[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 77 (Tuesday, May 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5567-S5568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SMALL BUSINESS WEEK

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I know we are trying to finalize the 
debate on the underlying credit card improvement bill and support for 
consumers with personal credit cards. But I thought I would take a 
moment to come to the floor to speak to the fact that this week is 
Small Business Week in America. All over our country we are celebrating 
the entrepreneurial spirit of the over 26 million small businesses in 
America that serve as a backbone of our economy.
  Just yesterday, I was with Administrator Karen Mills of the Small 
Business Administration, as she opened Small Business Week at one of 
the local hotels here, where there are hundreds of small business 
owners receiving awards from all our States for the extraordinary work 
they have done in opening, starting, and building their businesses, at 
even these challenging times. In a few minutes, I will be joining her 
for lunch, as we hand out awards to some of the most innovative small 
businesses in the world today, not just in America but in the world. It 
is exciting that many of these small business owners are with us in 
Washington this week.
  So I have come to the floor to speak about our business owners, some 
of the challenges they are facing, and to acknowledge there will be a 
resolution we are asking to be cleared this week in honor of these 
millions of firms.
  I say to the Presiding Officer, as you know, Main Street firms pump 
almost $1 trillion into our economy every year, creating two-thirds of 
all new jobs, and account for more than half America's workforce. 
Sometimes when people see corporations and businesses and they read the 
headlines about General Motors, GE, or other large companies--Exxon, 
Shell come to mind--those are good examples of national and 
international companies, but they are not necessarily examples of where 
all the jobs are, contrary to common belief.
  The jobs are hard to see sometimes because they are in small places; 
in neighborhoods and on main streets and farm roads and on farm-to-
market roads throughout our country; they are with small entrepreneurs 
employing themselves and maybe two or three other people or themselves 
and maybe 10 or 15 other people. They are building the backbone of the 
American free enterprise system.
  These are the family businesses throughout the country whose thread 
still weaves the American dream--the dream of working for yourself, 
being your own boss, setting your own hours, never working less than 
you would probably at a large company, always working more but being 
quite rewarding, with a business you can pass down to your children and 
grandchildren who earn their way in the business. This is what keeps 
the spirit of America going forward.
  These are the businesses we honor this week. They are the 
technological startups that produce cutting-edge, clean energy sources, 
lifesaving medical advances, and provide safer equipment for our 
troops, protecting our way of life. They are the construction companies 
that build new schools and better homes and businesses that fix our 
roads and our bridges.

[[Page S5568]]

  These are the small business entrepreneurs out there whom we honor 
this week.
  As the Presiding Officer and our other colleagues know, small 
businesses are in a world of hurt. They are in trouble. They are in 
very troubled waters, in very difficult times.
  As America's consumers pinch pennies to pay the bills, small business 
owners scramble to pay their own bills. Entrepreneurs are, 
unfortunately, being turned away from many traditional sources of 
capital financing. Many of these small businesses have never, in their 
history of business, missed a payment or been late on a payment. Yet we 
are hearing some very sad and troubling stories in the Small Business 
Committee, such as that of Robert Cockerham, whose wife, I believe, was 
with him, if my memory serves. He is a car dealer. He took his life 
savings and started Car World. Similar to many business owners, he put 
everything into this business. He became one of the highest selling 
dealerships in New Mexico. It was an exciting opportunity for him and 
his family. But yet, as this recession has unfolded, he was forced to 
close some of his dealerships and lay off workers. He thought most of 
his tough decisions were behind him, only to find that a bank came in 
and constricted his line of credit. Again, he had never missed a 
payment or been late. Unfortunately, now his business is in a very dire 
situation.
  That is why it is important for us to press forward on everything we 
can, through the Small Business Administration, through the stimulus 
package, trying to reach business owners such as this who have not done 
anything wrong. They have simply gotten caught up in one of the worst 
economic downturns in recent memory. We need to do more, and we will. 
That is what our efforts are here today, as in the previous weeks, and 
hopefully in the weeks to come.
  I am proud to say we have taken some important steps. But we need to 
do so much more. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act took bold 
steps to increase access to capital for our Nation's entrepreneurs. In 
the Small Business Committee, we worked to temporarily eliminate fees 
on SBA-backed loans. I am proud to report the week that new rule went 
into effect, we saw an immediate uptick of 25 percent in new loans 
being made through the SBA because of the temporary elimination of 
those fees.
  The Recovery Act has helped to stimulate new lending and will, 
hopefully, continue to do so. We think, based on what is in the 
Recovery Act, it will pump about $16 billion in new loans and venture 
capital into small businesses in America.
  I continue to be concerned, however, about the road ahead for so many 
of our small businesses, not only in New York, the State the Presiding 
Officer represents, but in Louisiana as well, where our unemployment 
rate, thankfully, is lower than the average but, nonetheless, our 
businesses are struggling.
  We must double our efforts. I wish to work with my colleagues in the 
House to reauthorize the Small Business Administration and its critical 
programs. These initiatives have assisted entrepreneurs in starting and 
growing their businesses and were responsible, according to our 
records, for 1.5 million jobs being created or sustained last year.
  One of these small business owners is Bob Baker, the owner of Baker 
Sales, a pipe and fence distributor in Louisiana and the State's Small 
Business Owner of the Year.
  I met Bob Baker yesterday. He encourages his employees to take 
advantage of the free classes the local Small Business Development 
Center offers. He has taken advantage of the center's counseling to 
cope with financial difficulties.
  These days, Bob reports he is doing better than most small business 
owners. He has stabilized his line of credit at a local Chase Bank, but 
he knows right now he cannot expand because of the current situation.
  But let me say, if we are going to pull out of this recession--I 
believe we will--it is going to be because small business pulls us out, 
not the giant corporations, not the multinationals but the intrepid 
entrepreneurs who will put their face to the wind and move forward, 
even in difficult times.
  The least we can do is reauthorize our Small Business Administration, 
make it as robust and effective and agile and muscular as possible, to 
give them the help they need.
  To help Bob Baker, to help Robert Cockerham, and small business 
owners such as them who have testified before our committee, let us 
redouble our efforts to get our work done.
  In conclusion, we must also make sure the billions of dollars in 
stimulus money are moving to small businesses, as required by law. I 
will be having a hearing this week in my committee, and I wish to thank 
so many of my members, particularly Senator Shaheen, Senator Hagan, and 
Senator Cardin, who have been particularly aggressive in this effort. I 
thank them very much.
  Again, it is Small Business Week. Pat a small businessperson on the 
back. Thank him or her for doing his or her work because this will be 
the group who leads America back to strength.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to be able to 
speak for up to 10 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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