Congressional Record, Volume 156 Issue 108 (Wednesday, July 21, 2010)

[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 108 (Wednesday, July 21, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6067-S6072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

SMALL BUSINESS LENDING

Ms. LANDRIEU. I am just to speak for 1 minute now and turn it over to
the good Senator from Oregon, who will speak for a few minutes on this
subject, and then the Senator from Washington State, as we wait for the
underlying paperwork that is going to support this effort to appear. We
thought we would not let this time be wasted.
We have just finished a very important vote on unemployment
compensation that is going to extend benefits for 15 million Americans
who are out of work. It was a very tough negotiation, but we got it
done. Now we move on to another very important issue, to try to help
build our way, find our way, out of this very difficult economic time
in our country.
The Democratic leadership, occasionally with a few Members from the
other party, have passed some very tough but important votes to make
that happen under President Obama's

[[Page S6068]]

leadership. We are going to continue to do that tonight and through the
next couple days and in the next 2 weeks, until we take a short break,
and then come back, of course, in September to continue our work.
One of the bills we are going to move to right now is the small
business lending bill, a jobs bill, the jobs bill focused on small
business, because as all of us on this side--and I think some on the
other side--recognize, this recession is going to end as quickly or as
soon as we can deliver significant help in terms of capital, access to
capital, reduction in regulations, and reduction in taxes to small
business.
It is not that complicated. The jobs that are going to be created in
America are not going to be created by the large corporations. In fact,
there have been several front-page articles in the Washington Post, the
New York Times, the Times-Picayune, my hometown paper, saying that
actually the big corporations are making profits, they are hoarding
cash, they are waiting because there is uncertainty out there on any
number of fronts.
We cannot solve that entire uncertainty in the next few weeks or even
maybe in the next few months, but we can lay down building blocks that
will start increasing demand, giving access to capital to small
business. Hiring will begin, and then the way forward will be more
clear. So that is basically what this small business package does. It
has three main components. I am not going to go into any detail because
the Senator is here to speak. But one component came out of the Finance
Committee with very broad bipartisan support. It is a tax-cut package
for small business, about $12 billion--quite significant. Senators
Baucus and Grassley and others worked on that package, and we will
discuss that at some future time.
The other piece came out of the Small Business Committee. There are
probably eight or nine major items that came out with good bipartisan
support that will help to expand and strengthen the SBA programs, which
is one of the pieces, one of the essential pieces of this bill.
There are three very important pieces. The tax cuts of $12 billion
for small business--not for big business, not for Wall Street but for
Main Street businesses, $12 billion of tax cuts. There is a very strong
bipartisan provision for small business. But there is one piece in the
amendment that we will offer in a minute. It is going to be a LeMieux,
Landrieu, Merkley, Boxer, Cantwell, and Klobuchar amendment we will
offer in few minutes.
This is going to add a lending piece to this bill for small business.
It is a small business access-to-capital piece. It is not for banks, it
is for small business. I would like to now turn it over to Senator
Merkley, who has been one of the lead designers and advocates and
champions. He has been extraordinary. He has held any number of
townhall meetings in his State. The people of Oregon should be
extremely grateful for his tenacity on this, to stand up to many
doubters here--or some doubters--to fight for this program.
We intend to fight for it because it is for small businesses, and
they are desperate. We have spent about a year and a half up here
talking about big business, international business, international tax
code, bailing out Wall Street.
Well, these three Senators on the floor tonight will start the
discussion about helping small businesses on Main Street. If we do not
do this, and if this is not in the package, it is going to be a gaping
hole that will exist in this package. I believe we can get this
included in this package and that this will secure a great legacy for
this Congress, to turn our attention to getting capital to businesses.
Twenty-seven million small businesses are out there saying: Does anyone
know that we are out here?
Well, I want you to know that Senator LeMieux from Florida, Senator
Landrieu from Louisiana, Senator Merkley from Oregon, Senator Cantwell,
and I believe more than 60 Members of this Senate hear you, and we are
going to fight now, over the course of the next couple days, to see if
we can deliver for you $30 billion access to capital, which could,
because it leverages itself 1 to 10, turn into about $300 billion for
small business in America.
They deserve it. They are the ones that are suffering. These are the
people who are losing 20 years of work, 10 years of work, not the fat
cats, not the big business, not the Wall Street banks that are racking
up profits out of the ceiling because we have fallen all over ourselves
to stabilize Wall Street.
Well, we are about ready to put down a big fight for Main Street. You
are either going to be for Main Street or you are against Main Street.
We are going to see who is going to stand and be counted. This Senator
is standing. I would like to ask him now to add his voice to this
debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, thank you, and thank you to the Senator
from Louisiana and your clarion call to go into battle, to fight for
small businesses in our Nation.
We all know small businesses are the job-creating factories in
America and that if we do not go to battle for our small businesses,
that, indeed, we will be in this recession for a very long time, which
will be certainly bad for our small businesses, it will be bad for all
the citizens who would be employed by those businesses, and will
certainly be bad for all those trapped in the deep, long recession. So
I thank the Senator for her leadership.
Also, I would like to thank very much Senator Cantwell for her
outspoken advocacy on behalf of small businesses and on behalf of this
effort to provide liquidity; to my colleague from California, Senator
Boxer, who got involved very early as a partner in creating a plan to
help address this fundamental challenge.
That challenge is the small businesses are having their credit lines
cut and they are going to their community banks and their community
banks are observing that, unfortunately, they are at the leverage
maximum allowed under the rules so they cannot do additional lending.
So here we have banks that would like to lend. We have small
businesses that would like to borrow and be able to put more people to
work, to seize opportunities in our economy. But they cannot do it
because we have this malfunction. This malfunction is the
capitalization of community banks that enables them to lend more.

