster loan just paid the SBA. And, again, I know this sounds 
very convoluted. In essence, there is a determination that double 
compensation is needed because the rather robust compensation already 
included in the Small Business Act and sufficient for other disasters 
is insufficient compensation. It is also important to note that, for 
victims of Hurricane Katrina, there are billions of other dollars that 
have been made available to assist these victims on an ad hoc basis, 
yet it is never enough. And this bill indicates that.
  Now comes section 211 of H.R. 1361 in a clear effort to ensure that 
victims of Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita receive double 
compensation. This raises two distinct questions. First, why do victims 
of these three hurricanes get special treatment of double compensation, 
and why should not other disaster victims get double compensation? Yes, 
Katrina was a tragedy, but so were Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane 
Charley and the attacks of September 11, for example. This seems 
incredibly arbitrary to select only those three disasters for something 
as unusual as double compensation.
  Second and far more important is the concept, as I indicated, of 
double compensation. It has been a longstanding tradition of American 
jurisprudence that a party shall not receive double compensation for 
the same injury. That concept is codified in the disaster loan 
provisions of the Small Business Act by prohibiting the SBA from 
issuing a loan for amounts already compensated for by insurance or 
other means. Thus under current law, a disaster loan applicant cannot 
get an insurance claim for $100,000 for a $100,000 loss and also get an 
SBA disaster loan for the same amount of money.
  Mr. Chairman, I ask that Members support this amendment. It is 
fiscally responsible and continues to recognize that individuals should 
not be granted double compensation.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, for the overwhelming majority of 
disaster victims, the problem wasn't that the Federal Government gave 
them too much assistance but that they weren't provided with enough. We 
heard from disaster victims about how the Federal Government was its 
own worst enemy, giving money to victims on the one hand through state-
administered grant programs, then taking it away.
  The prohibition on ``duplication of benefits'' was originally 
established to prevent disaster victims from double dipping. But this 
can only happen if assistance is given out in the first place. Many 
disaster victims have been waiting for 18 months and are still waiting 
today.
  H.R. 1361 gives the SBA the flexibility to break from its overly 
rigid statutory prohibition. Most importantly, however, this provision 
has been narrowly tailored to ensure that it will only apply for 
victims of the 2005 hurricanes. It does not carry forward to future 
disasters and will only be implemented if the administrator feels it is 
necessary. It is not a requirement.
  This amendment will strike that flexibility from the legislation, 
leaving disaster victims subject to the unworkable standards that 
currently exist in the statute.
  Mr. Chairman, I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana 
(Mr. Jefferson).
  Mr. JEFFERSON. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  The flaw in Mr. Chabot's argument and in this amendment is that the 
present statute automatically assumes in every instance where one 
receives a grant and a loan that there is double dipping. That is just 
not true. In the case where there is double dipping that is true double 
dipping, this bill permits the administrator to make a decision about 
that and to prevent it. In a case where there has been an insurance 
award, one would assume the SBA would not make a disaster loan award if 
there is sufficient insurance. Only in a case where the insurance isn't 
sufficient will we assume that the loan would be justified.
  So fundamentally here what we are doing is taking away the automatic 
assumption that is built into this law that, every time you receive a 
payment of this or that nature, it is a double dip. We remove that 
notion from the statute and put in place a more reasonable and 
commonsensical one and one that gives the administrator flexibility 
where he determines whether or not a double dip may take place. If it 
doesn't, then he permits the victim of the storm to receive the award. 
If it is, then, of course, he denies it.
  So I think there is no danger here of double dipping in this bill. 
None of us agree to double dipping in this bill.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Baker).
  Mr. BAKER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time.
  I wish to express concern about the operative effects of the 
gentleman's amendment. For many outside the storm impact area, you 
would not have an understanding of how processes work. But if you were 
eligible under the Road Home program, that was the federally funded 
program to assist people to return to their homes, the maximum 
allowable money that you could receive regardless of your circumstance 
was $150,000. But under current rule, if you are eligible for $150,000 
and you, for example, had purchased Federal flood insurance in the 
amount of $150,000 and got paid $150,000 pursuant to the flood 
insurance premium, you would get nothing out of the Road Home program. 
Because of that inequitable application of benefits, this House has 
already voted to eliminate the duplication of benefits in the flood 
insurance area.
  Now what is being suggested by the underlying bill is we should do 
the same thing with regard to an SBA loan. The argument here is even 
more persuasive. The person may have entered into the SBA obligation 
far in advance of the onslaught of Katrina. It

[[Page H3521]]

might be several hundred thousand dollars of loans that were made 
available to this individual through the SBA.

