[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 77 (Thursday, May 9, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2757-S2758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      National Small Business Week

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I rise to speak about National Small 
Business Week. As ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship, I want to thank the 30 million small 
businesses in America for their contributions to our economy during 
this National Small Business Week.
  I look forward to National Small Business Week every year because it 
is a chance for us to honor the small businesses and communities in 
Maryland and across the country that may not make headlines, but they 
steadily move our economy forward by improving industries, developing 
new products, and creating employment opportunities for more than 47 
percent of all American workers.
  One tradition of National Small Business Week is that the Small 
Business Administration selects a Small Business Person of the Year 
from each State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin 
Islands, and Guam.
  This year's Maryland Small Business Person of the Year is Zhensen 
Huang,

[[Page S2758]]

the chief executive officer of Precise Software Solutions--an 
innovative information technology company that is based in Rockville, 
MD. Dr. Huang is also a professor of information systems at the 
University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he is training future 
leaders in Maryland's technology sector.
  Small business owners like Dr. Huang are the cornerstone of 
Maryland's economy, and their deep roots in the community help to shape 
the culture and character of our State. I thank Dr. Huang for bringing 
dynamism and ingenuity to Maryland's economy, and I wish him and his 
colleagues continued success.
  I have met with countless small business owners like Dr. Huang as I 
have traveled across my home State of Maryland, which we proudly call 
``America in Miniature'' due to our diversity. From bustling 
metropolitan areas like Baltimore City and the DC suburbs to rural 
communities on the Eastern Shore and in Mountain Maryland, small 
businesses are not just where we buy products and services; they are 
the building blocks that make up our communities.
  That is why I requested a seat on the Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship Committee when I began serving in the Senate in 2007. 
I wanted to make sure small businesses in Maryland and across the 
country were receiving the support they needed from Washington. 
Nationwide, small businesses account for 99.9 percent of all 
businesses, with there being a total of nearly 31 million small 
businesses that employ 60 million Americans.
  According to the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 
small businesses created 1.8 million net jobs in 2016, the most recent 
year for which data is available. Of those jobs created, more than 1.2 
million were created by small businesses with fewer than 20 employees. 
It is clear that small businesses are the growth engine that power our 
economy, so it is on us in Congress to ensure that they receive the 
support they need to overcome the unique challenges they face.
  When I meet with small businesses across Maryland, one of their top 
concerns is often their access to capital. Capital is the lifeblood of 
small businesses. So, for many small businesses, an SBA-backed loan is 
a lifeline that is the difference between success and failure in the 
early, fragile stages of a small business's life.
  I see the benefits of SBA-backed loans every time I drive past Under 
Armour's headquarters in Baltimore. Without an SBA-backed loan, Under 
Armour may not have been able to grow from a small business being run 
out of a basement to the global brand, with thousands of employees in 
Baltimore, that it is today. Last year alone, SBA-backed financing 
helped nearly 75,000 small businesses access more than $36 billion in 
capital, and it supported more than 725,000 jobs.
  The SBA's finance programs are models of public-private partnerships 
and do a lot of good in this country, but some of the programs are not 
adequately reaching underserved communities, especially those of 
minorities, women, and veterans. I do note that the SBA's Microloan 
Program and the 7(a) Community Advantage Pilot Program do punch above 
their weight in reaching underserved borrowers. We can learn from how 
those programs are being operated to help underserved communities in 
order to help modify loan programs such as the 7(a) and 504 so they may 
be able to reach more of the underserved communities.
  The chronic shortfall of SBA loans reaching the minority communities 
is especially important in Maryland, which I am proud to say has the 
highest average number of minority-owned businesses in the country. 
Minority-owned firms are two to three times more likely to be denied 
credit, more likely to avoid applying for loans based on the belief 
that they will be turned down, and more likely to receive smaller loans 
and pay higher interest rates on the loans they do receive.
  Last September, I held a field hearing in Baltimore at Morgan State 
University--a revered HBCU--to learn more about the struggles minority 
entrepreneurs face in their accessing of capital.
  One of the key takeaways from the hearing was that minority small 
business owners need SBA to fill the gaps when private lenders often 
fall short. Additionally, access to capital must go hand in hand with 
entrepreneurial development training. The entrepreneurial development 
programs at the SBA provided mentorship, business advice, and training 
to more than 1.2 million entrepreneurs during fiscal year 2018.
  These programs are invaluable. Data show that small businesses 
created by entrepreneurs who receive at least 3 hours of SBA counseling 
have higher success rates than small businesses created by 
entrepreneurs who have not received that amount of counseling.
  Knowing that small businesses, especially minority-owned small 
businesses, need more support from the SBA, not less, is why I remain 
deeply troubled by the administration's efforts to make vital business 
counseling and SBA-backed loans more difficult to access.
  The administration's fiscal year 2020 budget proposed more than a 
quarter of a billion dollars in new fees for SBA-backed loans. Simply 
put, this is a $255 million tax on American small business owners. 
Additionally, instead of investing in entrepreneurial development 
programs, the administration's recent budget proposed $67 million in 
cuts to these programs.
  The administration's efforts to undermine the SBA are even more 
concerning considering the current lack of leadership at the Agency. 
Since the resignation of Administrator Linda McMahon, the President has 
not sent Congress a nomination for a new Administrator. I also remain 
concerned about the administration's failure to nominate a Deputy 
Administrator--a position that has been vacant for more than 12 months.
  We hear from the administration that we haven't acted on their 
nominees. We don't have the nominees to act on. As I speak, there are 
thousands of small business owners from across the country who are 
visiting Washington, DC, in order to participate in the National Small 
Business Week events that have been scheduled, and many more are 
participating in events across the country.
  Let us honor them and their contributions by giving the SBA the tools 
and leadership it needs to help entrepreneurs build successful small 
businesses. I look forward to continuing to work with Chairman Marco 
Rubio and our colleagues in the House, in a bipartisan fashion, to 
support American small businesses so they can continue developing 
innovative products and services and creating jobs.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
of the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection.