[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 42 (Monday, March 28, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1883-S1888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SBIR/STTR REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2011

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of S. 493, which the clerk will 
report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 493) to reauthorize and improve the SBIR and 
     STTR programs, and for other purposes.

  Pending:

       McConnell amendment No. 183, to prohibit the Administrator 
     of the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating any 
     regulation concerning, taking action relating to, or taking 
     into consideration the emission of a greenhouse gas to 
     address climate change.
       Vitter amendment No. 178, to require the Federal Government 
     to sell off unused Federal real property.
       Inhofe (for Johanns) amendment No. 161, to amend the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the expansion of 
     information reporting requirements to payments made to 
     corporations, payments for property and other gross proceeds, 
     and rental property expense payments.
       Cornyn amendment No. 186, to establish a bipartisan 
     commission for the purpose of improving oversight and 
     eliminating wasteful government spending.

[[Page S1884]]

       Paul amendment No. 199, to cut $200,000,000,000 in spending 
     in fiscal year 2011.
       Sanders amendment No. 207, to establish a point of order 
     against any efforts to reduce benefits paid to Social 
     Security recipients, raise the retirement age, or create 
     private retirement accounts under title II of the Social 
     Security Act.
       Hutchison amendment No. 197, to delay the implementation of 
     the health reform law in the United States until there is 
     final resolution in pending lawsuits.
       Coburn amendment No. 184, to provide a list of programs 
     administered by every Federal department and agency.
       Pryor amendment No. 229, to establish the Patriot Express 
     Loan Program under which the Small Business Administration 
     may make loans to members of the military community wanting 
     to start or expand small business concerns.
       Landrieu amendment No. 244 (to amendment No. 183), to 
     change the enactment date.