                              {time}  1520

  Under the current rule, any assistance that might be offered to that 
homeowner who happened to have the SBA loan would all go back to 
repaying the SBA obligation.
  So get the picture. The Federal Government puts a stamp on the check, 
drops it in the mailbox and sends it to the house. But before it gets 
there, another Federal agent picks it up and hauls it over and deposits 
it at the SBA. Do you see where the hole is in this argument? No money 
at all gets to the affected individual.
  So what the bill now provides is that without increasing the overall 
expenditure, the money made available to assist people via Katrina and 
Rita has been appropriated by the Congress. It is over, that is it. We 
are talking about available resources, not new dollars.
  Secondly, once the money gets to the individual, the individual is 
still capped by the rules of the Road Home program, and that is, there 
shall be no enrichment above that $150,000 level. This is a reasonable 
proposal. It will enable people to recover appropriately from the 
disaster which is so overwhelming.
  I suggest if any still have doubt whether this level of assistance is 
required and justifiable, walk the streets of New Orleans, as I did 
this past weekend. Sure, the business district and the French Quarter 
look terrific. The shops are empty, the restaurants aren't full and 
people are not coming back. But get out into the neighborhoods where 
the devastation still exists. We need this help, and we need it now.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Akin).
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Missouri is recognized for 15 
seconds.
  Mr. AKIN. Mr. Chairman, our concern, and this could have been 
clarified, but the majority party has chosen not to clarify it, our 
problem is the question about the fact that somebody could be 
compensated multiple times for the same damage. That just is plain old 
double dipping. That is something that could have been simplified with 
an amendment.
  So I oppose the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. All time for debate having expired, the question is on 
the amendment offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot).
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Ohio will be postponed.


                 Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Chabot

  The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 2 printed 
in part B of House Report 110-97.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 2 offered by Mr. Chabot:
       Strike section 210.

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 302, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Chabot) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, this amendment is very straightforward. It strikes 
section 210 of the bill. Section 210 authorizes the administrator to 
issue grants of up to $100,000 to small businesses located in areas 
affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, but only if the 
business was denied a disaster loan by the SBA.
  This is really, in my view, the height of fiscal irresponsibility. 
The SBA's determination of whether to grant a disaster loan is based on 
its determination of reasonable assurance that you can repay your loan, 
which is a direct quote from the SBA's rules found in the Code of 
Federal Regulations. Thus, if the SBA has denied a business a disaster 
loan, it already has determined that it is unlikely, for whatever 
reason, to repay the loan. In other words, its capacity as a viable 
business is seriously called into question.
  Section 210 provides that despite this determination, the Federal 
Government should create a grant program of up to $100,000 to help 
small businesses whose survivability was highly improbable to survive 
in the first place.
  Again, the SBA has indicated that they don't think this business is 
viable, that it is going to survive, and then we are going to turn 
around and give them up to $100,000. It is just not fiscally 
responsible.
  To fully fund all of those eligible, CBO estimates that the costs 
could be up to $180 million. I want to repeat that: $180 million we are 
talking about here. This seems again fiscally irresponsible, to fund 
grants when the SBA already has determined that the businesses are not 
likely to survive.
  It also remains unclear whether the grants will be sufficient to 
satisfy the needs of small businesses. How many will be able to survive 
on a grant of $100,000 if they could not repay a disaster loan of that 
amount? CBO did not answer that question, but I suspect very few of 
these businesses will survive.
  Although the provision is written to include all small businesses 
affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, there are limitations 
on which businesses can apply based on the amount of housing stock in a 
county or parish that is damaged. It is highly likely that only small 
businesses in Louisiana will qualify. Was this done to reduce costs? If 
so, why are only Louisiana businesses favored? Were not many small 
businesses throughout the region devastated by these hurricanes? It 
seems patently unfair to single out certain businesses for a very 
generous grant program.
  Mr. Chairman, I ask that Members support this amendment. To do 
otherwise, in my view, is just not a fiscally responsible stand to 
take. Again, every Member has to stand according to their own vote, and 
I am sure we will determine this based upon what they consider to be 
its merits.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Chairman, this amendment will eliminate an important tool for 
helping otherwise viable businesses rebuild. These businesses need 
financial assistance that the disaster loan program cannot provide.
  The committee has heard victims and experts testify that the SBA's 
current disaster loan program has been inadequate to help. Largely, 
this has been the result of pursuing a one-size-fits-all approach to 
SBA disaster assistance. If the SBA is to be successful in responding 
to catastrophic disasters, the agency must have tools that are more 
responsive to victims' needs. The limited grant program in this bill 
will provide SBA with the authority to help the most severely affected 
small businesses damaged by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
  This has been very narrowly tailored to ensure that grants only go to 
businesses located in communities most in need. Only a small number of 
businesses are expected to meet the requirements for one of these 
grants. If the administrator feels that grants are inappropriate, he 
will not need to exercise this authority. Furthermore, this program 
will not be carried forward to future disasters.
  This is an extraordinary tool to address an extraordinary situation, 
and this is a leading reason why this measure enjoys bipartisan 
support.
  I urge opposition to this amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Melancon).
  Mr. MELANCON. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairwoman for yielding.
  Mr. Chairman, this bill has the potential to help thousands of small 
businesses and business owners still struggling to recover from these 
hurricanes that devastated the U.S. gulf coast.
  I rise today in opposition to this amendment. After surviving 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two of the

