[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 195 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15950-S15952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NATIONAL RESERVIST AND VETERAN SMALL BUSINESS REAUTHORIZATION AND 
                        OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2007

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship Committee be discharged from further 
consideration of S. 1784 and the Senate then proceed to its immediate 
consideration.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1784) to amend the Small Business Act to improve 
     programs for veterans, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, a few months ago, I introduced the Military 
Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity 
Act. As the chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship, I was gratified that I was able to work with Ranking 
Member Senator Snowe on behalf of this Nation's veterans. I was also 
pleased that this bill was added by unanimous consent as an amendment 
to the Department of Defense Authorization, although disappointed when 
the final House-Senate negotiated compromise did not make it as part of 
the final bill.
  In November, Senator Snowe and I sought to pass this bill in the 
Senate only to meet with objections from my respected colleague from 
Oklahoma. I am pleased to say that Senator Coburn has worked with me in 
good faith and that we have reached an agreement that addresses his 
concerns. We have sought to protect the language that the House and 
Senate agreed upon and done our utmost to improve the resources that 
are available to our Nation's veterans. Although this bill is not 
perfect or exactly as I may have envisioned, it is an important step 
forward in supporting the American dream of business ownership for 
veterans and reservists.
  Passing these provisions into law has been one of my highest 
priorities since becoming chairman of the Committee on Small Business 
and Entrepreneurship in January. My first hearing as chairman was 
devoted to veteran small business issues, and this bill arises directly 
from the complaints that we heard there. America's veterans and 
reservists have sacrificed enough in fighting for our country; they 
shouldn't have to sacrifice their jobs and their livelihoods when they 
come home.
  There are 25 million veterans in this country. In the last 4 years, 
alone, nearly 600,000 veterans have returned from serving in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. Roughly 56 percent are reserve and National Guard members, 
who continue to serve this Nation at unprecedented levels. This is 
taking a toll not just on their families, but on their businesses as 
well. We are in an era where employers do not want to hire reservists 
because they know they will be called up for lengthy deployments. At a 
Small Business Committee hearing on veterans' issues earlier this year, 
one of the witnesses raised concerns about a lack of employer support 
for reservists due to the new policy that allows reservists to be 
called up for a second tour of 24 months.
  I am also deeply concerned that recently discharged veterans have a 
higher unemployment rate--double that of their civilian counterparts. 
In addition, the number of service disabled veterans is increasing--
167,000 discharged between 2002 and 2005-- and their self-employment 
rate is lower than the national average.
  This bill is a first step in addressing these concerns and it builds 
on important lessons we learned from Vietnam, not to leave another 
generation of veterans behind.
  The Military Reservists and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization 
and Opportunity Act of 2007 takes a number of steps to improve the 
Government's role in supporting our veterans. Specifically, it 
reauthorizes the veteran programs in the Small Business Administration. 
This legislation increases the funding authorization for the Office of 
Veteran Business Development from

[[Page S15951]]

$2 million today to $2.3 million over 2 years. In light of the large 
numbers of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and 
increased responsibilities placed on this office by Executive Order 
13360, it is high time that the Office of Veteran Business Development 
receive the funding levels that it needs.

  The bill also creates an Interagency Task Force to improve 
coordination between agencies in administrating veteran small business 
programs. One of the biggest complaints that our committee heard at the 
``Assessing Federal Small Business Assistance Programs for Veterans and 
Reservists'' hearing held on January 31 was that Federal agencies do 
not work together in reaching out to veterans and informing them about 
small business programs. This task force is an attempt to improve that. 
The task force will focus on increasing veterans' small business 
success, including procurement and franchising opportunities, access to 
capital, and other types of business development assistance.
  This bill also permanently extends the SBA Advisory Committee on 
Veterans Business Affairs. The committee was created to serve as an 
independent source of advice and policy recommendations to the SBA, the 
Congress, and the President. The veteran small business owners who 
serve on this committee provide a unique perspective which is sorely 
needed at this challenging time. Unfortunately, continuing uncertainty 
about the committee's future has, at times, distracted the committee 
from focusing on its core function. Therefore, I have called for its 
permanent extension. It is clear to me that more needs to be done to 
address the issues facing veterans and reservists, and the role this 
committee plays will continue to be important.
  Additionally, I have taken a number of steps to better serve the 
reservists who are serving their country abroad while their businesses 
are suffering at home. Over the past decade, the Department of Defense 
has increased its reliance on the National Guard and reserves. This has 
intensified since September 11 and increased deployments are expected 
to continue. The effect of this increase on reservists and small 
businesses continues to remain of concern. A 2003 GAO report indicated 
that 41 percent of reservists lost income when mobilized. This had a 
higher effect on self-employed reservists, 55 percent of whom lost 
income.
  In 1999, I created the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster 
Loan, MREIDL, program to provide loans to small businesses that incur 
economic injury as a result of an essential employee being called to 
active duty. However, since 2002, fewer than 300 of these loans have 
been approved by the SBA, despite record numbers of reservists being 
called to active duty. It is clear that changes need to be made, so 
that reservists are informed about the availability of the MREIDL 
program and that the program better meets their needs. At the hearing 
on January 31, we heard suggestions for a number of changes which would 
improve the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, 
and I have included those changes in this bill. They include increasing 
the application deadline for such a loan from 90 days to 1 year 
following the date of discharge; creating a predeployment loan approval 
process; and improved outreach and technical assistance.
  This bill also increases to $50,000 the amount SBA can disburse 
without requiring collateral under the MREIDL program. Reservist 
families have already sacrificed enough when a family member goes away 
to serve their country and when their business is harmed as a result. 
This loan program would allow reservist dependent businesses to access 
the capital they need to stay afloat without having to sacrifice beyond 
the service of the key employees. In order to give reservists time to 
repay the loans, the non-collaterized loan created in this bill would 
not accumulate interest or require payments for one year or until after 
the deployment ends, whichever is longer.