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity the 
leadership has provided for Senator Snowe and me to present S. 493 and 
continue to discuss this important bill. It is a very important program 
that has actually existed at the Federal level for 20 years. It is not 
a household word, but it is known very well in the small business 
community. It is supported by groups such as the Small Business 
Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and many high-tech organizations 
because they know the same thing we know, which is this is a very 
important Federal program that actually works and is accomplishing its 
mission.
  It is a government/public-private partnership--a government-business 
partnership--with the largest Federal agencies that actually set aside 
a small portion of their research and development dollars. The amount 
is actually relatively small; 2.5 to 3 percent of all of their 
development and research dollars is set aside, and they aggressively 
look for small businesses that are able to provide new services, 
cutting-edge technology, new methodology, new software, to solve 
problems the government is having.
  In the process of these small businesses solving problems for the 
government--i.e., the taxpayer--the great news is some new businesses 
are developed, and they can then be commercialized into the private 
market, which is how this program works, which is why it is so 
beneficial not only to taxpayers but to the market generally.
  I am excited because we have great evidence from the studies and the 
surveys of this program that it is meeting and exceeding its 
expectations. It is creating thousands of jobs. It is providing an 
opportunity for small businesses to compete on a level playing field 
with large businesses, and it is providing the taxpayer with some 
cutting-edge technology and innovation.
  Let me give one example which is close to my heart because we ran 
into this problem specifically and directly trying to deal with the 
aftermath of Katrina. This is just one example of the kinds of new 
technologies that are being developed through this program. This bill, 
which we hope will get passed this week if we can negotiate wisely and 
smartly on the amendments pending, will reauthorize this program for 8 
years. This is a long-term reauthorization, and it is important to send 
a signal out to the market and to small businesses and to these 
coalitions: We believe in this partnership. We know it can work. We 
want to give a long lead time and an 8-year runway to lift off some of 
these businesses and launch them and to create the kind of jobs and 
entrepreneurial opportunity we know is out there.
  This is just one example. A Huntsville, AL, company, GATR 
Technologies, inflatable antenna--an inflatable antenna provides 
emergency access, cell phone coverage and phone lines over satellite 
networks. It was first used by responders in Haiti and Hurricane Ike. 
It provides communication support to our Special Operations Forces, to 
U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force. It so far has created 30 jobs but has 
tremendous opportunity; last year, $7 million in sales and this year 
approximately $10 million. This technology was launched with a $148,000 
grant.
  What happened to us in the aftermath of Katrina--and the Presiding 
Officer may remember this--is that even the government's best satellite 
phones failed to work. So even with a great evacuation plan in place, 
with a great medical plan in place, with a great response plan in 
place, it is not worth the paper it is written on if you can't 
communicate it.
  So what we found was when people landed with satellite phones, there 
wasn't enough reception base on the ground to be able to communicate. 
The technology has advanced significantly since then, but the same 
thing happens when you are trying to get communications in a war-torn 
place or a catastrophically destroyed place. This technology allows 
basically a balloon to be put down onsite, substantially increasing the 
communications capabilities.
  This is just one example. So an agency had a problem. It couldn't 
communicate. It didn't have the right kind of communication technology. 
It puts out a small grant. Small business responds. This technology is 
created. Potentially, this could go on to develop into quite a large 
company. It might morph several times before it goes commercial, but 
that is what this program does.
  These jobs are being created in Huntsville, AL. We are thrilled for 
Alabama. Jobs are created through this program in every State in the 
Union.
  Here is another example. This is a small business from Watertown, MA. 
It is the A123 lithium-ion battery. The advanced lithium-ion battery is 
used widely for transportation power grid and commercial and industrial 
products. It opened the largest lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant 
in North America, in Michigan, a place where we need to be creating 
jobs. This program is doing exactly that. It has created more than 400 
jobs across the State of Michigan.
  I think this grant initially came out of the Energy Department. The 
technology was initially developed at MIT, but the road to commercial 
success was paved in 2002 when this company was awarded $100,000 for a 
small business innovation research grant. So this successfully 
leveraged this SBIR grant to take this lab and its product to the 
market. It employs now more than 2,000 people globally and has 
facilities around the world.
  So this is creating jobs for America, new technology for America, but 
the world is benefiting from this. In fact, Senator Snowe has joined me 
on the Senate floor, and she will remember when we had testimony from 
our consultant, Dr. Weissman, who testified that actually as the chief 
reviewer of this program, he has been asked to speak in many different 
countries about its success.
  So while people are trying to eliminate government programs that 
aren't working, let's make sure this week in the Senate we take the 
opportunity to reauthorize programs that are working and that are 
creating jobs at home and serving as a model for entrepreneurship 
development all over the world.
  I see Senator Snowe is on the floor, so I am going to wrap up my 
opening remarks soon. I do want to review briefly. As I said, this 
program was designed in 1982 to harness the innovative capacity of 
America's small businesses to meet the needs of our Federal agencies. 
Senator Warren Rudman from New Hampshire had a great part to play as a 
lead sponsor of this bill.
  To date, the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small 
Business Technology Transfer Program have produced more than 85,000 
patents and have generated tens of thousands of well-paying jobs across 
all the 50 States, in addition to creating jobs overseas that are a 
benefit to America as well. This is a good return on the investment we 
make for our economy. As I said, it has garnered high praise from well-
respected sources and governments around the world. It is an 8-year 
authorization.
  In this bill, we update the award sizes, which have not been changed 
since 1994. Phase I awards will be increased from $100,000 to $150,000; 
phase II, from $750,000 to $1 million. We adopted the House measure 
that allows the SBA to update these award guidelines annually instead 
of every 5 years. We also put certain amounts of caps on some of the 
awards to make sure as many businesses as possible get access to these 
awards. This is merit-based. This is not a formula distributed based on 
applications. These are based on the quality of the application, the 
promise of the technology, and also on the level of need the agency has 
for this kind of new technology.

[[Page S1885]]

  As I said, it creates a Federal-State technology partnership program. 
It improves the SBA's ability to oversee and coordinate these programs. 
It provides some administrative funding, which we thought was lacking, 
to make sure the agencies themselves have the wherewithal and the 
expertise to really get this program maximized in its job-creation 
potential. The reason I think this is so important--and Senator Snowe 
and I have been almost singly focused on doing everything we can, 
leading this Small Business Committee, across party lines and together, 
Democrats and Republicans--is to try to put this recession behind us. 
This is a fight. This is not something that will happen naturally. It 
is going to be by this government in Washington and at the State and 
local levels creating atmosphere for businesses to prosper and jobs to 
be created.
  I have to say I was very pleased to get a copy of the ``Kaufman Index 
on Entrepreneurial Activity,'' which I will submit a portion of for the 
record. I think people will be pleased to hear its opening paragraph, 
as follows:

       In 2010, .34 percent of the adult population, which is 340 
     out of 100,000 adults, created a new business each month.

