[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 129 (Thursday, September 23, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6886-H6891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 5297, SMALL
BUSINESS JOBS ACT OF 2010
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on
Rules, I call up House Resolution 1640 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 1640
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution, it shall
be in order to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R.
5297) to create the Small Business Lending Fund Program to
direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make capital
investments in eligible institutions in order to increase the
availability of credit for small businesses, to amend the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives for
small business job creation, and for other purposes, with the
Senate amendment thereto, and to consider in the House,
without intervention of any point of order, a motion offered
by the chair of the Committee on Financial Services or his
designee that the House concur in the Senate amendment. The
Senate amendment and the motion shall be considered as read.
The motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided
among and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member
of the Committee on Financial Services, the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Small Business, and the
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways
and Means. The previous question shall be considered as
ordered on the motion to final adoption without intervening
motion.
Sec. 2. It shall be in order at any time through the
legislative day of October 1, 2010, for the Speaker to
entertain motions that the House suspend the rules. The
Speaker or her designee shall consult with the Minority
Leader or his designee on the designation of any matter for
consideration pursuant to this section.
Sec. 3. The requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII for a
two-thirds vote to consider a report from the Committee on
Rules on the same day it is presented to the House is waived
with respect to any resolution reported through the
legislative day of October 1, 2010.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pastor of Arizona). The gentlewoman from
Maine is recognized for 1 hour.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I
yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Lincoln Diaz-Balart). All time yielded during consideration of the rule
is for debate only.
General Leave
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
insert extraneous materials into the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Maine?
There was no objection.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1640 provides for consideration of the
Senate amendment to H.R. 5297, the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act
of 2010. The rule makes in order a motion by the chair of the Committee
on Financial Services to concur in the Senate amendment. The rule
waives all points of order against consideration of the motion and
provides that the Senate amendment and the motion shall be considered
as read. The rule provides one hour of debate on the motion controlled
by the Committees on Financial Services, Small Business, and Ways and
Means.
The rule also allows the Speaker to entertain motions to suspend the
rules through the legislative day of October 1, 2010. Finally, the rule
waives clause 6(a) of rule XIII which would allow for same day
consideration through Friday, October 1, of any measure reported from
the Committee on Rules.
Mr. Speaker, today the House considers a tremendously important piece
of legislation that provides long-overdue assistance to the millions of
small businesses in our country. The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act
of 2010 grants immediate tax relief to small business owners, increases
access to much-needed capital, and enhances the ability of small
businesses to export goods overseas.
{time} 1030
Today, the House delivers on a promise it made to small businesses.
With the passage of this bill, small businesses, the backbone of our
economy, will be given the tools and relief they need to expand their
companies, to create more jobs and to help this Nation recover from the
worst economic recession in decades.
Mr. Speaker, this bill provides more than just assistance for short-
term economic recovery, which it accomplishes by increasing the amount
of money that banks can lend to small businesses, by eliminating
certain Small Business Administration loan fees, and by giving States
the increased flexibility to manage their own small business lending
programs.
This bill is also a blueprint for new and long-term job creation. We
have heard the pleas from entrepreneurs and small business owners in
our districts, and we closed the legal loopholes which gave
multinational corporations an advantage in securing government
contracts over HUBZone, 8(a), service-disabled veterans, and women-
owned businesses. Everyone is now on a level playing field when it
comes to competing for Federal contracts.
Perhaps the most important provision in this bill is the increased
access to credit. As a small business owner myself, I know how
difficult it is to make ends meet. When I first started my business,
long before the credit crunch hit, fortunately I was able to work with
a small community bank that was in a position to give me access to
capital that was critical to getting my company up and running.
Today, not all small businesses are so fortunate. No one was harmed
more in the credit market collapse than small businesses. Throughout my
home State of Maine, the stories I hear each week are the same:
``They say the economy is getting better, but I still can't get the
capital I need to make payroll or rehire those employees I was forced
to lay off, much less think about expanding.''
This bill changes that by providing real relief at the same time
small businesses need it the most.
The benefits are not theoretical. This isn't wishful thinking. We
know that increasing the 7(a) loan limits from $2 million to $5
million, that increasing the 504 loan limits from $1.5 million to $5.5
million and that increasing the 7(a) Express Loan limits from $300,000
to $1 million will produce growth and jobs in communities all over our
country.
In July, the owner of Mount Desert Island Ice Cream, a small business
in Bar Harbor, Maine, wrote to me to share her incredible success
story. Despite the turbulent economy, she expanded her business and
created 10 new jobs this summer because of a Recovery Act ARC loan.
She explained if it weren't for the access to new capital, she
wouldn't have been able to expand from two stores to three. She was
able to use the Federal loan to manage the debt burden on her existing
store locations, which freed up her cash flow, letting her expand.
The results were a mini-economic boom in Portland. Mount Desert hired
a staff of 10. It employed contractors and suppliers to retrofit the
new store, and it buys more and more ingredients from local Maine
producers, all because she had access to government-backed loans.
I will say it obviously didn't hurt, Mr. Speaker, that business is
also booming because her store sells really, really good ice cream. I
think President Obama even got to enjoy a scoop or two when he went to
Maine this summer.
You know, I held a workshop in my district at the height of the
recession in June of 2009, before the Recovery Act loans were
available; and I invited small business owners from across Maine to
attend. The response, frankly, was overwhelming. Hundreds of small,
struggling businesses came because they had nowhere else to turn. They
needed help to stay afloat and to meet their payrolls. They were
adamant that loan limits were insufficient and that lending had dried
up.
In Maine, fishermen who run small businesses need capital for boat
repairs--to replace gears and engines. Some of our fishermen are having
a particularly difficult time gaining access to funds because they are
already heavily in debt for their boats and permits, making it
difficult for lenders to assess their levels of risk and exposure.
Worse, fishermen who want to purchase and increase processing capacity
to boost prices for the catches they receive face enormous difficulties
in purchasing the facilities they need to process multiple species at
once.
[[Page H6887]]
One Maine fisherman explains it to me this way: ``The main problem is
that, when most of us took out loans for our businesses, it was some
time ago, and we could operate like a normal business. Now the struggle
is getting even harder. Banks that I have dealt with do not seem to
realize or care that things are different, and they still have fairly
rigid rules that are based in the past about financing these
operations. They pretty much laugh us out of the room now when they see
the income from the last few years, mostly due to a lack of price for
the fish we catch. We need some kind of low-interest loan program with
very affordable payments if we are to keep the fleet in Maine until
rebuilding occurs.''
The loan guarantees included in this bill will make it more
attractive for local lenders with the experience and know-how to
provide access to the financing to our Nation's small business owners,
and the reduced fees will make it more affordable for small businesses
to grow, expand, and create jobs. This is why those at SBA support this
bill, because they are able to work closely with lending institutions
to assist our small businesses.
Mr. Speaker, the recovery is under way, but we are certainly not out
of the woods yet. Unemployment in my home State of Maine is about 8
percent. That means almost 56,000 Mainers are out of a job. Passing the
Small Business Jobs and Credit Act will provide much needed help. If
the number of Maine small businesses with fewer than five employees
added just one employee, then we could cut unemployment in half in our
State. If every small business in Maine hired one more person because
of the benefits in this bill, then we would certainly be on the road to
recovery.
This bill will also stimulate long-term job growth, once the economy
is back on track, by implementing provisions that small businesses have
long sought:
There are numerous tax benefits that will entice rather than
discourage our budding entrepreneurs from starting their own
businesses;
This bill will allow a taxpayer to deduct up to $10,000 in trade or
business start-up expenses, an amount currently capped at $5,000.
Allowing owners to keep more money and to reinvest it in their
companies at the outset, as they work to grow and expand their
businesses, is critical;
This bill also allows owners to write off up to $500,000 in capital
expenditures in 2010 and 2011, subject to a phase-out when they exceed
$2 million. It also eliminates all capital gains taxes on certain small
business investments for the 2010 tax year. For owners who have held
off on hiring or making significant investments in their businesses,
these tax provisions will allow them to act this year or next instead
of continuing to wait;
When it comes to competing for Federal Government contracts, we level
the playing field for small businesses by closing loopholes that
previously gave large companies a built-in advantage in seeking those
contracts;
We require a regular review of size standards to make sure that small
businesses that are fortunate enough to expand don't retain an
advantage over their smaller competitors in competition for small-
business-only contracts;
We treat those in the aquaculture industry on par with other small
businesses, and we make those companies eligible to receive SBA
economic injury disaster loans.
