[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S3654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO MARIE C. JOHNS

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, next Friday, May 31, is my friend's--
Marie C. Johns--last day as the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small 
Business Administration. She has served the SBA and our country's small 
businesses with distinction since 2010, and I will miss working with 
her.
  Her appointment to serve as the Deputy Administrator came at a 
critical time for U.S. small businesses, when the economy was 
recovering from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. 
The SBA needed great leadership, and she brought to the agency an 
impressive family history of entrepreneurship and professional 
accomplishments.
  As she said during her confirmation hearing on May 19, 2010, `` the 
spirit of entrepreneurship has been at the core of my professional and 
personal life.'' She described the landscaping business her grandfather 
owned in Indianapolis, IN. And then later, after her uncle earned his 
degree in pharmacy at Howard University, her grandfather built a 
community pharmacy so that her uncle could practice as a pharmacist and 
serve the African-American community in Indianapolis. Marie built her 
own career in DC, starting as a first-level manager in 
telecommunications and retiring as the president of Verizon DC. During 
her 20 years in communications, she held numerous leadership positions, 
helping small businesses and entrepreneurs. To name just one, she 
served as the chair of the Small Business Committee for the DC Chamber 
of Commerce, helping small businesses obtain technical assistance and 
mentoring from larger firms.
  During her time as the SBA Deputy Administrator, Marie and I have 
enjoyed a strong working relationship, which has allowed us, alongside 
Administrator Karen Mills, to achieve a number of substantial 
accomplishments. Most significantly, we passed the landmark Small 
Business Jobs Act of 2010 that provided billions of dollars of loans 
and investment capital to America's entrepreneurs. In 2011 and 2012, 
the SBA issued its first and second rounds of State Trade and Export 
Promotion, STEP, grants to 47 States and four territories. These STEP 
grants have maximized the Federal, State, and local resources to help 
small businesses export, which in turn has contributed to both business 
growth and job creation. And finally, we persevered and improved the 
women's contracting program to put women-owned small businesses on the 
same playing field with other contracting programs so that contracts to 
women are no longer capped at artificially low amounts. Recently, on 
May 8, marking her last time to testify before the Senate Small 
Business Committee, Marie testified on the important issue of minority 
women entrepreneurs and how essential they are to the larger economy. 
The testimony from that hearing was moving and educational and helped 
raise awareness of this growing segment of job creators.
  It has been an honor to work with Marie to provide help and support 
to the more than 28 million small businesses in this country. During 
her tenure, the SBA became a more effective Federal champion of small 
businesses by assisting these businesses to secure financing, technical 
assistance, training, and Federal contracts.
  Ms. Johns now leaves the SBA with a strong performance record. This 
Nation's small businesses are in a better position because of her work. 
Her dedication to the improvement of the health of small businesses in 
the United States will always be appreciated. I thank her for her work 
and wish her well as she returns to her many civic duties.

                          ____________________