  That means that in America, 565,000 new businesses were created each 
month in 2010, approximately. That is pretty extraordinary. Every 
month, 565,000 new businesses were launched. We know all of them don't 
succeed, but some of them do, and some of them grow to be huge, 
extraordinary companies. QualComm comes to mind, and Microsoft comes to 
mind. They started as small businesses and grew. The 2010 
entrepreneurial activity rate was the same as 2009, but it represents a 
substantial increase from 2007 and, most significantly, represents the 
highest level over the past decade and a half.
  I wish I could say this particular program was responsible for all of 
this, but obviously it is not. But it is one of the tools the Federal 
Government has, along with our contracting and procurement tools, along 
with our Tax Code, along with our other incentives that we passed in 
our last small business bill--the new $30 billion lending program, 
which is leveraged up to 300 and potentially could leverage up to $300 
billion in lending to small businesses on Main Street, not Wall 
Street--getting money to small businesses, these 565,000 small 
businesses that are started every month by great Americans who are 
trying to provide a livelihood for themselves, opportunities for their 
families, and strength for their communities. So for innovation and 
jobs, fighting hard for them, we are trying to pass this 
reauthorization that can contribute to this substantial growth. Things 
are looking better. Trendlines are in a positive direction.
  Let me show you some other growth lines that are very important. We 
had a terribly substantial loss of jobs, as you know, in 2008 and 2009. 
The President largely inherited this situation. He did not even take 
office until half of this job loss was completed. But I think we have 
been working together and the President has been leading a great effort 
to turn this situation around and start creating jobs as opposed to 
losing them. You can see this is a pretty dramatic turnaround. After 
losing 3.6 million in 2008 and 5.5 million in 2009, we have had a net 
increase of 1.3 million in 2010, with things looking promising in the 
first quarter of 2011--still moving in a very positive direction. I 
don't know what these projections are, but I think it will be greater 
than 1.3 million, which was last year's increase, which would be 
encouraging.
  We have a long way to go to make up for the job loss of the great 
recession. When Wall Street collapsed, the housing market, the real 
estate market was terribly wounded. That is a story for another day. 
But the good news is that it looks as if we are recovering.
  The unemployment rate is still too high in too many places in this 
country. That is why Senator Snowe and I are on the floor again this 
week. That is why we are asking our colleagues to be as cooperative as 
possible. We know there are so many issues people want to talk about, 
and time is limited on the floor. In our minds, we should be almost 
singularly focused on job creation and reducing the debt and closing 
this deficit. By creating jobs and building businesses in the private 
sector--and this is one program that absolutely hits this mark--we can 
do all three. We can create jobs and expand economic opportunity. We 
are making a dent in the debt, and we are closing the deficit gap by 
creating new tax dollars that come in from hard-working Americans in 
the private sector.
  Mr. President, I am excited to present this bill again. We will have 
a lot more information as the day unfolds. I understand we have a vote 
on a different matter at around 5 or 5:30 today. Senator Snowe and I 
will be on the floor to answer any questions Members might have. We are 
not encouraging additional amendments. We already have 89 that have 
been filed on this bill. We are hoping to get some of them withdrawn 
that are not germane to the bill.
  We will be working throughout the week, and hopefully together we can 
give a very strong vote of confidence to entrepreneurs who are taking 
extraordinary risks in very challenging times. The least we can do is 
get the government programs that are there for them to support them up 
and running and as strong as possible to help them in their quest to be 
successful.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maine is 
recognized.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I am very pleased to join the chair of the 
Small Business Committee to address the pending legislation before the 
Senate, which is so essential to helping to revitalize our economy and 
most especially the small business sector that is central to the job-
creation abilities in this country.
  The programs that would be reauthorized in the legislation pending 
before the Senate are extremely important to the ability of small 
businesses to be engaged in innovation and advancement in our economy 
and the businesses they are in. It helps to assist in the technology 
and the entrepreneurial spirit that is so essential for America, which 
has obviously been an innovative nation throughout our history.
  The two pending programs before the Senate are very crucial. I hope, 
like the chair, that we will be able to get to a point to consider the 
remaining amendments the Senators may have to offer so that we can move 
quickly and expeditiously to vote on the bill, so it can move forward 
and ultimately become law. The SBIR and STTR programs have had a 
longstanding history, most specifically with the SBIR Program, 
regarding innovative research, which has been in law since 1982 because 
it has been extremely worthwhile and beneficial. It has been the 
subject of numerous reports essentially because it has been able to 
produce jobs and the innovation that has advanced this Nation.
  In fact, there are two assessments--one by the National Academy of 
Sciences and another report from the Information Technology and 
Innovation Foundation--both underscoring that it is imperative to 
reauthorize these programs but also demonstrating their essential value 
to our Nation's economy--most especially from the standpoint that, of 
course, small businesses are the job creators.
  Two-thirds of all new jobs in America come from small businesses. 
Obviously, they represent more than 99.7 percent of the employers in 
America. It is absolutely critical that we do everything we can to buoy 
this segment of the economy. The more we procrastinate in moving this 
legislation forward, the less likely we are going to see jobs created 
in our economy and get this economy to move forward. Frankly, it is 
critical, given the fact that we need to create more than 285,000 new 
jobs per month for 5 years just to return to the unemployment levels we 
were experiencing in 2007 at prerecession levels. We could be 10 years 
away from normal unemployment and full recovery if we do not make 
substantial strides in creating at least 285,000 jobs every month for 5 
consecutive years and, most possibly, 8 consecutive years to achieve 
5.5 percent unemployment rate. To achieve a 7-percent unemployment rate 
would require us to create 300,000 jobs per month.
  We experienced an uptick in job creation numbers last month of a 
192,000, but that has been the exception, not the norm, over the last 
2\1/2\ years. In fact, there are only 3 months in 2\1/2\ years in which 
we have achieved those levels.