Could this bill be better? Of course it could, but small businesses
demand our help now. They can't wait, and we have an obligation to act
swiftly to pass this bill today to make good on our promise to reward
innovation, to loosen outdated limits on lending, and to encourage
entrepreneurs to go to the SBA for help in starting and building their
own businesses.
I look forward to the passage of this critical bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. I would like to thank my friend,
the gentlewoman from Maine (Ms. Pingree), for the time; and I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
Today, the majority, Mr. Speaker, brings forth another closed rule,
denying the minority the right to offer amendments to what many
colleagues contend is a flawed product from the Senate.
At the Rules Committee meeting yesterday, I was struck by a quote, a
statement, made by the distinguished chairman of the Financial Services
Committee:
This is $30 billion. It's not $300 billion. It's not $3 trillion.
That is precisely the problem with the majority party. They have
already spent all the money available. Once you pass an almost $1
trillion stimulus package that does not stimulate economic growth, the
distinguished chairman of the Financial Services Committee is correct
that $30 billion doesn't seem like such a big deal, but it is for the
overburdened people of the United States of America.
The underlying legislation establishes a $30 billion fund managed by
the Treasury Department in an effort to increase lending from small
banks to small businesses. The majority claims that this fund will move
quickly to inject capital into the marketplace.
{time} 1040
What we have today before us is junior TARP, Mr. Speaker. It's kind
of a rehash of the 700-or-so-billion-dollar fund that was also supposed
to make credit available for businesses. I was proud to oppose TARP
then, and I am proud to oppose junior TARP today.
We on the minority side, the Republicans, believe that lowering taxes
on small businesses would do far more to help create jobs and lead us
out of this recession. One hundred days from today, the 2001 and 2003
tax cuts will expire and every American taxpayer will see tax increases
at exactly the wrong time. Instead of taking clear, concrete action to
reduce the tax burden on small businesses, the majority brings us
junior TARP today.
There is a hidden provision, by the way, in this bill, Mr. Speaker,
that makes even worse the antibusiness provisions in the health care
legislation that this Congress passed previously. Pursuant to the
health care law, small businesses are required to file a form 1099 with
the IRS for every business and every individual to which they make
payments of at least $600. That is a significant burden on all
businesses, especially on small businesses. It's important to note that
even the administration has recently backed changes to that provision
in their health care law. So Americans might expect legislation to come
before us to assist small businesses to get out from under that onerous
provision, but the underlying legislation goes completely in the wrong
direction, in the other direction.
This Congress can do better. But the Rules Committee will not allow
any Member to offer any amendments under this closed rule to improve
this legislation. We should defeat this rule and allow the House to
proceed through regular order and allow Members to bring forth any and
all ideas to provide meaningful help for our struggling small
businesses.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments my
colleague from the other side of the aisle made about the 1099 issue
and the impact with the health care bill. I do want to remember that
only recently we had that bill on the floor. The people on my side of
the aisle actually voted to repeal that provision and the people on the
other side of the aisle opposed that. So we have had an opportunity to
fix that, and I'm not clear about why the other side of the aisle
wasn't with us on that, and I'm a little confused that he is bringing
it up this morning.
I yield 3 minutes to my colleague on the Rules Committee, the
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).
Mr. McGOVERN. I thank my colleague from Maine for yielding me the
time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule, and I also rise in
support of the underlying legislation.
Small businesses are drivers of economic growth and play a pivotal
role in creating jobs in our community. In fact, in my home State of
Massachusetts, small businesses represent 85 percent of companies and
employ over a quarter of our workforce. As I meet with small business
leaders across my district, I hear time and time again that access to
capital--dollars that allow our small businesses to invest
[[Page H6888]]
and to grow--is a main concern, especially in these difficult economic
times.
It is clear to me that small businesses are a vital component of
economic recovery. As we work to rebuild our economy and create good-
paying jobs here at home, we must support the efforts of small
businesses across the country. That is why, Mr. Speaker, we must act
today to pass this legislation.
H.R. 5297 goes a long way in helping our Nation's small businesses
thrive. Specifically, this bill authorizes the creation of a small
business lending fund which will enable community banks to increase
lending to small businesses. It raises Small Business Administration
loan limits, and it improves access to these loans. It provides grants
to States in support of small business lending programs.