[[Page H3522]]

worst natural disasters in our country's history, the citizens of the 
gulf coast were then faced with a man-made disaster, one of the most 
disorganized, chaotic Federal responses that anyone has ever seen. Many 
of the Federal agencies that were created to help these people recover 
wound up making matters worse. One of these agencies was the SBA.
  After these storms, 81,000 businesses were economically impacted. 
Over 18,000 were completely or severely destroyed. Astonishingly, 
however, following these hurricanes, only 38 percent of small business 
disaster loans were approved. In hearings, the SBA admitted that after 
``typical'' disasters, they approved 60 percent of these business 
loans. After Katrina and Rita, conversely, over 60 percent did not 
receive SBA assistance and were left with nowhere to turn for help.
  One of the many reasons that the SBA failed the people of the gulf 
coast was because it did not have the proper tools nor the flexibility 
it needed to sufficiently and adequately address the demands caused by 
the extraordinary storms. These were unprecedented natural disasters 
and they called for unprecedented response. This was not a one-size-
fits-all storm, as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to 
perceive.

                              {time}  1530

  In the resourceful, self-sufficient economy of south Louisiana and 
Mississippi, small businesses are the lifeblood of the local economy. 
Many of these mom-and-pop shops are homegrown and family-run 
businesses, such as those in the shrimping industry in south Louisiana 
and Mississippi that do not fit the traditional mold of current SBA 
loan qualifications. These are the businesses that are being denied 
assistance, yet these are the businesses that are the local economy's 
most critical assets. I am a fiscal conservative, but this policy is 
ridiculous. It's dooming the recovery to failure, and it's time that we 
correct it.
  To these business owners, these grants are critical investment 
capital which will help them pay utilities, keep the lights on, rent to 
keep the doors open and new equipment expenses to continue to recover 
and grow despite the incredibly difficult business climate that 
continues to persist in this area. Without this grant program, these 
small businesses will remain too debt-burdened to take the next 
decisive step required to move from recovery to rebuilding.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment today. Help 
these small businesses along the gulf coast get back on their feet and 
help America be the proud Nation that it should be.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot).
  The question was taken; and the Chairman announced that the noes 
appeared to have it.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings 
on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Ohio will be postponed.


                 Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Jindal

  The CHAIRMAN. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3 printed 
in part B of House Report 110-97.
  Mr. JINDAL. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 3 offered by Mr. Jindal:
       Page 14, line 20, insert ``(a) In General.--''before 
     ``Section 7''.
       Page 15, after line 6, insert the following:
       (b) Retroactive Application Victims of Hurricanes Katrina, 
     Rita, and Wilma.--
       (1) In general.--Section 7(f)(1) of the Small Business Act 
     (as added by subsection (a)) applies retroactively to any 
     loan under section 7(b) of that Act that was made--
       (A) in response to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, or 
     Hurricane Wilma of 2005; and
       (B) for a small business located in a county or parish 
     designated by the Administrator of the Small Business 
     Administration as a disaster area by reason of such Hurricane 
     Katrina, Hurricane Rita, or Hurricane Wilma, as applicable.
       (2) Disclosure of accrued interest.--Whenever the 
     Administrator provides an option to defer repayment under 
     paragraph (1), the Administrator shall disclose the accrued 
     interest that must be paid under the option.