[[Page S1886]]

  I am just underscoring how difficult it is going to be to create the 
jobs we need in order to return to normal prerecession levels of 
unemployment. That is why the pending legislation is so critical and 
vital to this endeavor.
  I wish to reiterate some of the anecdotal information that came to 
the committee that, again, emphasizes the value of these programs.
  Roland Tibbetts, the father of the SBIR Program, summed up its 
purpose most vividly when he said that ``SBIR addresses a paradox at 
the heart of innovation funding: capital is always short until the test 
result are in. At the idea stage, and even the early development stage, 
the risks are too great for all but a few investors. But innovations 
can't get beyond that stage without funding.''
  SBIR provides the funding for promising small firms, by directing 
critical research and development funding within 11 critical agencies 
within the Federal Government to perform the necessary testing and 
assess the validity of an idea and subsequently commercialize the 
product. As we know, small businesses are looking for the kinds of 
initiatives that can provide the catalyst for creating that innovation.
  It is all about taking risks. Risk means investment. There are few 
opportunities in America now with respect to having access to early-
stage capital. The programs before us represent just that. It is 
important for creating the middle-class jobs we need, and the fact is 
that small and medium-size businesses really do the majority of the 
hiring and firing, as Thomas Friedman noted in his book, The World is 
Flat. When they are hiring people, the economy is robust. When they are 
not, it is in recession, which is precisely what we are recovering from 
currently.
  We have to move these programs forward, and hopefully that 
opportunity is going to come sooner rather than later. Hopefully, we 
can accomplish that at the end of this week because I think it is 
important to send the right message and a signal to give certainty and 
stability that small businesses and medium-sized businesses are 
desperately searching for.
  Dr. Jacobs, cofounder of Qualcomm, who testified before our committee 
in February, revolutionized the wireless communication industry. As we 
both have noted earlier when we began debating this legislation, they 
applied for $1.5 million in SBIR funding almost 25 years ago. Today 
they have 17,500 employees. They paid approximately $1.4 billion in 
taxes in fiscal year 2010, more than half the cost of the SBIR and STTR 
programs annually.
  Dr. Jacobs noted in his testimony that SBIR funding ``allowed us to 
pursue several innovative programs that otherwise would not have been 
possible.'' He went on to note that:

       Cutting-edge research leads to breakthrough discoveries, 
     but in order for companies to attract private funding, they 
     need support to prove the feasibility of new and often risky 
     and unproven technologies. For Qualcomm, SBIR provided one 
     source of that critical start-up funding. . . . it was one of 
     the critical ``stamps of approval'' that allowed us to 
     successfully pursue sources of private capital.

  Dr. Matt Silver, the cofounder of Cambrian Innovation, an 
environmental product development firm from Massachusetts, informed the 
committee that six SBIR awards--or, in his words, ``relatively small 
grants''--enabled his company to attract angel and direct investment, 
hire seven employees, file several provisional patents, and develop 
relationships with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Penn 
State for collaborative R&D, among other opportunities. His company's 
story is a remarkable example of the success that can be garnered from 
a relatively modest investment by Federal agencies in new and promising 
technologies.
  Additionally, 2 weeks ago, the House Small Business Committee also 
held a hearings on these programs. I would like to briefly share some 
quotes from the testimony of several witnesses.
  Professor David Audretsch noted that the United States `` . . . is no 
doubt more innovative, more competitive in the global economy and has 
generated more and better jobs as a result of the SBIR'' Program. 
Additionally, he summarized that ``The evidence accumulated from a 
broad spectrum of studies utilizing divergent methodologies all comes 
to the same result--the SBIR program has unequivocally made an 
invaluable contribution to the innovative performance of the United 
States.''
  There are a number of specific examples of how the SBIR Program has 
contributed to the vitality of our economy and how it has advanced the 
technological developments that have occurred in America.
  Furthermore, the Government Accountability Office has reviewed 
different aspects of the SBIR Program over the course of its history 
and has come to a number of positive conclusions. Specifically, the 
2005 GAO report on the program summarized that, one:

       SBIR is achieving its goals to enhance the role of small 
     businesses in federal R&D, stimulate commercialization of 
     research results. . . .
       . . . more than three-quarters of the research conducted 
     with SBIR funding was as good as or better than any agency-
     funded research. Agency officials also rated the research as 
     more likely than other research they oversaw to result in the 
     invention and commercialization of new products--

  And--

       The SBIR program successfully attracts many qualified 
     companies, has had a high level of competition, and 
     consistently has had a high number of first-time 
     participants.

  Combining those assessments that I have just cited with the National 
Academy of Sciences's landmark 2008 study, which I have spoken about 
earlier, SBIR and STTR clearly provide remarkable benefits to the 
American people. But also there is a larger picture for the Nation's 
entrepreneurs and job creators.
  Small businesses are facing a veritable confluence of challenges from 
all sides these days, whether it is exorbitant costs through more taxes 
or crippling tax burden and regulations. There are a number of 
amendments pending before the Senate that I think would be vital to 
enhancing that dimension of helping our small businesses with respect 
to fighting burdensome regulations.
  That is why Senator Coburn and I have introduced a regulatory reform 
bill we hope we will offer as an amendment to the pending legislation 
because we think it is important to address the numerous regulations 
that have imposed significant burdens on a number of businesses across 
this country.
  If we just look at the average cost to small businesses in America, a 
business with 20 or fewer employees pays $10,585 per employee in annual 
regulatory costs. That is 36 percent higher than larger firms. 
Additionally, our Tax Code is so complex that taxpayers and businesses 
spent 7.6 billion hours and about $140 billion trying to comply with 
tax-filing requirements in 2008.
  I do believe it is important we make strides in the regulatory arena 
because it is clear that small businesses cannot move forward having to 
comply with not only the additional costs but also the burden because 
there are so few employees in a small business. They are saddled with 
incessant and unnecessary paperwork, as we saw demonstrated with the 
1099 filing requirement that was included in the overall health care 
law.
  As we all know--and we are almost in unanimous agreement that we 
should repeal that onerous provision, but we have not reached that 
point. Hopefully, we will with respect to our legislation. We know 
Senator Johanns has filed an amendment to the pending bill, but we want 
to address that issue because it has provided a burdensome impact on 
small businesses across the country, even though it has yet to be 
enforced because it is not required until 2012.
  The point is, businesses are already calculating the cost of having 
to comply with that paperwork. Because of the additional costs, because 
they do not know the extent to which it is going to add to the cost of 
their bottom lines, they are hesitant about hiring new individuals or 
making investments in capital equipment.
  The sooner we can address this issue, the sooner we can repeal it and 
resolve the outstanding issues in terms of how we are going to pay for 
it, the sooner small businesses can understand the certainty with 
respect to this individual provision.
  As I have conducted numerous street tours in my State, I can tell you 
this is the one issue that comes up repeatedly because, for every small 
business, they