In addition to creating future opportunities for investment, this
bill provides small businesses across our country with $12 billion in
tax cuts and includes a 100 percent exclusion from capital gains taxes
on small business investments. These tax breaks will make it easier for
businesses to operate and will increase their capacity to grow.
As we invest in our small businesses, we forge a path toward economic
prosperity for so many Americans--not only for small business owners,
but for those who will be employed by these companies. Improving small
business access to capital will foster innovation and encourage the
development of new products and services to carry our country forward.
Simply put, Mr. Speaker, we have to act now. It's the right thing to
do. All of my colleagues who have gone home and talked to their
constituents, and particularly to small business owners, know that this
issue of extending credit is a big deal. They want us to help, and
that's what this bill is about.
So I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to think about the
small businesses that we represent and to support this rule and the
underlying legislation. And I urge my colleagues on the other side of
the aisle to put people ahead of politics this time and help our small
businesses.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, again I thank my
friend from Maine for her courtesy and her management of this rule.
I will be asking for a ``no'' vote on the previous question so that
we can amend the rule and allow a vote on the legislation introduced by
Congresswoman Lummis.
In this debate, when the underlying legislation is adding another $30
billion to our Nation's debt, I think it's fitting that the minority is
bringing forward another YouCut proposal.
The American people are sounding the alarm that we have to change
course. We have to focus on reducing the size of government, not create
new programs that dig our fiscal hole deeper and deeper. That is going
to require bipartisanship, which I hope to see soon, but we're not
seeing it yet. And really, that's worrisome.
Over the last week, participants in the minority whip's YouCut
initiative voted on programs for us to bring to this floor for cutting.
To date, participants in that program have voted to cut over $120
billion in spending. This week, the participants in that program voted
to cut Federal staffing levels to 2008. The legislation that we would
be able to vote on if the previous question is defeated would exempt
agencies that are critical to national security. It's no coincidence
that while the administration and this Congress increase Federal
spending by trillions of dollars, we see Washington, D.C. thrive, but
the people in the congressional district that I've been honored to
represent for 18 years continue to hurt as Americans throughout the
Nation are hurting. We believe that we have to return the function of
job creation to the private sector.
So I will be asking Members to vote ``no'' on the previous question
so that we can have a vote on Congresswoman Lummis's bill on cutting
Federal staffing. And again, I remind Members that a ``no'' vote on the
previous question will not preclude consideration of the underlying
legislation before us today.
I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment and
extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous
question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the
balance of my time.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I disagree with my good
friends on the other side of the aisle. I believe this is a day long in
coming and I am grateful for it, because what all of us have said is
that the small businesses of America are the backbone of America, the
job creators of America, and now we have an opportunity for the
President to sign this bill that incorporates tax cuts and job
creation.
{time} 1050
What has been the message of the American people? What have they told
us? They've indicated that they want to have jobs. Right off, this bill
provides extra opportunities in the small business trade opportunities,
and it helps to leverage more than $1 billion in export capacity for
small businesses, getting their products overseas in what we call the
State Export Promotion Grant Program, which excites me, which allows us
to help save 40,000 to 50,000 jobs in 2010.
And so we give them a step up to get their goods overseas. And we've
got some talented small businesses who simply ask us, How do we promote
our product overseas? After this bill is signed by the President, they
will have a helping hand.
For a startup business in 2010, we double the deduction for a startup
from $5,000 to $10,000. One of the great complaints of small businesses
is how do we do business with this massive Federal Government? Well, I
will tell you. We're now going to increase the percentage of small
businesses doing business with the Federal Government and create the
opportunity for more of them to get contracts and more jobs to be
created.
I'm grateful that this is a tax cutter as well, with a 100 percent
exclusion of capital gains, and of course the opportunity to expand in
lending by increasing the capacity of the Small Business Administration
to provide access to credit.
Loan limits have been increased, and I'm grateful that this bill is
going to be passed today and small businesses will be helped.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure to
yield 4 minutes to the author of the legislation that we would be able
to consider if the previous question is defeated, the gentlewoman from
Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis).
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support my
proposal to halt the unchecked growth of the Federal Government.