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to House Resolution 302, the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Jindal) and a Member opposed each will control 5 
minutes.


             Amendment, As Modified, Offered by Mr. Jindal

  Mr. JINDAL. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to modify my 
amendment.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the modification.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Amendment, as modified, offered by Mr. Jindal:
       At the end of title II, insert the following:

     SEC. 219. GULF COAST DISASTER LOAN REFINANCING PROGRAM.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator of the Small Business 
     Administration may carry out a program to refinance Gulf 
     Coast disaster loans.
       (b) Terms.--The terms of a Gulf Coast disaster loan 
     refinanced under the program shall be identical to the terms 
     of the original loan, except that the Administrator may 
     provide an option to defer repayment on the loan. Such a 
     deferment may not exceed 4 years after the date on which the 
     initial disbursement under the original loan was made.
       (c) Amount.--The amount of a Gulf Coast disaster loan 
     refinanced under the program shall not exceed the amount of 
     the original loan.
       (d) Disclosure of Accrued Interest.--Whenever the 
     Administrator provides an option to defer repayment under 
     subsection (b), the Administrator shall disclose the accrued 
     interest that must be paid under the option.
       (e) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Gulf Coast 
     disaster loan'' means a loan--
       (1) made under section 7(b) of the Small Business Act;
       (2) in response to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, or 
     Hurricane Wilma of 2005; and
       (3) for a small business located in a county or parish 
     designated by the Administrator as a disaster area by reason 
     of such Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, or Hurricane Wilma 
     under disaster declaration 10176, 10177, 10178, 10179, 10180, 
     10181, 10203, 10204, 10205, 10206, 10222, or 10223.
       (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out 
     this section.

  Mr. JINDAL (during the reading). Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous 
consent that the amendment, as modified, be considered as read and 
printed in the Record.
  The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from 
Louisiana?
  There was no objection.
  The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the amendment is modified.
  There was no objection.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana.
  Mr. JINDAL. I want to thank the chairwoman, and I want to thank 
Ranking Member Chabot as well for their working together with me. I 
especially want to thank the committee for helping me with this 
legislation and for this underlying bill for all they are trying to do 
and all they are doing to help the small businesses in Louisiana 
recover from the 2005 hurricanes.
  As my colleagues from Louisiana have already pointed out, prior to 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, there were an estimated 347,436 small 
businesses in Louisiana. These businesses created jobs and income for 
countless families all across the State. More than 65,000 of the new 
jobs in Louisiana in the past decade were created by small businesses, 
and in 2004, over 97 percent of the 96,000 Louisiana firms were small 
businesses. The devastation caused by the 2005 hurricanes is 
unprecedented, with total losses, both insured and uninsured, 
approaching $140 billion. According to the United States Chamber of 
Commerce, over 125,000 businesses were disrupted by Hurricanes Katrina 
and Rita in 2005. In Louisiana alone, over 81,000 small businesses were 
damaged or economically impacted, with 18,700 businesses 
catastrophically destroyed by the storms.
  As one example, in St. Bernard Parish, one of the Louisiana parishes 
hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, only 370 businesses have reopened, 
far below the total of 1,400 businesses in operation before Katrina. 
The Nation's small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and when 
they are devastated by storms like Katrina, Rita and Wilma, we need to 
do everything possible to help them rebuild and recover.
  I am offering an amendment today that builds upon a provision in the 
underlying bill by providing Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma 
disaster victims with the option of receiving a 4-year deferment period 
to pay back their disaster loans. Section 204 of the underlying bill 
extends the deferment period to future disaster victims. My