[[Page S1887]]

are starting to calculate how many forms they will have to submit to 
the IRS for every $600 in business transactions. Not only is that 
paperwork burdensome but also it is going to add additional costs, not 
to mention, obviously, the fact that we are going to hire thousands 
more in Internal Revenue Service agents just to comply with this 
particular mandate.
  I hope we can tackle this major problem and bring it to a final 
conclusion with respect to resolving this issue and to repeal it once 
and for all. It is regrettable it has taken so much time to get to this 
point. I know we worked mightily to address this issue, but clearly it 
is not sustainable for small businesses. I am hopeful we can move 
forward with this effort to repeal this provision and this requirement 
that clearly will represent, I think, a major step forward in 
understanding the dimensions small businesses are facing in today's 
environment.
  As I stand here with my colleague, the chair of the Small Business 
Committee, I hope we can proceed to passing this legislation. I urge 
Members to come to the floor if they have amendments to begin to 
address those issues so we can advance this legislation at the 
conclusion of this week because I do think it is in the best interest 
of the small business community but, more importantly, it is also in 
the best interest of our Nation's economy, given the fact that we have 
to create jobs, and that obviously is not happening to the degree 
people deserve in this country.

  There are a number of agencies that will be part of the scope of this 
legislation that will be setting aside the research and development 
dollars that play a critical role in innovation. It does not require 
additional funding. It is based on existing research and development 
dollars that are already appropriated to these agencies. But it is 
saying: Let's set it aside for small businesses to make sure they can 
have one piece of the pie when it comes to research and development 
because that is where we derive most of the innovation and the 
entrepreneurship--from the small business sector of our economy. Not 
only can it add jobs in America but, ultimately, as we saw with the 
example of Qualcomm, we can add to the dimensions of growth 
exponentially for decades to come.
  This is a generational issue as well because we know we have to take 
the small steps to ultimately reach the large developments that can 
occur with the initial investments that are taken even with a modest 
sum of money. We know that is true in biotechnology, for example, which 
takes 10 to 15 years to bring a drug online. It can require millions, 
if not billions, for pharmaceuticals to do that.
  Again, the SBIR Program has been essential and central to that 
effort. That is why the Biotechnology Industry Organization and the 
National Venture Capital Association also support this legislation 
because it can provide the initial boost that is a catalyst for the 
development of major drug therapies in this country.
  Dr. Charles Wessner, who authored the landmark National Academy of 
Sciences report, underscored in his testimony to our committee about 
the SBIR Program and highlighted the work the SBIR Program created as a 
result of these investments. He said:

       The program brings in over a third new companies every 
     year. This is really extraordinary. It is not captured by a 
     small group. Twenty percent of the companies are created 
     because of the awards, bringing things out of the research 
     community into the market, its core function. It encourages 
     partnership with the university community. . . . Almost 50 
     percent of the firms that get awards reach the market.

