[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 74 (Wednesday, May 4, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2294-S2296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      National Small Business Week

  Now, Mr. President, I do want to speak about National Small Business 
Week, which is this week, May 1 through 7.
  I have the honor of chairing the Small Business and Entrepreneurship

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Committee here in the U.S. Senate, and I have the opportunity as chair 
to talk about small businesses 52 weeks a year and to brag about what 
small businesses are doing.
  This week gives us the opportunity to highlight for every American 
the incredible contributions small businesses make to our economy.
  National Small Business Week is an annual reminder of how important 
small businesses are to the success of America. Small businesses are 
the lifeblood of our national economy and our local communities. There 
are more than 32 million small businesses across the Nation, and they 
support more than 61 million jobs.
  As Congress works to address the myriad of challenges facing our 
country from climate change to foreign conflicts, the issues facing 
small business owners can be drowned out. That is why I asked to be a 
member of the Small Business Committee when I first entered the U.S. 
Senate in 2007.
  The committee is one of the smaller committees in terms of resources 
and staff, but I know that it was going to be a place where I could 
support entrepreneurs, those in my home State of Maryland and 
nationwide, who are focused on creating the companies, products, 
services, and technologies of the future.
  That is where job growth will take place in this country. More jobs 
are created through small business than through larger companies. That 
is where innovation takes place in this country, where we find ways to 
deal with challenges, as we saw during COVID-19. But it is also where 
small businesses do not have the same resiliency to deal with downturns 
in our economy. That is why it was so important for us to act in regard 
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Two years ago, as our Nation faced a threat of a once-in-a-century 
global pandemic, supporting our small business owners was one of my top 
priorities. I will always be proud of the swift, bipartisan action this 
body took to ensure that our vibrant small business sector would not be 
a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Since the beginning of the pandemic, Congress has created several new 
programs to support small businesses, including the Paycheck Protection 
Program that was there to protect the workforce in small business; the 
EIDL Advance Grant Program, which provided some capital for small 
businesses during the pandemic and provided, through its loan program, 
the longer term capital that was needed during this period of time; the 
Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program that dealt with businesses that 
were basically ordered to close during the pandemic because of the 
public health risk; the Restaurant Revitalization Fund that was aimed 
at an industry that was so badly devastated as a result of COVID-19 
when people would not go out to restaurants; and several other 
initiatives that we passed during that period of time.
  We have appropriated more than $1 trillion to the Small Business 
Administration to fund these initiatives and others, and it has been 
critical to the survival of small businesses and now to our own 
economic recovery.
  Several independent studies have confirmed that the SBA's 
implementation of these programs was largely successful and improved 
over time, especially in terms of equity reaching the underserved 
communities. The improvement is the result of thoughtful policies 
Congress has implemented, as well as the Biden administration's efforts 
to invest in underserved entrepreneurs.
  Americans registered a record-setting 5.4 million new small 
businesses this last year, which was a 1-million increase over the 
prior record of 4.4 million. So we are responding. The small business 
community is vibrant. Even better, this increase is occurring in some 
of our most underserved communities with minorities--specifically 
minority women--driving the entrepreneurial surge.
  So this year's theme for National Small Business Week, ``Building a 
Better America Through Entrepreneurship,'' could not be more fitting, 
and it should serve as a clarion call for every Member of Congress.
  We simply cannot let this opportunity pass us by. Instead, we in 
Congress must tap into and bolster the entrepreneurial spirit that is 
sweeping our Nation to build a fairer and more just economy for all.
  The good news: We already know how we can do this because that is 
what we did during the pandemic. Several independent studies have 
confirmed that small business relief programs we created over the past 
2 years improved over time. The improvement was the result of policies, 
many of which were bipartisan, that directly addressed the structural 
barriers that make it more difficult for women, minorities, and other 
underserved entrepreneurs to start and grow successful businesses.
  In the years ahead, Congress must leverage the inroads that the SBA 
has made into these previously underserved communities so that critical 
services and business loan products can better reach entrepreneurs who 
need them the most.
  The most immediate action we can take is to replenish the Restaurant 
Revitalization Fund. This is a matter of basic fairness. There are 
still more than 177,000 outstanding applications for the Restaurant 
Revitalization Fund. These are restaurants that qualified for the 
relief but, because there were not enough funds in the program 
appropriated by Congress and because of the original confusion on 
application priorities, they were not able to get the funds even though 
they were eligible and they needed the funds. In some States, as many 
as 6 in 10 requests for grants remain unmet.
  So Congress cannot mistake the hopeful indicators of recovery for a 
sign that restaurants and bars are back to where they were prior to the 
pandemic. They are not. Many bars and restaurants are still months 
behind on rent and other bills, and they also must deal with increased 
supply costs as a result of supply chain issues and labor costs. They 
still need our support. The need is still there, and fairness requires 
us to act.
  I want to thank Senator Wicker for working with me to introduce 
bipartisan legislation that will replenish this critical program and 
provide support to other hard-hit industries.
  In the longer term, there are three policies that Congress should 
enact to better support the surge of interest in entrepreneurship and 
make our economy more diverse and resilient in the future.
  First, Congress should create a direct lending program at the SBA 
that will allow for another avenue for access to capital, filling the 
current gaps in our financial ecosystem. A reimagined direct lending 
program would allow entrepreneurs to apply directly to the SBA or 
through community lenders for small Federal loans.
  We know that many underserved entrepreneurs are discouraged even from 
applying for a business loan because of the high rates of rejection. 
Commercial banks tend to deal with their existing customers. They also 
tend to want larger loans or the larger of the small businesses, not 
the smaller, the startups of the small businesses. A direct lending 
program from the SBA could help.
  Second, Congress should codify the Community Advantage loan program. 
The loan program is particularly successful in getting capital to 
underserved entrepreneurs. We have a track record under the Community 
Advantage Program. It works. It reaches those communities that have 
been left out in the past.
  I am grateful for the Biden administration's recent announcement that 
it will extend the program for 2 years and implement changes to make 
the program more helpful to underserved small businesses. For example, 
the administration will increase the maximum loan size and expand the 
number of lenders in the program to provide loans to more underserved 
entrepreneurs.
  Third, Congress should give SBA the tools and resources to nurture 
the next generation of entrepreneurs by creating a network of 
incubators and accelerators on the campuses of our Nation's 
historically Black colleges and universities, minority-serving 
institutions, and community colleges.
  In Maryland, our State HBCUs and community colleges play a key role 
in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. They are resource partners for the 
SBA. They host business incubators and accelerators, and they leverage 
their relationship with the underserved communities to lift up the 
entrepreneurs in

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those communities. We need to do the same on a national scale and 
support our resource partners.
  These are commonsense policies that will unlock the growth potential 
of our Nation's entrepreneurs and help us to recover from the COVID-19 
pandemic in a stronger, fairer way.
  As we celebrate National Small Business Week, let us also double down 
on the investments we have made in our entrepreneurs over the past 2 
years. Let us once again put partisanship aside and pass thoughtful 
legislation that addresses the root causes of the issues that our 
Nation's entrepreneurs face on a daily basis.
  We can do this. During this week, let us rededicate ourselves to help 
America's small businesses, help fairness and opportunity in this 
country, and help our economy grow even stronger.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.