  There are two more provisions which will help this Nation's service 
members. One section of the bill will require the SBA to give priority 
to MREIDL loans during loan processing. Another provision will give 
activated servicemembers an extension of any SBA time limitations equal 
to the time spent on active duty. This will make it easier for service 
members to serve their country while continuing to meet their 
obligations at home.
  Lastly, this bill calls for two reports. One report will look at the 
needs of service-disabled veterans who are interested in becoming 
entrepreneurs. As a result of the war on terror and improved medicine, 
we are seeing more service-disabled veterans than we have seen in 
decades. For some service-disabled veterans, entrepreneurship is the 
best or only way of achieving economic independence. Therefore, it is 
essential that we understand and take steps to address the needs of the 
service-disabled veteran entrepreneur or small business owner.
  This bill also calls for a study to investigate how to improve 
relations between reservists and their employers. In January, the 
committee heard that recent changes by the Department of Defense to 
policies regulating the length and frequency of reservist deployments 
is harming the ability of reservists to find jobs and the ability of 
small business owners to continue hiring them. Understanding more about 
this issue is important and essential to making sure that policymakers 
can continue to support citizen soldiers and the small businesses that 
employ them.
  The bill also includes a number of other important provisions that 
were added by the House. For instance, this bill includes language 
directing the Office of Veterans Business Develop to increase the 
number of Veterans Business Outreach Centers and requires them to 
improve their participation in the Transition Assistance Program. This 
bill also creates a program reducing 7(a) loan fees for veterans, 
improves Small Business Development Centers outreach to the veteran 
community and instructs the Associate Administrator of the Office of 
Veterans Business Development to create and disseminate information 
aimed at informing women veterans about the resources available to 
them. I am pleased that the House and Senate were able to come to an 
agreement on these provisions.
  Veterans possess great technical skills and valuable leadership 
experience, but they require financial resources and small business 
training to turn that potential into a viable enterprise. A recent 
report by the Small Business Administration stated that 22 percent of 
veterans plan to start or are starting a business when they leave the 
military. For service-disabled veterans, this number rises to 28 
percent.
  We owe veterans and reservists more than a simple thank you for their 
service. The least we can do is provide critical resources to help them 
start and grow small business and to hold Federal agencies accountable. 
That is what our bill does.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to once again urge my 
colleagues to support passage of S. 1784, the Military Reservist and 
Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act of 2007, 
offered by Senator Kerry and me, chair and ranking member of the Senate 
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. I have spoken about 
this bill on multiple occasions because it is truly critical that our 
fellow colleagues, in each Chamber and both sides of the aisle, 
continue to collaborate on our veterans' behalf and support swift 
passage of this legislation. This bipartisan legislation contains key 
provisions from both S. 904, the Veterans Small Business Opportunity 
Act of 2007, which I introduced in March, and Senator Kerry's S. 1005, 
Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization Act of 
2007.
  This legislation would have an immediate impact on our men and women 
fighting around the globe for the freedoms we enjoy every day. First, 
our bill makes vast improvements to the Small Business 
Administration's, SBA, Military Reservist Economic Disaster Loan, 
MREIDL, program. The MREIDL program provides funds to businesses to 
meet ordinary and necessary business expenses that they could have 
made, if not for the deployment of a reservist who is one of their 
essential employees.
  Specifically, the bill establishes a pre-application process so 
businesses can be prepared, in advance, to apply for an MREIDL and 
includes a provision allowing businesses up to one year, as opposed to 
90 days, to apply. The legislation increases, from $1.5 million to $2 
million, the maximum

[[Page S15952]]