[[Page H3523]]

amendment simply applies this option to those severely affected by the 
2005 hurricanes. These cash-strapped small businesses are truly in need 
of repayment flexibility.
  My amendment allows the SBA to refinance the existing Katrina, Rita 
and Wilma disaster loans under identical loans, but with the added 
option of deferment of up to 4 years after the date on which the 
initial disbursement was made. This is a revised version of my original 
amendment that complies with all the budgetary and PAYGO rules.
  By allowing small businesses that received certain small business 
loans to defer their repayment on those loans, we are freeing up money 
for these businesses to use for other purposes, such as rebuilding, 
expanding or continuing to hire new employees. The importance of small 
business as the gulf coast continues to rebuild cannot be overstated. 
It is critical that we help small businesses get up and running again 
and provide the job opportunities people so desperately need in these 
impacted areas.
  I certainly urge my colleagues to support my amendment. Again, I want 
to thank the chairman and ranking member for their work on the 
underlying bill and their work with me on this amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. Does any Member seek time in opposition to the 
amendment?
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. While not opposed to the amendment, I ask unanimous 
consent to claim the time in opposition, and I am prepared to accept 
the amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman 
from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman for 
offering this creative solution to a pressing problem. In our hearings, 
my committee heard testimony on how individuals affected by the 2005 
hurricanes were victimized twice, once by the storm and a second time 
by the SBA.
  The SBA routinely provides disaster victims with a 12-month deferment 
before requiring repayment on disaster loans. Following the 2005 gulf 
coast hurricanes, however, the SBA was plagued by lengthy delays and a 
massive backlog of loan disbursements that has taken months to clear. 
Now, many disaster victims are scheduled to begin repayment on loan 
amounts that have yet to be disbursed by the SBA. Clearly, this is an 
unfair and absurd result that we cannot permit to occur.
  The amendment offered by the gentleman from Louisiana would provide 
the SBA with authority to help those victims who have been negatively 
affected by its delays in loan processing and disbursement. Most 
importantly, this amendment preserves the discretion of the 
administrator in deciding which situations should have an increased 
deferment period. This flexibility ensures that this program will only 
be applied in appropriate situations, and I support the amendment from 
the gentleman from Louisiana.
  At this point, Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield to the gentleman 
from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson) for any comments he may have.
  Mr. JEFFERSON. I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
  I also would like to thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal) 
for offering this amendment. If anyone has been to the gulf coast 
recently, particularly if anyone has been to New Orleans recently, you 
will see that there are still many businesses that are still shuttered 
from the storm that happened now going on close to 2 years, and they 
are not at all ready to begin repaying loan obligations. There are 
still many obstacles to their recovery. This rightly recognizes that 
the reality is that these businesses will take a long time to get 
themselves back together.
  It is very important to understand one simple thing here. This is not 
just a call from the people of our State for humanitarian assistance in 
the wake of a natural disaster. The Corps has admitted that its 
negligence in constructing, maintaining and designing our levees is the 
major reason why our city drowned and why so many businesses were put 
out of business. And so there is a special responsibility, it seems to 
me, to make special rules to overcome these problems. I really 
appreciate this solution that is being offered here because I think it 
helps to address this extraordinary devastation we have caused in great 
respect by the action, or lack of action, the negligence, of an agency 
of our Federal Government.
  I thank you for the amendment. I really urge the Members to support 
it.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jindal), as modified.
  The amendment, as modified, was agreed to.


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, proceedings will 
now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were 
postponed, in the following order:
  Amendment No. 1 printed in part B by Mr. Chabot of Ohio.
  Amendment No. 2 printed in part B by Mr. Chabot of Ohio.
  The Chair will reduce to 5 minutes the time for the second electronic 
vote in this series.


                 Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Chabot

  The CHAIRMAN. The unfinished business is the demand for a recorded 
vote on amendment No. 1 printed in part B of House Report 110-97 
offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) on which further 
proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice 
vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 178, 
noes 246, not voting 14, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 222]

                               AYES--178

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fortuno
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--246

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Alexander
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bordallo
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson
     Castor
     Chandler
     Christensen
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Costa

[[Page H3524]]


     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Lincoln
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Jindal
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Klein (FL)
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Norton
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Poe
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Space
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Wexler
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--14

     Brady (PA)
     Cantor
     Cooper
     Faleomavaega
     Ferguson
     Higgins
     Jones (OH)
     Lampson
     Millender-McDonald
     Sessions
     Turner
     Walsh (NY)
     Westmoreland
     Young (AK)

                              {time}  1605

  Messrs. ELLISON, BRADY of Texas, OBEY, SKELTON, CLAY and RENZI 
changed their vote from ``aye'' to ``no.''
  Messrs. RAMSTAD, BILIRAKIS, SHAYS and DENT changed their vote from 
``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  Stated for:
  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 222, the Chabot amendment 
No. 1 to H.R. 1361, I am not recorded. Had I been present, I would have 
voted ``aye.''