So this provision addresses that malfunction. It provides a mechanism
to recapitalize community banks that are healthy. That then enables
them, under the existing leverage requirements, to provide additional
lending to small businesses across America.
Well, this wins on every level. First, it makes money for the
taxpayer. CBO estimates it will bring in $1 billion of revenue, and
that is not including the additional revenue from personal income taxes
on the folks who get jobs because small businesses put people to work.
It does not include the additional revenue from the small businesses
themselves and their share of taxation.
So thriving individuals with jobs and thriving small businesses will
create additional feedback to our Treasury, helping us to attack the
deficit, in addition to the billion dollars that CBO estimates.
A couple questions have been raised about this strategy. One question
that has been raised is: Well, will not community banks possibly take
the additional capitalization and then sit on the funds? Indeed, that
is a concern that has been addressed in the design of the program. The
program says community banks will pay a dividend back to the Treasury
of 1 percent if they provide the full leverage of lending to small
businesses and 7 percent if they do not and somewhere in between if
they are in between.
So you have a 7-to-1 provision. That is a huge incentive for the
community banks to follow through and seize the lending opportunities,
not sit by and wait for a sunnier day, if you will.
A second question has been: Well, is it possible that banks in this
situation will make loans that they should not make? The answer there
is no as well because the bank's profit is on the line. These are not
guaranteed loans. If these loans fail, the banks would suffer. So this
utilizes our community banks' wisdom and knowledge about what merits
additional capital and what does not.

[[Page S6069]]

