[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8860-8861]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 IN CELEBRATION OF SMALL BUSINESS WEEK

  (Ms. VELAZQUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, George Bernard Shaw once said, ``Some 
people look at the world and say, `Why?'. Others look at the world and 
say, `Why not?' ''.
  To me, this one statement captures the essence of what it means to be 
a business owner and entrepreneurs of America.
  I rise today in celebration of Small Business Week and acknowledge 
our Nation's most enduring image and its greatest legacy, our small 
businesses.

[[Page 8861]]

  Small businesses account for 99.7 percent of America's employers. 
They employ 52 percent of the private sector workforce. And they are 
responsible for 47 percent of all sales of goods and services 
throughout this country.
  But small business is not just about these numbers. These companies 
represent the investors, entrepreneurs, technical wizards, and dreamers 
of our business community. And as we commemorate Small Business Week 
and the entrepreneurs, we are celebrating these individuals and we 
honor those who always say ``why not?''.

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