[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 65 (Thursday, April 15, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E405-E406]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    504 MODERNIZATION AND SMALL MANUFACTURER ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2021

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 14, 2021

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1490, the 
``504 Modernization and Small Manufacturer Enhancement Act,'' which 
modifies the Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 Loan Program an 
opportunity to modernize and expand.
  The SBA 504 Loan Program allows small businesses to access SBA 
financing through a certified development company (CDC) for expansion 
or modernization.
  Specifically, the bill adds policy goals, at least one of which a CDC 
must demonstrate to be eligible for assistance.

[[Page E406]]

  These include: enhancing the ability of a small business to reduce 
costs by using energy efficient products and generating renewable 
energy, and aiding the revitalization of any area for which a disaster 
has been declared or determined. The bill also authorizes a CDC to take 
specified actions to facilitate the closing of a 504 loan, such as 
correcting borrower or lender information on loan documents or 
reallocating up to 10 percent of the cost of a project.
  The birth of modern manufacturing can be traced to the early 1780s, 
when American inventor Oliver Evans began experimenting with the first 
automated flour mill.
  He developed the concept of continuous process milling, which relied 
on five so-called bulk material handling devices.
  His machines and processes soon caught on across the country because 
they reduced manpower by 25 percent while increasing output--the era of 
automation had begun.
  Today, small manufacturers are making new products that provide the 
best opportunities to ignite startups or help existing manufactures 
find new markets.
  This bill increases the maximum loan amount from $5.5 million to $6.5 
million, reduces the amount that they must contribute to project costs, 
increases job retention requirements, and revises collateral 
requirements and debt refinancing considerations.
  Further, each SBA district office must partner with a resource 
partner to provide certain training for small manufacturers.
  One of President Biden's first acts after becoming President was to 
sign an Executive Order to support manufacturers, businesses, and 
workers to ensure that our future is made in all of America by all of 
America's workers.
  President Biden's Executive Order ensures that when the federal 
government spends taxpayer dollars, they are spent on American made 
goods by American workers and with American-made component parts.
  This Executive Order fulfills President Biden's promise to make Buy 
American real and close loopholes that allow companies to offshore 
production and jobs while still qualifying for domestic preferences.
  This bill is making it possible for President Biden's executive 
action to be fulfilled.
  We need to support small manufacturers to produce what we need right 
here in the United States.
  The COVID-19 pandemic was a lesson we should not forget, when the 
nation did not have enough personal protective equipment in the form of 
masks, gloves or face shields to protect health care workers or 
citizens from COVID-19.
  It was essential that our nation never again be so ill prepared to 
weather a crisis like COVID-19.
  Manufacturing creates good jobs for low and highly skilled workers 
across the nation.
  In 2018, manufacturers in the United States accounted for 11.39 
percent of the total output in the economy, employing 8.51 percent of 
the workforce.
  Total output from manufacturing was $2,334.60 billion in 2018.
  In addition, there were an average of 12.8 million manufacturing 
employees in the United States in 2018, with an average annual 
compensation of $84,832.13 in 2017.
  We can make sure that Made in America means made in the thousands of 
towns and communities across the nation where people live, and work 
today.