[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 109 (Thursday, July 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H5963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FAIRNESS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, the Joint Economic Committee, which I 
chair, has just issued the latest edition of our series of State-by-
State snapshots of the economy. It notes that, in June, private sector 
employment grew in 32 States and the District of Columbia while the 
unemployment rate declined in 39 States and the District of Columbia. 
Yet the report also makes clear that our economic recovery is at a 
crossroads and still faces major challenges, in large part because of 
the staggering job losses caused by the policies of the prior 
administration.
  You can see on this chart how a steady descent into a red valley of 
severe job loss began in December 2007. The red is the prior 
administration. The last month that the former President was in office, 
this country lost 790,000 jobs. The journey back up, under the Obama 
administration, began in early 2009 and coincided with the passage of 
the Recovery Act. As you can see, we have been trending in the right 
direction and gaining jobs these past few months.

                              {time}  1650

  It's not victory, but it certainly is movement in the right 
direction.
  But as our report notes, even if the private sector was currently 
creating jobs at the rate of 217,000 jobs per month, as occurred during 
the Clinton administration, the highest sustained rate of job creation 
in our Nation's history, it will still take over 3 years to recreate 
the 8.5 million private sector jobs lost during the Great Recession.
  The lingering high unemployment rates, particularly the long-term 
unemployment rate, suggest that targeted actions such as our recent 
extension of unemployment insurance benefits are sorely needed to 
support growth and provide a safety net for the millions of families 
hurt by the recession.
  But there is still much more that Congress can and should do, 
particularly to help small businesses recover.
  As Chairman Bernanke pointed out today, we need to find ways to 
provide small, credit-worthy businesses with additional lending, 
something that I have supported and the Democrats have supported from 
day one.
  Small businesses and establishments, these small businesses are the 
backbone of the U.S. labor market. Seventy-five percent of working 
Americans are employed at businesses with fewer than 250 employees.
  But a study earlier this year by the Joint Economic Committee found 
that, in the wake of the financial crisis, limited access to capital 
and credit continues; and it has a serious impact on small business 
hiring.
  The tough credit standards that banks are now imposing, even on 
credit-worthy small businesses, have hamstrung their ability to expand 
and create jobs.
  You can see the results of that in this chart, which the Joint 
Economic Committee prepared. And this chart looks at the business 
hiring by mid- and large businesses, and compares it with the small 
business hiring, which is still in decline.
  In most recoveries, it is small businesses that are the first to 
hire. But in this recovery, we see that it is the mid-sized and the 
large businesses that are hiring, and that small businesses are not 
hiring, so they do need more support and more help in this economy.
  One additional thing we should do is ensure that small businesses are 
able to compete fairly for the Federal contracts for which they are 
qualified. And the Federal Government contracts out roughly $435 
billion every year. And under current law, Federal agencies are 
required to establish contracting goals with at least 23 percent of all 
government buying targeted to smaller firms, because they are the 
backbone; they hire the majority of Americans.
  But according to an analysis prepared by the American Small Business 
League of Federal data, some of the ``small businesses'' that have been 
awarded Federal contracts under the provision for small business 
contracts include some of the largest companies in America. Boeing, 
Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and Rolls 
Royce. These are all extremely fine companies, but by no stretch of the 
imagination are these small companies.
  That's why I urge my colleagues today to join me in supporting the 
Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2009, sponsored by my 
good friend and colleague, Congressman Henry Johnson. H.R. 2568 would 
modify the definition of small businesses in the Small Business Act to 
include the requirement that no publicly traded company can qualify as 
a small business.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bright). The time of the gentlewoman has 
expired.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, may I request additional time?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy the 
Chair is constrained, not to entertain, such a request. The 
gentlelady's time has expired.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Well, it would require the publication of a report; 
and, in short, it would require that small should actually mean small, 
and require fairness and transparency. So I urge my colleagues to join 
me in cosponsoring this important bill.

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