                 Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Chabot

  The CHAIRMAN. The unfinished business is the demand for a recorded 
vote on amendment No. 2 printed in part B of House Report 110-97 
offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) on which further 
proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice 
vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The Clerk redesignated the amendment.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The CHAIRMAN. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 174, 
noes 252, not voting 12, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 223]

                               AYES--174

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Capito
     Carney
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fortuno
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Latham
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pitts
     Platts
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--252

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Alexander
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bordallo
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carson
     Castor
     Chandler
     Christensen
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Lincoln
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gillmor
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Jindal
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Klein (FL)
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     LaTourette
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Norton
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Pickering
     Poe
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Space
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Wexler
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth
     Young (AK)

                             NOT VOTING--12

     Bartlett (MD)
     Brady (PA)
     Cantor
     Faleomavaega
     Ferguson
     Gohmert
     Higgins
     Jones (OH)
     Lampson
     Linder
     Millender-McDonald
     Walsh (NY)


                      Announcement by the Chairman

  The CHAIRMAN (during the vote). Members are advised there are 2 
minutes remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  1616

  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The CHAIRMAN. There being no further amendments, under the rule, the 
Committee rises.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Weiner) having assumed the chair, Mr.

[[Page H3525]]

Davis of Alabama, Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under 
consideration the bill (H.R. 1361) to improve the disaster relief 
programs of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes, 
pursuant to House Resolution 302, he reported the bill, as amended by 
that resolution, back to the House with a further amendment adopted by 
the Committee of the Whole.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is 
ordered.
  The question is on the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.


               Motion to Recommit Offered by Mr. McHenry

  Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
  Mr. McHENRY. In its current form.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to 
recommit.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. McHenry moves to recommit the bill H.R. 1361 to the 
     Committee on Small Business with instructions to report the 
     same back to the House promptly with the following amendment:
       At the end of title II of the bill, insert the following:

     SEC. 219. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE.

       A person or small business concern shall not receive 
     assistance under this Act or section 7(b) of the Small 
     Business Act, as amended by this Act, if the person or small 
     business concern pleaded nolo contendre to, or is convicted 
     of, a felony, including, but not limited to, murder, 
     kidnapping, or sexual assault under Federal or State law.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, there is nothing complicated about this 
motion to recommit today. It simply says that anyone who has pleaded no 
contest or has been found guilty of a felony cannot receive Federal 
funding under this bill.
  I would urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to 
especially listen to the explanation of this motion to recommit, 
because some of them voted for a similar motion to recommit just weeks 
ago on this House floor.
  This motion to recommit is very simple. It says that Federal funding 
cannot under this provision of this bill go to anyone who has been 
found guilty of a felony or has pleaded no contest. If you vote against 
this motion to recommit, you are saying to your constituents back home 
that you don't care if these Federal funds go to convicted murderers, 
rapists, or kidnappers for that matter.