In selling the $1.1 trillion stimulus package to the American people,
the President promised that it would keep unemployment under 8 percent.
The results of this expensive experiment are in. It failed. We have
lost millions of private-sector jobs, and unemployment is hovering just
under 10 percent. But the Federal workforce, fueled by the stimulus and
other massive spending bills, has grown by 188,000 employees--or 15
percent--and it's only going to get worse. The Obama administration is
on track to hire 230,000 new employees by next year.
As we approach the full implementation of ObamaCare in 2014, our
government will have to staff a vast new health care bureaucracy. This
could include thousands of new IRS employees to enforce the health care
mandate on individuals and businesses.
My bill, the Federal Workforce Reduction Act, would halt the sprawl
of government and get us back to pre-Obama government employment
levels. My bill would not force any civil servant out of their job, and
it would exempt the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and
Veterans Affairs. But all other agencies could only hire one new
civilian employee for every two that retire or otherwise end their
service.
Our President and his agency heads would have to control their
appetite for government expansion. They would make due with fewer
resources--just like the individuals, families, and small business
owners who have had to make sacrifices and cut back to deal with the
recession.
[[Page H6889]]
By attrition the government would shrink back to pre-Obama levels and
save taxpayers $35 billion over 10 years. But most importantly, my bill
would help reverse a dangerous trend in which the private sector
shrinks and the government sector expands. Growing the government does
nothing to help our small businesses--the engines of job creation.
Taxing to give people less money and the government more money to
expand does not help the economy. Yet the Big Government chameleon--
debt-financed stimulus, cap and tax, ObamaCare, tax increases coming
this January--continues to roam the halls of Congress, threatening to
choke off the entrepreneurial spirit that built this country.
Important decisions that should be made by individuals, families,
their doctors, or our small businesses are being relocated to
Washington to be made by unresponsive bureaucrats. The policies of the
Democratic leadership are fostering a culture of dependency on Big
Government. They are marching us towards European-style social
democracy.
But there is another way. Vote for this provision, cut spending and
government employment back to pre-stimulus levels. Stop the big march
of government.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from Illinois (Mr. Davis).
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the
rule and the underlying bill, and I want to thank the gentlelady from
Maine for yielding time.
All of us know that small businesses have been the backbone of the
American economy. All of us know businesses that started as single
individuals, single family, using their creativity, developing
opportunities for not only themselves but for others.
The basic thing that small businesses need right now is access to
capital, lines of credit, the opportunity to grow and expand. This bill
provides exactly that. And I know that there are thousands of small
businesses in my State and in my community simply waiting so that they
can go to a bank and get the line of credit that they need, get the
small business loan that they must have.
It's a good bill, a strong bill. I urge its passage.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure to
yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr.
McClintock).
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I support this week's Republican YouCut
amendment that would be prohibited by this rule. The amendment would
reduce the Federal workforce to its pre-Obama level by phasing out
188,000 new Obama bureaucrats who have already been added to the
public's burden. This spending isn't stimulating the economy--it is
stimulating the government at the expense of the economy.
Before government can create a job by spending money, it must first
take that money out of the economy, destroying the productive jobs that
create wealth and replacing them with government jobs that merely
consume it.
In 1946, Harry Truman slashed Federal spending from $85 billion down
to $30 billion. He fired 10 million Federal employees. It was called
War Demobilization. The Keynesians at the time predicted catastrophic
unemployment. Instead, he produced the post-war economic boom that
produced unprecedented prosperity for middle- and working-class
Americans.
We know how to revive an economy because we've done it before--by
reducing the burdens that government has placed on productivity. All we
lack is the political will. Maybe the American people can help with
that in a few weeks.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).
Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and the
underlying bill, the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act.
You know, my good friend the gentleman from Illinois was exactly
right. The district I represent in western Wisconsin, the small
businesses and the family farmers really are the backbone of our
regional economy.
What this legislation does is continue a lot of the tax relief that
was contained in the American Recovery Act in an attempt to help these
small businesses and family farmers to stay sufficiently capitalized
during this very tough and difficult economy.
This bill will continue the 100 percent exclusion of small business
capital gains. It has immediate expensing, accelerated depreciation, a
net operating loss carryback. So if you're a business experiencing a
loss this year, you can offset that immediately with the previous year
profits to help them with their liquidity and keep them capitalized.