This is why this public-private partnership is powerful. It is
powerful because it uses the expertise of the community banks, powerful
because it puts people to work in small business, powerful because it
allocates capital to the places where the small business entrepreneurs
and the banks see that there is an opportunity to grow the business and
to grow this economy.
A third concern has been that these funds might go to community banks
that are in trouble. To address that issue, this program requires for
the community banks to be healthy, as rated under a rating called the
CAMELS rating.
Each letter in the term ``CAMELS'' stands for a component of the
analysis of the health of the community banks--C for capital, for
example; M for management; L for liquidity, and so forth. Healthy banks
get the opportunity to increase their leverage and assist small
businesses so they can thrive and put people to work. And we as a
nation can find a path out of this deep dark recession.
I will wrap up my comments there and say this is the sort of
commonsense effort to address a key chokepoint in the economy that we
are expected to address by the citizens. It is right for the taxpayer.
It is right in terms of alleviating the deficit. It is right for
putting people to work. It is right for Main Street America. I urge my
colleagues to join us in getting this done.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Begich). The Senator from Washington
State.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, the chair of the Small Business
Committee, Senator Landrieu, does such a fabulous job standing up for
small business. She is making sure in this battle that someone is
standing up for individual business owners all across America who have
had a horrible time getting access to capital. I thank her for her
leadership, for making sure the voice of Americans, who have been
talking to their Senators for months and months and months about the
problem with access to capital, are heard.
I thank Senators Merkley and Boxer for originally sponsoring this
legislation and this amendment to improve access to capital for small
businesses. They both have been listening to their constituents in
California and Oregon and know how critically important it is to pass
this legislation.
I ask my colleagues who haven't made up their minds about this
proposal to check with their offices in their States to find out if
they have heard from small businesses expressing their frustration
about the lack of access to capital. If they actually listen to what
people are saying in their States, they will find story after story of
people who are frustrated, angry, and questioning how it is that Wall
Street could get a bailout that was without any specifics about when
the Treasury was going to get paid back, yet Main Street is being
denied access to capital right and left.
I know my colleague has traveled his State. I know the chairman of
the committee has traveled her State. I know my colleague from
California has been all over her State. We have heard about more and
more companies. I had a Washington company in Vancouver that basically,
when the Bank of Clark County was taken over by the FDIC--and even
though the bank that took them over was getting TARP funds, this
business had its performing lines of credit cut right out from under
them. That just happened overnight. Another business in the same area
immediately had their line of credit cut. Another company, Vancouver
Iron and Steel, had never missed a payment on its loans, but it lost
its line of credit. Another high-tech company that had international
contracts was doing everything. Their line of credit was pulled right
out from under them. They are still having challenges. Another company
in Richland, WA, that was a biofuels company and had fuel cell
technology had their lines of credit reduced. This made them stop
taking advantage of increasing their payroll and their access and the
demand for new alternative energy technology. I had another small
business in the Spokane Valley that had been wanting to hire additional
staff and to get a new business location so she could improve things.
Obviously, she had an existing business. She was not given access to
credit. Another enterprise back in the Tri-Cities was forced to
withdraw their funding, and a project is on hold until they get another
line of credit.
These are all businesses that are operating, that had relationships
with their banks, had performing lines of credit, and have had that
credit cut right out from under them.
I ask my colleagues, when are we going to stand up for small
businesses that have had trouble getting access to capital, that have
been penalized? I don't think any of these community banks about which
we have been talking were doing derivatives. I don't think they were
doing the incredible types of activity that got us and our economy into
this mess. What they want to know is, if they didn't cause this mess,
how is it that when it came to the big banks, everybody said: Yes, here
is the opportunity for you; here are the keys to the Treasury; here is
all the money, but now, when it comes to making sure community banks
are loaning to small businesses, people are saying: No, Main Street
doesn't have the same priority as Wall Street.
I hope America is listening tonight. I have never asked, but I hope
Americans will call their Senators tomorrow and make them understand
that they have been put in a precarious position. They have struggled
through this economic crisis without access to capital, without help
and support, without the bailout Wall Street was given. They want to
know, are their Senators going to stand up for them and help them with
a program, as my colleague from Oregon said, that basically is paid for
and is budget neutral. In fact, the terms of these agreements will
generate $1.1 billion and help us reduce the deficit. Small business is
asking for an effective lending program through the community banks.
That is all they are asking for. We gave Wall Street a bailout without
any terms and conditions on repayment. Main Street wants to know if
their Senators are going to stand up for them and get an access to
capital program small businesses can take advantage of.
The chairman knows these numbers well, but 75 percent of new job
growth in America comes from small businesses. But they are not going
to be able to grow and expand and innovate if they don't have access to
capital. Right now, they are not getting access to capital because of
the new requirements that were put on after this financial crisis that
they were asked to adhere to. We didn't ask Wall Street to adhere to
that; we basically said: Here is your bailout.
Please, call your Senators. Make sure they hear your individual story
about your business, how you didn't get access to capital, why it is
important to get this program. If Americans call their Senators and
discuss this program with them, we will get the votes we need to secure
this legislation and empower Americans who are really going to restore
the economy.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, the Senator is aware that all 59
Democrats support Main Street, and we have been joined by the Senator
from Florida, Mr. LeMieux. This is the LeMieux-Landrieu-Merkley-
Cantwell-Boxer amendment. We will be joined by others. Would the
Senator say again how we are going to explain that we did send billions
to Wall Street with virtually no terms whatsoever, and now we have an
opportunity to send money to small businesses on Main Street and we
can't get a supermajority of Senators to do so? How are we going to
explain this?
Ms. CANTWELL. I am sure some people will give us the details about
what they believe the terms of the deal for Wall Street were. But it is
safe to say there was no specific date that Wall Street had to pay back
the money. No one ever asked them if they would be viable with or
without the money. They were--in the blink of an eye, in some cases--
given access to Treasury funds.
This is a program that has been done in a transparent process, with
the input of lots of Members, input from both bodies, discussed by the
Treasury Secretary in many public forums. It was in the President's
State of the Union Address as a priority to get access to capital, the
requirements and specificity of banks that want to apply. This isn't
picking winners and losers