                              {time}  1620

  Mr. Speaker, the new Speaker of the House pledged to have the most 
ethical Congress in our Nation's history. If you vote for this motion 
to recommit, you are sending a message that you are willing to reward 
good behavior by supporting ethical oversight of taxpayer funds.
  Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker. The RECOVER Act is another massive 
Democrat spending spree. That is why I am opposed to it. The 
Congressional Budget Office states that the Democrats' bill will cost 
the Federal taxpayers $562 million over the next 6 years. It makes 
government bigger while creating new programs, positions and offices. 
It expands the role of government in people's lives.
  But I think we owe our taxpayers the common courtesy of saying these 
funds should not go to felons. And while I and many of my colleagues in 
the House are at odds with the Democrats' ideology of big government is 
good government, we all can agree that kidnappers should not receive 
Federal funds under this bill here today.
  And in this motion to recommit, we fix this error in the Democrats' 
drawing up of this bill; this omission that the Democrats have 
permitted to be in this bill here today before us.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this 
motion to recommit and reassure your constituents you actually care 
where their taxpayer dollars are going.
  And for those Democrats who voted for a similar motion to recommit on 
the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007 just a few weeks 
ago, for those on the other side of the aisle, the 55 Democrats who 
voted for the motion to recommit on the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing 
Recovery Act of 2007, they will recognize the language of this motion 
to recommit. It is very similar. It says, felons cannot receive these 
Federal funds. Felons, such as murderers, rapists, kidnappers, those 
are the type of people who would not be eligible for funds under this 
act, and I encourage those same 55 Democrats to cross the aisle and 
work in a bipartisan way to fix a Democrat mistake.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to 
recommit.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. What amazes me is if the gentleman from North Carolina 
is so concerned about this legislation, where were you when the Small 
Business Committee was considering this legislation? We had a number of 
Members who do not sit on the Small Business Committee come before our 
committee to discuss issues related to the disaster loan legislation. 
Where were you?
  And let me say more. Let me say more. If you had come before our 
committee, you would have learned that what this motion to recommit 
does is to reinstate policies that the SBA already does. This amendment 
merely restates what the Small Business Administration does and could 
actually have the opposite effect and allow more individuals with 
questionable character to get SBA disaster loans.
  The Small Business Administration already has a standard operating 
procedure that provides that no loans shall be made to individuals of 
low character. The SBA rules and regulations provide that individuals 
with criminal records and arrest records or who are on probation are 
considered to be in that category. Simply put, this means that felons 
are not able to get SBA loans.
  I will also note that adopting this motion will for all intents and 
purposes kill the bill, meaning a little over 1 month before hurricane 
season, the Federal Government will not have a plan to respond to 
disasters. Disaster victims will be trapped in the bureaucracy between 
FEMA and SBA. Small businesses impacted by disasters will continue to 
struggle with backlogs that could extend up to 3 months. New programs 
to leverage the private sector to assist entrepreneurs in days not 
months will not be available. Economic recovery in the gulf will lag as 
much-needed assistance continues to be denied.
  What this motion to recommit is is a cheap political ploy to kill 
this legislation that is so much needed.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the majority leader, Mr. Steny 
Hoyer.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  As she has said, this is the law. This is another attempt, another 
opportunity not to substantively legislate because this is already the 
law. This is an effort to kill this bill indirectly and without telling 
the public that that is what you are doing.
  I am asking all of our Members to vote ``no'' on this. This is simply 
a procedural motion to kill this bill. If they wanted to add a 
substantive amendment, they could have done it. This was a modified 
open rule. All they had to do was file and notice it.
  So I ask all of my colleagues, we are not going to go down this road 
and play this political game. We want to substantively legislate. We 
are going to vote ``no'' on this motion.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Melancon).
  Mr. MELANCON. Mr. Speaker, here we go again.
  We had a similar motion to recommit, the gentleman is right, 2 or 3 
weeks ago, and 50 people fell for it. They fell for it because it came 
to the floor just minutes before we had to vote, and it sounded like 
people such as myself would condone felons getting loans, when the law 
already prevents that.
  For God's sake, the people in the gulf coast of the United States 
have suffered enough. And now we want to take

[[Page H3526]]

away or at least put some procedures in this just to screw with them 
some more. Let's vote this bill straight up and down. Let's kill this 
motion to recommit. It is a fallacy. It is fake. It is there just to 
disrupt. The people of this country and the people of the gulf coast 
need your help. Support the bill.
  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.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 and clause 9 of rule 
XX, this 15-minute vote on the motion to recommit will be followed by 
5-minute votes on passage of H.R. 1361, if ordered, motion to suspend 
the rules and agree to H. Res. 293, and motion to suspend the rules and 
agree to H. Res. 300.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 204, 
noes 218, not voting 11, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 224]

                               AYES--204

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Baker
     Barrett (SC)
     Barrow
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boustany
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Capito
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Donnelly
     Doolittle
     Drake
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     Ellsworth
     Emerson
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fortenberry
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gohmert
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     Kuhl (NY)
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Mahoney (FL)
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     Matheson
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McHenry
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Moran (KS)
     Murphy, Tim
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Poe
     Porter
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roskam
     Royce
     Sali
     Saxton
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Shuler
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Souder
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--218

