[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 15 (Thursday, January 24, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H1191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IMPACT OF SHUTDOWN ON SMALL BUSINESSES

  (Ms. WILD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, across my district, the Seventh 
Congressional District of Pennsylvania, and across our country, this 
shutdown is hurting small businesses.
  One of my constituents is an entrepreneur from Stroudsburg, 
Pennsylvania. He recently emailed me to let me know that he can't get 
his mandatory employer ID number for the new business he is trying to 
start because the IRS is shut down. Until he gets that number, he can't 
set up payroll for his employees or open a company bank account.
  Another constituent from Emmaus, Pennsylvania, processes Small 
Business Administration-backed loans to entrepreneurs trying to start 
or expand businesses. But, as he explains, since the SBA has been shut 
down, no small business loans have been going out. For many, that means 
no access to capital at reasonable interest rates and having to turn to 
loan sharks to keep businesses afloat.
  And let us never forget that our Coast Guard is still working without 
pay.
  We were sent here to make people's lives better, not make them harder 
and more stressful than they already are. Members of both parties need 
to come together to support our military and the small businesses that 
power our economy, and that means ending this shutdown.

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