[[Page S6070]]

such as what was done in the haste of October, 2 years ago. This is
about a bill that is an open process for banks that want to
participate. These are the terms the Federal Government is setting up
for participation, a very open and transparent process. The main
difference is one was a bailout, and this is a lending program. I want
to know why my colleagues don't support it, if they don't, because I
think America supports making sure there is access to capital. They
want to know why is it that the CEO of an AIG or another company can
get access to all the capital they need from the Federal Government,
but when it comes to a small business, they can't go to their community
banks and get access to capital at this critical moment.
I hope we can resolve this issue and move forward. I hope Americans
will call and speak up about this. Maybe there are some States that
have not been rocked as hard. Maybe there are States that were not in
the same situation as some of the ones we have heard from tonight. But
it is safe to say that Americans have been squeezed by what has
happened by this implosion of the economy. They know that their
ingenuity can help restore the economy, that they need access to
capital.
Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Senator from Washington.
We are joined now by the Senator from Rhode Island, who has been
another champion for small business. He knows, as we all do, that small
businesses are the engines that are going to lead us out of this
recession. I am sure he has some information to share with us about his
small businesses in Rhode Island. They must be absolutely flabbergasted
that we are even having this debate because, as the Senator knows,
there wasn't really this much debate when we sent billions to Wall
Street with virtually no strings attached. Now we actually have to
fight hard--we are going to have to do this for a couple days--to try
to get some capital to small businesses in all of our States. This
isn't a bank program. It is a small business program. It is a small
business program for Main Street, the companies that have had their
credit card rates raised, the companies that have had their lines of
credit cancelled without notice.
Could the Senator from Rhode Island give us any more information as
to what he is hearing in his State and why he thinks there are some
Republican leaders who are adamantly opposed to this? It is mind-
boggling to me.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I thank Senator Landrieu and also
Senators Merkley and Cantwell, who spoke before me, for the
extraordinarily hard work they have put in to bring us to this moment.
This is the culmination of a lot of hard work against what was for a
long time unanimous Republican opposition. We couldn't get this done
because we couldn't get one vote from a single Republican to help small
business through our community banks. Thankfully, Senator LeMieux has
broken the ice. Now we are in a position to go forward. There may well
still be significant parliamentary maneuvers by the other side to slow
it down and delay it rather than have it go smoothly, as it should.
The situation in Rhode Island is pretty dire. We are a small business
State, and we have more than 12 percent unemployment. The situation in
which that takes place is the one my colleagues have described.
The big banks are hoarding cash. They have been given access to the
Treasury, and they are borrowing money at extremely favorable rates,
but it is not filtering out. It is being invested for their own
account, building up their balance sheets, not getting through to
businesses, particularly not to small businesses. The big corporations
are hoarding cash. That is putting pressure on employment and on small
business. So for a small business, even if you are profitable, even if
your loans to your bank have consistently been performing, the
tightening up of credit on the community banks has restricted the funds
that are available to even solidly performing small businesses that
wish to invest and hire.