  These numbers, again, demonstrate the incredible role the SBIR 
Program plays in our Nation's capacity to innovate. That is essentially 
why it was created at the outset. If we look historically as to when 
the SBIR Program was created, it was in 1982. I was an original 
cosponsor of that legislation when I was serving in the U.S. House of 
Representatives. But it coincided as well during a similarly difficult 
economy. In fact, at that time, we were in the midst of a recession. 
Now we are struggling to emerge from a recession and trying to create 
jobs. The same was true at that point in time. In fact, we were at the 
height of it.
  Dr. Jere Glover, who has served as the chief counsel at the SBA's 
Office of Advocacy, testified before our committee. He concluded:

       Twice before, we have seen the President and Congress look 
     at the situation where we are coming out of severe recessions 
     and decide that the SBIR program was important. President 
     Reagan in the early Congress in 1982 decided that this was an 
     important thing to do to create jobs, to help grow innovation 
     and technology. Again in 1992, Congress doubled the SBIR 
     program, with the support of President Bush. So we have seen 
     recognition in the past, when you are in a severe economic 
     time, it is time to call on small business innovation.

  He urged us to do that now. I concur with his call for us to use this 
opportunity to reauthorize these critical programs that will jump-start 
our Nation's economy through small business and talents they bring to 
bear when it comes to innovation. It is something we certainly need in 
our economy today and our country. More important, it is just not 
reauthorizing a program simply for reauthorizing it or because it has 
been on the books but because it works, and it has demonstrated it has 
worked repeatedly throughout the history of both these programs. That 
is why I urge the Senate to move as quickly as possible to adopt these 
bills so they can become law.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I will follow up with a few brief 
comments. The transition is important and worth noting. I am so glad 
Ranking Member Snowe made reference to the fact that the two of us are 
on the floor not just to reauthorize because it is the time for 
reauthorization but because this program works, because it is cost-
effective, and because it actually is a job creator. It creates jobs in 
the private sector, not necessarily the public sector, although there 
are some public sector jobs associated with it that are crucial and 
important--people in the agencies working on identifying this new 
technology. But the lion's share of these jobs by far is being created 
in the private sector.
  I wish to show what our challenge is.
  Here you can see both President Bush and President Obama faced 
extraordinary challenges. This is the Monthly Changes in Private 
Payrolls, Seasonally Adjusted from January 2008, when this recession 
began, until today. You can see it is absolutely a dramatic loss of 
private payroll, reductions in private payroll. This represents 
substantial job losses.
  But as you can see, it is just now, in April 2010-July 2010, and now 
to the present, to February of 2011--I know we are into March but this 
doesn't have the final month or two on here--we are making tremendous 
progress in turning this around. Again, this is the Monthly Changes in 
Private Payrolls. This represents the teeth of the great recession that 
caught so many businesses, large and small, off guard.
  There are many reasons why this recession happened, and the collapse 
of our financial markets, but that is not the subject of this debate. 
What is the subject of this debate is how we get out of it, how we 
create jobs in the private sector. Senator Snowe and I are proud to 
have brought several bills to the floor, this being the latest, that we 
believe can contribute to the increase in private payroll.
  I want to be clear, because many of our colleagues have been 
challenging, and I think appropriately, why we can't eliminate some 
government programs; why do we have to keep them all. Senator Snowe and 
I have jointly recommended the elimination of two, though relatively 
small, programs within the SBA, and we will be reviewing just this week 
with the Administrator of the SBA the efficiency of their whole budget. 
If we can find other places and other programs to eliminate that are 
not hitting their marks, not meeting their goals, we are committed to 
working together to do that. But this program we have reshaped, we have 
modified, we have improved, and we are strongly and passionately 
recommending its reauthorization for 8 years.
  We have together reviewed nine studies of the National Research 
Council, studies by the Government Accountability Office to help guide 
our committee in the drafting of this bill. We have included many 
additional policy goals and some former goals and appropriate interest 
to balance. We wanted