{time} 1100
But it also deals with, I think, one of the detriments to further job
growth for these small businesses, and that's the tight credit market.
That's why the extension of the SBA 7(a) and 504 loan program is
incredibly important to helping these small businesses get the lines of
credit and the operating loans that they need to continue operating and
to hire people.
And it creates a new Small Business Lending Fund. If there was one
criticism many of us had with the TARP intervention, it was that that
intervention did not come back to Main Street to help small businesses.
This legislation addresses that through a voluntary program with local
lenders who chooses to participate, where they can reduce the interest
rate that's charged to them depending on the number of small business
loans that they get out the door. We need to support this bill and
support small businesses. The Chamber of Commerce endorses this bill. I
ask my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure to
yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Tennessee (Mr.
Roe).
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Two years ago, I arrived here from the real world, and that's the
world of business and the economy, and got to the Washington world. My
experience before here was as a small business owner and a mayor. And
we had to balance our budget. And what we did was we found out that our
budget was awry, and much of it because of the size of government. We
had let it grow too much.
So what we did in our local government was we shrunk the size of
government. And guess what happened to our revenue without raising
taxes? It went up. And that's why I am rising in support of this YouCut
proposal. It makes absolute sense. And I have heard this from both
Democrats, Republicans, and independents. And I ask my colleagues
across the aisle to support this.
It makes sense not to add 188,000 more people to the government
workforce when the economy is not doing well. Example: if a business
out there that I ran had decreasing revenues, we didn't hire more
personnel at that point. We hunkered down, we made do with what we had;
and I think this is a very reasonable thing to do. It exempts three
important Departments that secure and protect us: that's the Department
of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs, and gives the
administration the ability to place those employees where they think
they're important.
Why are businesses not hiring? It's very simple. I spoke to several
business leaders yesterday on the telephone. They are hunkered down and
not hiring because expenses and taxes are going up. They are
overregulated, access to capital has decreased, and they can't lend
money. I talked to bankers yesterday that cannot get the money out the
door for qualified borrowers because of overregulation of the FDIC.
I would ask my colleagues to support this commonsense $35 billion
reduction in Federal spending. In the time of a recession, it makes
sense. I urge you to vote for this.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), a member of the Ways and Means
Committee.
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I support the rule. It's taken far too
long to overcome the obstruction to this bill. This obstruction has
impeded $30 billion in credit for small businesses. The credit squeeze
has been one of the largest obstacles they are facing today, small
businesses. We have been told time after time after time that without
[[Page H6890]]
access to credit, small businesses cannot grow.
I am pleased that we continue to focus on job creation through the
engine of our economy. Small businesses have generated 64 percent of
new jobs over the last 15 years. But we must do more. We must address
the elephant in the room. And here's the elephant in the room: we must
address the expiration of the middle class tax cuts, which alone will
help 98 percent of all Americans and 97 percent of small business.
Small businesses have been struggling for decades, not just the last
few years, because they have been the victim of previous
administrations' and past Congresses' priorities that placed Wall
Street and big banks over Main Street small businesses and their
community banks.
And here's the rub, and you can't deny it: these priorities have led
to a 20 percent decline in small business market shares. And they have
lost that to corporate welfare. Look at the record before the
recession. Twenty percent more of market loss. That did not fall out of
the sky. And I blame both parties. Neither party is privileged to
virtue here. No one has a monopoly on this. This Congress recognized
the problem.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
Mr. PASCRELL. This Congress has done more for small businesses than
others in years. Billions in tax cuts. We funded the SBA, payroll tax
holidays, incentives for capital investments, depreciation, on and on.
Nine specific tax cuts. Tax and spend? No, we wanted to cut taxes. You
didn't give us one vote on any of these. You are standing up and
preaching to us that what we have to do is change our culture? Nine tax
cuts from this Congress. It's time to continue to do more by moving
forward on the middle class tax cuts. I proudly support this rule.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure to
yield 2 minutes to my friend, the great leader from Michigan (Mrs.
Miller).
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, at the same time that job
providers and workers across this great Nation have sacrificed in this
very difficult economy, the Federal Government has exploded in growth.
And the cost of this growth in Federal employment has been passed along
to those very same hard-pressed taxpayers and job providers through
higher taxes as well as increasing our national debt.