The solution for this is a wonderful one that Senator Landrieu,
Senator Merkley, and Senator Cantwell recommended, and that is to turn
to our local community banks that were not a part of the Wall Street
problem and know where the good businesses are. They have existing
relationships with them. They would love in many cases to loan to them.
They just don't have the capital. So this provision would bring
together the capital available from the Federal Government and the
expertise of the local community banks to meet the urgent need of
America's small businesses. The market for capital has tightened so
much that this kind of a mechanism makes a lot of sense. The government
loans capital, and there is a fee. It is not giving it away; it is
earning a fee, and it frees up additional capital for the banks in turn
to loan, the local community banks, to bring their expertise to bear on
those businesses. So the bank then loans the capital and it gets out
the funds and the small businesses gather funds and from that capital
they are able to go out and hire and invest and help to begin to
further improve the economic climate.
This is a good idea. It is timely. I hope as we go forward. The good
sense that Senator LeMieux has shown and the priority he has put on
small business and local community banks is able to sink in a little
bit further. Frankly, I wish we had been able to do this some time ago,
but the absolutely unanimous blockade from the Republican Party has
prevented this.
I will close by saying that having been a party to many of these
discussions as the Senator from Louisiana has been keeping us abreast
of her negotiations, I know what a long ordeal this has been for her. I
know how tenacious the Senator from Louisiana has been on this. She has
finally been successful in terms of delivering what is now a bipartisan
amendment, and it is a great moment. I congratulate her and I look
forward to working with her toward success.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Senator.
I wish to continue to speak as is required, not seeing anyone else on
the floor. I appreciate the opportunity while we are waiting.
I love the analogy the Senator from Rhode Island mentioned about the
blockade. We have breached the blockade. For the last 8 months there
has been an inexplicable silence on the other side of this aisle as to
why we cannot lend money to small businesses in America through the
private sector. This is not a direct Federal lending program. This is
not bloating the Federal budget. I hear from the other side every
single day: Private sector solutions; reduce the deficit. May I say
again to them now on the floor of the Senate that I have tried so hard
over the last 8 months to explain this to them individually, and only
one--only one so far--Republican Senator has heard the cries of his
small business. Only one.
This is not a government program for banks. It is a public-private
partnership lending strategy for small business. Have they not noticed
that small businesses have closed their doors? Have they not noticed
people in long unemployment lines that weren't just workers, they were
business owners? Are they not listening? I am the chair of the Small
Business Committee. I guess that is why I feel so protective of the
community. It is not because I am such a great Senator; it is because I
am a protective person, I guess. Some of my colleagues say it is
because I am the oldest of nine children and I grew up protecting my
eight little brothers and sisters. My dad laughs when I say this, but
it is the truth.
I feel as though I have 27 million small businesses out there that
have been a steady stream into my office since I became chair, begging
with me, pleading with me, saying: Senator, does anyone know we are out
here trying our best? You keep bailing out the big banks. You keep
giving money to big corporations. Does anyone--anyone in Congress--hear
us? I keep assuring them: Yes, people do hear you. We know how
difficult it is. So I said: This isn't going to be a problem, ``Ms.
Naive'' that I must be. This isn't going to be a problem. I am sure we
can do this.
So I start talking to my colleagues and, sure enough, Senator Merkley
and Senator Boxer had a beginning of an idea that had some problems
with their general ideas, so we removed

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those problems. We kept fashioning it. It kept getting better and
better. The President then started talking about it. The Secretary of
the Treasury started getting excited about it. We started lining up
hundreds of endorsements from the independent banks, the community
banks; almost every small business association in America. I am so
excited I am thinking: You know, this is going to work. Then we get the
score back from CBO and it doesn't cost anything. It makes $1 billion.
It earns $1 billion. I am thinking: This is great. Our Republican
colleagues can't possibly be against something that is a public-private
partnership. It is not direct lending by the Federal Government. It is
not creating a new bureaucracy. It is using the healthy community banks
on Main Street that know our constituents, they know their customers,
they know the businesses. They know the businesses. They want to help
them, but they have restrictions on their capital. So this program
allows them--voluntary, it is not mandatory; there are no onerous
restrictions. You don't have to cap your salaries. You just have to be
able to make good loans, and if you do, you will be rewarded by getting
money at a cheaper rate than you normally would, so the community bank
makes a little money. The small business gets the loans. We create
jobs. People get employed. The recession starts ending. This is too
good to be true. I guess it is, because lo and behold, I start hearing
that the Republican leadership is opposed to this idea. I am still not
believing what I am hearing.
I start going to each and every one and, sure enough, that seems to
be the case. It is a shame. I can't even explain it or understand it.
It has nothing to do with TARP money. It is not a TARP program. It is
not a bank program. It doesn't have anything to do with banks except
that we are working in partnership with banks to lend money to small
businesses which are desperate for money.
I want to put up the chart to make it very clear. When the leadership
over there comes and talks to me about banks not being supportive, they
better come armed with some interesting data, because I have on the
record the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, Neil Milner, president
and CEO. There are not that many national bank organizations. There are
only a few, and all of them are here. So for the other side to come to
the floor and say there are some bank organizations that are not for
this, they better be specific. It may be the big banks. I guess the big
banks aren't for it. They can't even qualify for it. If the American
Bankers Association is not for it, I understand that. They can't
qualify for this. This isn't for them. They already got their money.