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baldwin
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson
     Castor
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Lincoln
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Emanuel
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Frank (MA)
     Giffords
     Gillibrand
     Gonzalez
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Jindal
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Klein (FL)
     Kucinich
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Maloney (NY)
     Markey
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Wexler
     Wilson (OH)
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--11

     Brady (PA)
     Cantor
     Ferguson
     Higgins
     Jones (OH)
     Lampson
     Marshall
     Millender-McDonald
     Ryan (WI)
     Space
     Walsh (NY)


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

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

                              {time}  1647

  Mr. McNERNEY changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the motion to recommit was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. This will be a 5-minute vote.
  The Chair would announce that the two postponed suspension votes 
following this vote will be taken in the following order:
  House Resolution 300; and
  House Resolution 293.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 267, 
noes 158, not voting 8, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 225]

                               AYES--267

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Alexander
     Allen
     Altmire
     Andrews
     Arcuri
     Baca
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldwin
     Barrow
     Bean
     Becerra
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blumenauer
     Bono
     Boren
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boustany
     Boyd (FL)
     Boyda (KS)
     Brady (TX)
     Braley (IA)
     Brown, Corrine
     Butterfield
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardoza
     Carnahan
     Carney
     Carson
     Castor
     Chandler
     Clarke
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Costa
     Costello
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Lincoln
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Dent
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donnelly
     Doyle
     Drake
     Edwards
     Ellison
     Ellsworth
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Fattah
     Filner
     Fortenberry
     Frank (MA)
     Gerlach
     Giffords
     Gilchrest
     Gillibrand
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Hall (NY)
     Hare
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Herseth Sandlin
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hirono
     Hodes
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Inslee
     Israel
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Jindal
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Jones (NC)
     Kagen
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     Kirk
     Klein (FL)
     Kucinich
     Kuhl (NY)
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     LaTourette
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (GA)
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Lofgren, Zoe
     Lowey
     Lynch
     Mahoney (FL)
     Maloney (NY)
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum (MN)
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McIntyre
     McNerney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)

[[Page H3527]]


     Melancon
     Michaud
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, George
     Mitchell
     Mollohan
     Moore (KS)
     Moore (WI)
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy (CT)
     Murphy, Patrick
     Murphy, Tim
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Perlmutter
     Peterson (MN)
     Pickering
     Platts
     Poe
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reichert
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Salazar
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sarbanes
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schwartz
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Serrano
     Sestak
     Shays
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shuler
     Sires
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Space
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stupak
     Sutton
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Taylor
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Tierney
     Towns
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Walz (MN)
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Welch (VT)
     Wexler
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (OH)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Yarmuth

                               NOES--158

     Aderholt
     Akin
     Bachmann
     Bachus
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Biggert
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonner
     Boozman
     Brown (SC)
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Buchanan
     Burgess
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp (MI)
     Campbell (CA)
     Cannon
     Carter
     Castle
     Chabot
     Coble
     Cole (OK)
     Conaway
     Crenshaw
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Davis (KY)
     Davis, David
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Ehlers
     English (PA)
     Everett
     Fallin
     Feeney
     Flake
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Foxx
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Goode
     Granger
     Graves
     Hall (TX)
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Heller
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Inglis (SC)
     Issa
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jordan
     Keller
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kline (MN)
     Knollenberg
     LaHood
     Lamborn
     Latham
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lucas
     Lungren, Daniel E.
     Mack
     Manzullo
     Marchant
     McCarthy (CA)
     McCaul (TX)
     McCotter
     McHenry
     McKeon
     McMorris Rodgers
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller, Gary
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Neugebauer
     Nunes
     Paul
     Pearce
     Pence
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pitts
     Price (GA)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reynolds
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Roskam
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Sali
     Schmidt
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (TX)
     Stearns
     Sullivan
     Tancredo
     Terry
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Turner
     Upton
     Walberg
     Walden (OR)
     Wamp
     Weldon (FL)
     Weller
     Westmoreland
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (SC)
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Brady (PA)
     Cantor
     Ferguson
     Higgins
     Jones (OH)
     Lampson
     Millender-McDonald
     Walsh (NY)


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Weiner) (during the vote). Members are 
advised 2 minutes remain in this vote.

                              {time}  1655

  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________