This week's YouCut proposal calls for overall Federal employment to
be reduced to 2008 levels. And this is for civilians only. It does not
include military or Homeland Security or Veterans Affairs. This very
simple step would save taxpayers $35 billion over 10 years.
Mr. Speaker, each and every week House Republicans have asked the
American people through the YouCut program to bring to the floor
literally tens of billions of dollars of spending cuts. And today we
stand up here yet again asking our colleagues across the aisle to join
with us to answer America's call to put an end to out-of-control
Federal spending.
Today's cut will end the influx of more civilian government workers
on the taxpayers' dime, and it will reduce the expansion of Big
Government. And that, Mr. Speaker, is what the American people are
asking for.
However, while the Democratic leadership continues to pile more debt,
more and more debt on our children and on our grandchildren,
Republicans, however, have been very specific by bringing specific
spending cuts to the House floor in an effort to restore fiscal sanity.
Unfortunately, our Democratic colleagues have absolutely refused to
join us in this effort. And we ask our colleagues once again to join us
to reduce this out-of-control Federal deficit and cut Federal spending
now.
Mr. Speaker, House Republicans have been listening to the American
citizens, and I ask my Democratic colleagues to do the same.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge), a member of the Ways and Means
Committee.
Mr. ETHERIDGE. I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and the Small
Business Jobs and Credit bill. As a former small businessman, I know
that small businesses are the engine of our economy. Credit is the
lifeblood of these businesses. By expanding credit and providing small
businesses tax cuts, this bill will help get credit flowing so small
businesses can grow, hire workers, and fuel our economy.
As I travel across the Second District of North Carolina talking to
business owners and workers, I hear that while the economy may be
improving for some, many of these folks on Main Street are still
struggling. This bill is what they need to get going again.
I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in voting
to send this bill to the President of the United States for his
signature to put it into law, help our small businesses create jobs and
grow our economy.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to
the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley).
{time} 1110
Ms. BERKLEY. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me.
This is a very important piece of legislation for the people that I
represent. Nevada is in a world of hurt. I've got the highest
unemployment rate in the country and the highest mortgage foreclosure
rate in the country. Small businesses are either folding or they don't
have the revenue in order to continue, and certainly new businesses
have entrepreneurs that wish to start new businesses but don't have the
wherewithal.
This piece of legislation provides critical funding to the SBA to
ensure that people who want to start a small business have access to
capital that will get their businesses up and running, creating jobs
and bolstering the economy. It creates a $30 billion lending facility
for small businesses and will create the credit available to small
businesses and ensure that they can access resources necessary to
create and to build on what they already have and particularly to hire.
The provisions in this legislation can make all the difference in the
world to the community that I represent and to its people. We need to
get people back to work. This small business funding bill will do
exactly that.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend
from Maine and all who have participated in this debate. I again seek a
``no'' vote, and I seek a ``no'' vote on the previous question.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my
time.
The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 gives immediate relief
to struggling small businesses across the country. It combines more
than $12 billion in tax relief with increased access to critical
financing so that our Nation's small businesses can move forward on new
or delayed expansion plans.
Small business growth means job creation. Our economy will only
continue to improve as our businesses bring back laid off employees and
hire new workers. One of my constituents, the owner of the popular
Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine, describes the increase in
the expense allowance under section 179 as a ``great idea''--something
that will enable him to invest in his brewery and expand his brewery,
which means hiring more employees.
Allagash Brewery is the perfect example of who will benefit from this
legislation, Mr. Speaker. Fifteen years ago it began with a few
employees working together in a 4,000-square-foot building financed by
SBA loans, which were used to purchase the tanks and the equipment
necessary to brew some exceptional beer. They did most of their own
welding and manufacturing, and they produced 120 barrels of beer that
first year.
This year they employ 28 people in a brand new facility and are on
track to produce more than 22,000 barrels of beer each year, and they
are still growing. With the increase in the section 179 expensing
allowance, Allagash can invest in new equipment, expand operations to
meet its tremendous demand, and hire several new employees. If not for
this bill, expansion plans may have
[[Page H6891]]
been put on hold and no new jobs would have been created.