[[Page S1888]]

to improve the diversity of the programs geographically and otherwise 
so more States and individuals could participate. We also wanted to 
maintain a fair playing field so true small businesses could continue 
to compete for this very small but important percentage of overall R&D. 
We wanted to encourage exploration of high-risk, cutting-edge research.
  As Dr. Charles Wessner said--the lead assessment adviser on this 
program--if every program you give money to is working, or every 
business you are awarding grants to works, you are not running your 
program correctly, Senators. Because this is high-risk early funding, 
where it is the most difficult funding for these businesses to receive. 
Obviously, once they show promise, there are any number of investors 
and capital out there looking right now for good investments, 
particularly right here in the United States. So at a certain point, at 
a certain level, with certain proven technologies, there is enough 
venture capital out there to take these programs to the next level. But 
what is not there right now is that first dollar, that early $150,000 
grant that says: We think you have something of promise. Go ahead and 
try it. They try it for a year or two, they come back, and they can get 
another $150,000, up to $1.5 million.
  Eventually, it may collapse because it wasn't what people thought, 
and that money is lost. But the great news is that collectively, 
cumulatively, this program makes money for the taxpayer--it does not 
lose money--although not every grant is successful. We wouldn't want 
that. This is a fairly high-risk, early form of capital, but it is a 
smart use of taxpayer dollars, and that is why Senator Snowe and I 
enthusiastically recommend it.
  This program has been supported by every President. President Reagan 
was supportive, President Bush was supportive, President Clinton has 
been supportive, and now President Obama has signaled his support as 
well. So we are very proud to be able to present this.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
another report regarding the state of small business--not the entire 
report but some parts of it that are central to this debate, sponsored 
by Network Solutions, the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith 
School of Business.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                              Introduction

       The competitive health of America's small businesses is as 
     low as it has been since the Small Business Success Survey 
     began tracking at the onset of the recession. There continues 
     to be a struggle to provide capital and find new customers, 
     while there is an unprecedented lack of confidence in 
     competing with big business. Yet, small businesses are 
     starting to grow and return to the black. After reaching a 
     low point in the summer, technology investment is on the rise 
     and social media adoption continues to grow. Despite poor 
     competitive health now, owners are becoming increasingly 
     optimistic about the economy and their future business 
     success. Over a quarter plan to add staff in 2011, and if 
     they carry out their plans, will create 3.8 million jobs.

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, this portion of the report says, 
interestingly enough:

       After having reached a low point in the summer, technology 
     investment is on the rise and social media adoption continues 
     to grow. Despite poor competitive health now, owners are 
     becoming increasingly optimistic about the economy and their 
     future business success.

  They have been taking this survey of small businesses since the 
recession started, and the report continues:

       Over a quarter plan to add staff in 2011, and if they carry 
     out their plans, will create 3.8 million jobs.

  Again, it is the magic of small business. We have 27 million small 
businesses in America. If every one of them, obviously, created one 
additional job, that would be 27 million more jobs. And we could use 
it. That is not going to happen, but if even a portion of them added 
one job to their bottom line, we know they could have an impact. It is 
important for programs such as this and getting capital at their local 
bank, being able to access credit from credit cards, that have 
reasonable charges and transparent charges--which I am proud to have 
been a part of helping on--and it is getting access for new 
technologies to find a friend at the Federal Government who will step 
up and help them grow their business. We strongly recommend this 
program.
  I am going to yield the floor at this time, but we do have several 
amendments that are pending, and we will have to organize those votes 
sometime this week. We have over 89 amendments that have been filed, 
but we are hoping some of the Members, if they do not feel they have to 
offer those amendments, will withdraw them. Some of them are not 
germane to this bill and we wish to keep this bill very focused on 
small business.
  I do want to join Senator Snowe in support of the repeal of 1099, 
which is represented by the Johanns amendment, and Senator Menendez may 
have a perfecting amendment to that, I understand, and I look forward 
to working with Senators Johanns and Menendez to get that regulatory 
burden lifted off the back of small business. It doesn't go into effect 
until 2012, but small businesses around the country are quietly 
alarmed, as they should be, in my view, regarding that additional 
paperwork that would be required. There is a fair amount of across-the-
board support on both sides of the aisle for that repeal, and I hope we 
can get that done sometime this week as well, either specifically 
attached to this bill or parallel to this effort, because it is a very 
important effort for small businesses to get that new 1099 requirement 
repealed, as well as getting this bill passed.
  Mr. President, with that, I yield the floor, and I suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Franken). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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