This is for the small banks. The only way you can even be in this
program is if you have less than $10 billion. This is for the small
banks. So if someone comes to this floor anytime in the next couple of
days to debate this and they say: Oh, but the ABA isn't for this, I
guess they wouldn't be. They are not involved in it. It is not even for
them. Maybe the big banks are afraid of the competition from their
community banks; I don't know. But there are 7,500 community banks out
there and somebody should stand up for them. I know their PACs aren't
as big. I know they don't give as many contributions. They don't have
as much money as the big banks do. But they are in our neighborhoods,
they are in our communities, and they know the small businesses. If we
give them a little bit of help, a partnership, we could get some money
to the small businesses of America.
So we have here Neil Milner, president of the Conference of State
Bank Supervisors; they are strongly for it; the National Small Business
Association. This isn't a bank but a strong small business association;
John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of the Small Business Majority;
Independent Community Bankers of America and 28 State community bank
associations. We are working on the others. I don't know why we don't
have all 50, but we are working on it. Maybe there are a few community
bank associations that are opposed to it. They have not shown
themselves. Maybe they will. But we have 28 community bank associations
for it, and the Independent Community Bankers. We have the National
Bankers Association. They say:

The Obama administration--continuing its efforts to lift
the country out of a two-year recession--has hit a home run
with its proposed $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund.
This is not a bailout to small business and medium-sized
banks; it is, instead, a true investment in a brighter future
for America's working class.

It must be too good to be true, that we would actually pass an
amendment that would be an investment in Main Street, an investment in
America's working class. These people are working so hard right now at
so many jobs to keep the roof over their heads, they don't have time to
form PACs or give many contributions. I guess that is why we can't get
some people to stand up and listen, but we better listen to them
because they are all going to be voting in the next election. They
might not have time to get organized to come to Washington and tell us
about their woes, but they can walk right on down to the polls, and I
hope they will remember this debate when they do. Every single Democrat
is going to vote for this--every single one on our side--and we are
going to have one Republican so far, and I hope we can get another one
or two or three. Maybe we will be surprised and get a half dozen.
There are also hundreds of organizations that are supporting this,
and I am going to read the ones I have. The American Apparel and
Footwear Association; the American Bankers Association. Let me correct
myself. They are for it. So for anybody who says they are not, they are
for it. Arkansas Community Bankers, Associated Building Contractors,
California Independent Bankers, Community Bankers Association of
Alabama, Community Bankers Association of Georgia, Community Bankers
Association of Illinois, Community Bankers Association of Kansas,
Community Bankers Association of Ohio, Community Bankers of Iowa, of
Washington State, of West Virginia, of Wisconsin, Fashion Accessories
Shippers Association, Financial Services Roundtable, Florida Bankers.
I wish to thank the Florida bankers. They were very passionate in
their advocacy, and both of their Senators are supporting this bill. I
am extremely proud of Senator LeMieux and Senator Nelson who have stood
up. They have listened to what their Florida bankers and Florida small
business people are saying. They have been a State that has been most
affected, or almost as affected as almost any other--maybe more.
Florida has had a very difficult time. We bailed out the big banks. We
bailed out the derivatives folks. We bailed out the swap kings and
queens. Go through Florida. Their little shopping centers are all
boarded up. Their condos are empty. The little bakeries that used to
bake the doughnuts for the people who came to the condos, they can't
sell any doughnuts. There is nobody there to sell them to. Can we help
that bakery? I don't know why we can't seem to get anymore support from
the other side, because Senator Nelson and Senator LeMieux hear them.
The Governors of Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois,
Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon,
Washington, West Virginia. Do you think these Governors would send us a
letter on something such as this if they didn't need it or want it?
These Governors--Republicans and Democrats--are doing everything they
can every day to keep their small businesses. But because of the
deficits in their States--because of the deficits we are struggling
with because President Bush left us in a terrible situation--and
Democrats helped to get us in that situation as well, so I am not just
blaming the other side. But when this President came in, the deficits
were huge. States have to balance their budgets. The occupant of the
chair knows; he was a mayor. Mayors have to balance budgets. These
Governors write us and say: Please, do this lending program; it will
help our small business, and we will start generating tax revenues. It
will help us get out of our deficit.
You would think the other side would respond to these Governors.
Evidently, they have their ears closed. Independent Bankers of Texas,
Independent Bankers of Colorado, Independent Community Bankers of New
Mexico, Independent Community Bankers of South Dakota, Indiana Bankers
Association, Louisiana Bankers Association.