Mr. Speaker, this is a very good bill that should be supported by
every Member of this House. It ensures that small businesses, not big
corporations, have the tools they need to expand and grow, and it
ensures that regular Americans on Main Street take part in the economic
recovery.
The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 spurs short-term
economic recovery while paving the way for long-term business growth
once the economy is back on track.
I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of
Florida is as follows:
Amendment to H. Res. 1640 Offered by Mr. Diaz-Balart of Florida
At the end of the resolution add the following new section:
Sec. 4. Immediately upon the adoption of this resolution
the Speaker shall, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII,
declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole
House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill
(H.R. 5348) to amend title 5, United States Code, to reduce
the number of civil service positions within the executive
branch, and for other purposes. The first reading of the bill
shall be dispensed with. All points of order against
consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be
confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally
divided and controlled by the Majority Leader and the
Minority Leader or their respective designees. After general
debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the
five-minute rule. During consideration of the bill for
amendment, the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may
accord priority in recognition on the basis of whether the
Member offering an amendment has caused it to be printed in
the portion of the Congressional Record designated for that
purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII. Amendments so printed
shall be considered as read. At the conclusion of
consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall
rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as
may have been adopted. The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to
final passage without intervening motion except one motion to
recommit with or without instructions. If the Committee of
the Whole rises and reports that it has come to no resolution
on the bill, then on the next legislative day the House
shall, immediately after the third daily order of business
under clause 1 of rule XIV, resolve into the Committee of the
Whole for further consideration of the bill. Clause 1(c) of
rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 5348.
____
(The information contained herein was provided by
Democratic Minority on multiple occasions throughout the
109th Congress.)
The Vote on the Previous Question: What It Really Means
This vote, the vote on whether to order the previous
question on a special rule, is not merely a procedural vote.
A vote against ordering the previous question is a vote
against the Democratic majority agenda and a vote to allow
the opposition, at least for the moment, to offer an
alternative plan. It is a vote about what the House should be
debating.
Mr. Clarence Cannon's Precedents of the House of
Representatives, (VI, 308-311) describes the vote on the
previous question on the rule as ``a motion to direct or
control the consideration of the subject before the House
being made by the Member in charge.'' To defeat the previous
question is to give the opposition a chance to decide the
subject before the House. Cannon cites the Speaker's ruling
of January 13, 1920, to the effect that ``the refusal of the
House to sustain the demand for the previous question passes
the control of the resolution to the opposition'' in order to
offer an amendment. On March 15, 1909, a member of the
majority party offered a rule resolution. The House defeated
the previous question and a member of the opposition rose to
a parliamentary inquiry, asking who was entitled to
recognition. Speaker Joseph G. Cannon (R-Illinois) said:
``The previous question having been refused, the gentleman
from New York, Mr. Fitzgerald, who had asked the gentleman to
yield to him for an amendment, is entitled to the first
recognition.''
Because the vote today may look bad for the Democratic
majority they will say ``the vote on the previous question is
simply a vote on whether to proceed to an immediate vote on
adopting the resolution . . . [and] has no substantive
legislative or policy implications whatsoever.'' But that is
not what they have always said. Listen to the definition of
the previous question used in the Floor Procedures Manual
published by the Rules Committee in the 109th Congress, (page
56). Here's how the Rules Committee described the rule using
information from Congressional Quarterly's ``American
Congressional Dictionary'': ``If the previous question is
defeated, control of debate shifts to the leading opposition
member (usually the minority Floor Manager) who then manages
an hour of debate and may offer a germane amendment to the
pending business.''
Deschler's Procedure in the U.S. House of Representatives,
the subchapter titled ``Amending Special Rules'' states: ``a
refusal to order the previous question on such a rule [a
special rule reported from the Committee on Rules] opens the
resolution to amendment and further debate.'' (Chapter 21,
section 21.2) Section 21.3 continues: Upon rejection of the
motion for the previous question on a resolution reported
from the Committee on Rules, control shifts to the Member
leading the opposition to the previous question, who may
offer a proper amendment or motion and who controls the time
for debate thereon.''
Clearly, the vote on the previous question on a rule does
have substantive policy implications. It is one of the only
available tools for those who oppose the Democratic
majority's agenda and allows those with alternative views the
opportunity to offer an alternative plan.
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous
question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the
yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on
this question will be postponed.
____________________