[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 66 (Thursday, April 24, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3342-S3343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS WEEK

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, this is National Small Business Week. This 
country has nearly 27 million small businesses in total, and their 
contributions to the country are remarkable. They create the majority--
the vast majority--of jobs, they drive the economy, and they are part 
of the solution to lead us out of economic downturns. But if we are 
going to really pay appropriate tribute to small business during Small 
Business Week, we frankly need to do more than simply provide lip 
service; we need to promote policies that work for small businesses, 
not policies that favor large businesses under the guise of helping 
small ones.
  In the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, we have 
worked on behalf of small business on a bipartisan basis. Senator 
Snowe, the ranking member, and I and the entire committee passed 
unanimously three bills to improve small business services that help 
America's job creators expand their payrolls. Unfortunately, these 
bills have been blocked for a full year by some in the Senate: S. 1256, 
the Small Business Lending Reauthorization and Improvements Act of 
2007; S. 1662, the Small Business Venture Capital Act of 2007; and S. 
1671, the Entrepreneurial Development Act.

  S. 1256, the Small Business Lending Reauthorization Improvements Act, 
passed the Small Business Committee 19 to 0 on May 16, 2007, almost a 
year ago. This legislation authorizes the Small Business 
Administration's major lending programs which are the largest source of 
long-term capital for small businesses in the country. The bill also 
strengthens the microloan program, a concept that has proven 
unbelievably effective around the world in helping men and women lift 
themselves and their families out of poverty by accumulating assets, 
building wealth, and creating jobs. That is very important because the 
income gap, the economic gap, is growing year by year. When an

[[Page S3343]]

average White family's net worth is $67,000 but an average African-
American family's income is only $6,100, we have a long way to go in 
terms of creating wealth and fairness. The SBA loans fill a gap left by 
traditional bankers and play a significant role in meeting the capital 
needs of business owners in underserved areas. If S. 1256 is enacted, 
we will be able to leverage $87 billion in loans to more than 100,000 
small businesses and reduce redtape for borrowers and lenders.
  S. 1662, the Small Business Venture Capital Act of 2007, passed the 
Small Business Committee 19 to 0 on June 26, 2007, 10 months ago. This 
bill would simplify the Small Business Investment Company Debenture 
Program so it is more attractive to investors and allow the SBA to 
stabilize losses in the SBIC Participating Securities Program. The 
version of the bill we are trying to pass does not reauthorize the SBIC 
Participating Securities Program, as some in the past have suggested in 
public debate. They used that as one of the justifications for opposing 
efforts to pass the bill last December. The bill focuses on improving 
the SBIC debenture program, which is an initiative that has actually 
given us extraordinary job creators, such as FedEx, Intel, Calaway 
Golf. They have more than repaid the cost of anything to the Federal 
Government through taxes paid and jobs created.
  In addition, S. 1662 reauthorizes the New Markets Venture Capital 
Program. This program addresses the market gap in venture capital for 
companies located in low- and moderate-income, rural, and urban areas--
i.e., high unemployment areas--as well as the need for smaller deals 
that neither traditional venture funds nor the SBIC Program will make. 
It has proven successful so far, and we need more community development 
venture capital to create sustainable, high-quality, local jobs. This 
bill would allow the SBA to start anywhere from 10 to 20 more funds. 
Without this Government partnership, these investments are not going to 
be done. So at a time when our economy is pressured and hurting, when 
we need to create jobs, it doesn't make sense for the Senate to be 
blocking something that came out of committee 19 to 0, in a totally 
bipartisan effort. The bill also aligns the New Markets Venture Capital 
Program with the New Markets Tax Credit Program, which is exactly what 
Congress intended.
  S. 1671, the Entrepreneurial Development Act, passed the Small 
Business Committee 19 to 0 on June 26, 2007, also 10 months ago. This 
act reauthorizes and improves the Small Business Administration's 
entrepreneurial development programs such as small business development 
centers, women's business centers, and SCORE. Poor management decisions 
are the No. 1 reason businesses declare bankruptcy. In a shaky economy, 
the topnotch counseling provided by these services is critical to 
ensuring that small businesses survive the economic downturn and 
continue to provide jobs and income to families and communities.
  This bill also increases assistance for small businesses wishing to 
conduct trade. Small businesses are 97 percent of all exporters, and 
for each additional $70,000 in exports generated, one additional U.S. 
job is created. These jobs pay 18 percent more on average than 
nontrade-related jobs. So small business success helps the economy and 
creates jobs.
  Lastly, this bill creates a number of pilot programs to help small 
businesses deal with rising health care costs and regulatory burdens, 
all of which hinder small business success. It creates new programs in 
support of Native American entrepreneurship and takes steps to improve 
small business ownership by minorities in highly skilled fields such as 
engineering, manufacturing, science, and technology, and it guides them 
toward entrepreneurship as a career option.
  These bills I have described have the ability to help more than 1 
million small businesses. They would help with credit, with venture 
capital or with counseling. It makes no sense at all to have one or two 
folks in the Senate holding up the ability to move forward on these 
when our economy needs innovation and, frankly, the job creation these 
businesses create. With 80,000 jobs lost in March alone and almost 
300,000 jobs lost since January, there is no time to waste.
  I hope we can get these bills done and do so shortly.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Virginia.

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