MREIDL loan a business can take and raises, from $5,000 to $50,000, the 
level of uncollateralized MREIDL loans available to businesses. 
Finally, our changes to the MREIDL program would allow the SBA 
administrator to defer the payment of principal and interest while the 
employee is deployed.
  The bill would also create a new interagency task force to coordinate 
the efforts of Federal agencies necessary to increase capital and 
business development opportunities for, and increase the award of 
Federal contracting opportunities to, small businesses owned and 
controlled by veterans. This type of coordinated and targeted effort by 
our Federal Government is long overdue.
  Additionally, today's legislation would increase funding for the 
SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development, and permanently extend 
the duties and responsibilities of the SBA Advisory Committee on 
Veterans Business Affairs. It would also allow small businesses owned 
and operated by veterans to extend their SBA program participation time 
limitations by the duration of their owner's deployment.
  While I have not provided an exhaustive list of this bill's 
provisions and all that it would do, a simple review of the legislation 
will reveal that it goes far toward helping our Nation's veteran 
entrepreneurs and our patriotic small businesses that employ 
reservists, despite the risk that deployments entail. To that end, I 
once again urge my colleagues to join us in support of this bill.
  Mr. REID. I understand there is a substitute amendment at the desk. I 
ask unanimous consent that the Coburn amendment at the desk be 
considered agreed to; the substitute, as amended, be agreed to; the 
bill, as amended, be read a third time, and the Senate then proceed to 
H.R. 4253, which is at the desk; that all after the enacting clause be 
stricken and the text of S. 1784, as amended, be inserted in lieu 
thereof; that the bill be advanced to third reading, passed, and the 
motion to reconsider be laid on the table; that any statements relating 
to this matter be printed in the Record without further intervening 
action or debate; and that S. 1784 then be placed on the calendar.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The amendment (No. 3886) was agreed to, as follows:

       On page 4, line 25, strike ``increase'' and all that 
     follows through ``opportunities to'' on page 5, line 2, and 
     insert ``improve capital and business development 
     opportunities for, and ensure achievement of the pre-
     established Federal contracting goals for''.
       On page 5, line 10, after the semicolon, add ``and''.
       On page 5, line 22, strike ``; and'' and insert a period.
       On page 5, strike lines 23 through 25.
       On page 6, strike line 1 and all that follows through page 
     7, line 16, and insert the following:
       ``(3) Duties.--The task force shall--
       ``(A) consult regularly with veterans service organizations 
     and military organizations in performing the duties of the 
     task force; and
       ``(B) coordinate administrative and regulatory activities 
     and develop proposals relating to--
       ``(i) improving capital access and capacity of small 
     business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled 
     veterans and small business concerns owned and controlled by 
     veterans through loans, surety bonding, and franchising;
       ``(ii) ensuring achievement of the pre-established Federal 
     contracting goals for small business concerns owned and 
     controlled by service-disabled veterans and small business 
     concerns owned and controlled by veterans through expanded 
     mentor-protege assistance and matching such small business 
     concerns with contracting opportunities;
       ``(iii) increasing the integrity of certifications of 
     status as a small business concern owned and controlled by 
     service-disabled veterans or a small business concern owned 
     and controlled by veterans;
       ``(iv) reducing paperwork and administrative burdens on 
     veterans in accessing business development and 
     entrepreneurship opportunities;
       ``(v) increasing and improving training and counseling 
     services provided to small business concerns owned and 
     controlled by veterans; and
       ``(vi) making other improvements relating to the support 
     for veterans business development by the Federal Government.
       On page 9, strike line 13 and all that follows through page 
     10, line 8, and insert the following:
       ``(e) Women Veterans Business Training.--The Associate 
     Administrator shall--
       ``(1) compile information on existing resources available 
     to women veterans for business training, including resources 
     for--
       ``(A) vocational and technical education;
       ``(B) general business skills, such as marketing and 
     accounting; and
       ``(C) business assistance programs targeted to women 
     veterans; and
       ``(2) disseminate the information compiled under paragraph 
     (1) through Veteran Business Outreach Centers and women's 
     business centers.''.
       On page 11, strike line 10 and all that follows through 
     page 20, line 23, and insert the following:

     SEC. 201. VETERANS ASSISTANCE AND SERVICES PROGRAM.

       On page 22, between lines 10 and 11, insert the following:

     SEC. 202. DISASTER LOANS.

       Section 7(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     636(b)(3)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``unless'' and all 
     that follows and inserting a period; and
       (2) by inserting after subparagraph (I), the following:
       ``(J) There shall be reasonable assurance that a loan 
     recipient under this paragraph can repay the loan of personal 
     or business cash flow.''.
       On page 22, line 21, strike ``waive'' and all that follows 
     through ``date'' on line 23 and insert ``extend the ending 
     date specified in the preceding sentence by not more than 1 
     year''.
       On page 24, line 4, strike ``shall'' and insert ``may''.
       On page 32, between lines 9 and 10, insert the following:
       (d) Additional Study.--Not later than 180 days after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the Office of Advocacy of the 
     Administration shall submit to Congress a report describing--
       (1) the barriers in place arising from Federal regulations 
     for veterans who wish to become entrepreneurs;
       (2) the barriers in place arising from the tax code for 
     veterans who wish to become entrepreneurs; and
       (3) any recommendations for how best to eliminate those 
     barriers to better assist current or prospective veteran 
     small business owners.

  The substitute amendment (No. 3885), as amended, was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read 
the third time.
  The bill (H.R. 4253), as amended, was ordered to be read a third 
time, was read the third time and passed.

                          ____________________