[[Page S6072]]

My team has been terrific at home, and we are facing a very difficult
situation with this moratorium. We are working very hard to modify it
and overcome it. In addition to this, we have our own problems. But for
heaven's sake, our bankers and small businesspeople know they need to
get capital--right now, particularly.
Maryland Bankers, National Council of Textile Organizations, National
Restaurant Association, National RV Retailers, National Small Business
Association, Printing Industries of America, Small Business Majority,
Travel Goods Association, Women Impacting Public Policy--I could go on
and on, and I will.
I would like the other side, when they come back tomorrow--I know
everybody took a dinner break, and I lost my appetite, so I stayed for
a while. I hope when they come tomorrow to debate this issue they will
at least have the guts to hold up some associations that are opposed. I
would like to know who might be opposed to this, what association.
I said I would fight for small business as the Small Business chair,
and this is one of the first big fights we are going to have. It
probably will not be the last. I don't know if we will win, but we are
going to give it a good try.
As my colleague from Washington State said, if people are listening,
I know they are finding it hard to trust things they hear in
Washington. I don't blame them. It has been a tough time. I hope they
can trust me and those of us who have spoken tonight to say we are
trying hard to give them $30 billion, which we will leverage up to a
$300 billion access to capital through their own community banks--
completely voluntary on their part--at rates that are normal. It is
like they could actually borrow money at 6 and 7 and 8 percent instead
of having to use their credit cards and pay 16 or 24 percent.
Evidently, there are people on the other side who like the idea that
small businesses only have credit cards on which they pay very high
rates. I think it is despicable. We tried to do that, and we were
thwarted by them. We tried to get help on the small business credit
card side, but we were told we could not interfere with private
commerce. So small businesses out there are between a rock and a hard
place, through no fault of their own. The equity in their homes has
depleted substantially, so they cannot go take out a home equity loan.
The Republicans have made sure when they go to their credit card
companies, they have to pay pretty high rates and they can't get help.
Now when we offer them good loans at reasonable rates for their
businesses through their own community banks they know, the Republican
leadership tells us no. Maybe it is because they don't want this
recession to end so they can blame President Obama and the Democrats
for everything, and they can try to win the election. I hope that is
not the case because small businesses should not be a pawn in the next
election. We should be doing everything we can to help them.
This is a bipartisan amendment. Senator LeMieux and Senator Nelson
from Florida have stood up, and I am hoping some of the other Senators
on that side will stand up tomorrow and the next couple of days so we
can get a good vote on this amendment and then pass the entire package.
Again, this is not a program for banks; it is a program for small
businesses. It is a private sector partnership with community banks--
small banks. Big banks cannot even qualify.
If you are a big bank in America, you can turn my speech off if you
are listening. If you are above $10 billion, you can't be in this. It
is only for the small banks and small business. That is all this is
for--a partnership of lending. It makes $1 billion over 10 years. It
will earn, it will generate, so the program doesn't cost anything. It
earns $1.1 billion according to CBO score. So the taxpayers get some
money at the end.
But that must be just too good for some people I don't know. I am
looking forward to the debate. I think I am the last person to speak
tonight. I will be here early on the Senate floor tomorrow. I will be
here all day tomorrow. I cannot wait for someone from the other side to
come and give me either one organization that is opposed to this or one
good reason they can't vote for this amendment because we are going to
vote on it. We are going to vote on this amendment, and it will be very
clear that the 60 people who vote for it--and maybe 39 or 40 people who
vote no--or maybe we will have 62 or 63 or 64--maybe we will end up
having everybody. I hope so. If all the people who have said they
support this provision will call and let their Senators know, maybe we
will have success.
I may not win every battle as chair of the committee. I know I
haven't been able to deliver for small business all the things they
would like. I know they need more tax cuts and they need more
regulation relief. But I know one thing they need; they need access to
capital. They don't want to have to go to Wall Street and beg for it.
They don't want to have to pay 18 and 24 percent on their credit cards.
They would like to walk down the street to their friendly banker whom
they know and extend their line of credit.
Why anybody in this Chamber would vote against them doing that, I
don't know. But we are going to find out.
Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. I thank the Chair.

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