[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 113 (Thursday, July 29, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6459-S6460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BIPARTISANSHIP
Mr. REID. Madam President, both parties claim they are friends of
small business. This bill gives Members of both parties the opportunity
to prove it. This is not just talk. Listen to what this bill has in it.
This bill is called the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. There is a
small business access to credit provision. SBA estimates the loan limit
adjustments will increase lending to small business by $5 billion
within the first year of its enactment. This is a bipartisan provision:
Landrieu-Snowe.
Small business trade and export promotion: It is believed this will
save and create as many as 50,000 jobs this year.
Small business contracting: Increasing contracts to small business by
1 percent could create more than 100,000 jobs. This is bipartisan:
Snowe-Merkley, Landrieu-Snowe, Landrieu-Crapo-Risch.
Small business management and counseling will create or save more
than 10,000 jobs in 2011. It is bipartisan: Snowe-Landrieu.
Small business disaster loan improvements: This is also supported by
Landrieu and Nelson of Nebraska. This is not bipartisan, but everyone
knows these two Senators work on a bipartisan basis on virtually
everything they do.
Small business regulatory relief: This is bipartisan: Snowe-Pryor.
Exclusion of capital gains tax: This allows investors in small
businesses to take a 100-percent exclusion from capital gains tax on
small business investments made this year. It is bipartisan: Kerry-
Snowe-Menendez.
[[Page S6460]]
Increased deductions for startups: Temporary increase in maximum
deduction for business startup in 2010-11. This would increase the
limits to $10,000. It is bipartisan: Merkley-Alexander.
Extension of section 179: Extends small business expensing. This is
supported by Senator Snowe; it is her provision. It extends section 179
expensing provisions.
Tax equity for self-employed: Allows self-employed taxpayers to
deduct health care costs for payroll tax purposes on their 2010 tax
returns. Bipartisan: Bingaman-Hatch-Landrieu.
Extension of ARRA: That is the stimulus bill bonus depreciation.
Bipartisan: Baucus-Grassley-Brownback-Inhofe-Johanns-Menendez.
Small business penalty relief: Makes a penalty for failing to
disclose listed transactions proportionate to the tax savings. This is
bipartisan: Baucus-Grassley-Crapo.
Remove cell phones from listed property: Delists cell phones and
other telecommunications devices from the category of ``listed
property'' for tax purposes. Bipartisan: Kerry-Ensign.
S corporation holding period: Reduces the asset holding period for
converted S corporation from 10 to 5 years: Snowe.
General business credits not subject to AMT limits: Allows small
business to use all types of general business tax credits to offset the
AMT liability: Grassley.
Carryback up to 5 years: Allows sole proprietorships, partnerships
and nonpublic trading corporations with less than $50 million in
average gross annual receipts for the prior 3 years to carry back
unused credits for 5 years: Grassley.
Small business lending fund: Bipartisan: LeMieux-Landrieu. This is
the one that has created all the interest all over the country, a
program level of $30 billion, which by conservative estimates would
lead to $300 billion in small business lending. It is not related to
TARP. There are no TARP-like restrictions.
Utilizing predictive modeling to fight health care fraud: That is
bipartisan: LeMieux-Landrieu.
Export promotion: Klobuchar-LeMieux, LeMieux-Landrieu. Very well
accepted in the business community.
We have agriculture disaster relief. Bipartisan: Lincoln-Chambliss.
State small business credit initiative, bipartisan--developed with
the support of 28 Republican Governors.
That is the bill. How could we have anything more bipartisan? That is
why 80 different organizations support this legislation, including many
Governors. The majority of the Governors support this legislation.
Those who don't are maybe not familiar with it. But there are so many
organizations that support this legislation.
Naming just a few, there are some 80 of them: Marine Retailers
Association, people who sell boats; National Restaurant Association;
Community Bankers for a number of States; National Small Business
Association; Small Business Majority, and 76 other organizations. This
is about as fair as it can be.
My friends on the other side of the aisle have indicated they want to
offer some amendments. We say go ahead and do that. They can't take yes
for an answer. I hope those Republicans who voted with the Landrieu-
LeMieux amendment on Thursday would do so again on cloture. This is a
bill that will help businesses all over America.
This bill is literally on the verge of final passage. My friends on
the other side of the aisle have said the only thing standing between
us and their support for final passage is giving them the opportunity
to vote on their amendments. Here are the amendments they said they
wanted: Grassley amendment on biodiesel; Hatch amendment on research
and development; Johanns amendment on corporate reporting requirements.
We said: Fine, go ahead and offer those. We will have our alternatives
to those, as we do here. That is how it works. I propounded a consent
that gave the Republicans votes on all three of these amendments along
with the Democratic alternative.
So I wish to close by expressing my appreciation--I think I can say
this without any reservation--the appreciation of the country, small
businesses in America. We would not be where we are but for the work of
Senator Landrieu and Senator LeMieux. Others have joined in. I had
phone calls late last night with one of the most deliberate Senators.
She has impressed me for so long. I got a call from Senator Landrieu.
At her home was Senator Cantwell, who is a truly good legislator, and
the two of them worked late into the night trying to come up with
support for this legislation. But it wasn't only last night. Senator
Landrieu, as chairman of the Small Business Committee, has been
tireless. I had a conversation with her today. I have been so proud of
her work on the floor--great speeches that she has gotten people to
give in support of this legislation.
I can remember when she was a brandnew Senator and she was working on
a military issue, and the headline in a Louisiana newspaper had
``Military Mary'' because she was fighting so hard for the troops. She
hasn't stopped fighting for the beleaguered State of Louisiana, which
has had so many problems. But for her aggressive work on behalf of her
State, that State would not be where it is today. It was doing so well
when the oilspill came. But who has been out in front on the oilspill?
Mary Landrieu.
So I am proud of her being in the Senate. She has great lineage. I
have such fond feelings for her father who was a legend in his own
time, but that legend has been caught by his daughter, Mary Landrieu.
So Moon is very happy, I am sure, with her legislative skills, as he
should be, and as her mom is.
So anyway, thank you very much. I see my friend, the chairman of the
Small Business Committee, is here. I would ask that the Record be
pretty clear that there be an hour from now until the cloture vote. So
I ask unanimous consent that be the case.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
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