[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16258-16259]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




ADDITIONAL TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF PROGRAMS UNDER THE SMALL BUSINESS ACT 
             AND THE SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT ACT OF 1958

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 2700, which was introduced 
earlier today by Senators Snowe and Kerry.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will state the bill by 
title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2700) to provide an additional temporary 
     extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the 
     Small Business Investment Act of 1958 through September 17, 
     2004, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  (At the request of Mr. Daschle, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)
 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today I join Chairman Snowe in 
supporting legislation to keep the Small Business Administration and 
its financing and counseling assistance available to small businesses. 
This bill authorizes the SBA and most of its programs through the 
September 17, 2004, which will allow time for the House to complete its 
work on the SBA's 3-year reauthorization bill, passed by the Senate in 
September 2003, and for the committee to find common ground with the 
administration on needed program changes to SBA's venture capital 
program, the Small Business Investment Company program. In addition to 
the 8-week extension, this bill includes a provision necessary to bring 
the administration into compliance with a January 2004 recommendation 
by the SBA's Inspector General. This change will save the SBA hundreds 
of thousands of dollars by allowing the agency's fiscal and transfer 
agent for the 7(a) loan program's secondary market program to keep the 
interest earned on fees lenders pay before they are remitted to the 
government. Currently, the SBA does not have that authority. The 
committee wants the program to continue running smoothly and 
successfully, and we think this change should accomplish this.
  With passage of this bill, the committee expects the SBA to move 
forward on grants for all its programs and certification for minority 
businesses, and any other business it has been delaying.
  I am pleased that this bill will extend all of SBA's programs and 
pilot programs; however I am disappointed that the dire and urgent 
needs of the Women's Business Center program have yet to be fully 
addressed.
  As many of my colleagues know, there are currently 88 Women's 
Business Centers. Of these, 35 are in the initial grant program and 53 
will have graduated to the sustainability part of the program in this 
funding cycle. These sustainability centers make up more than half of 
the total Women's Business Centers, but under the current funding 
formula are only allotted 30 percent of the funds. Without changing the 
portion reserved for sustainability centers to 48 percent as the Snowe-
Kerry bill, S. 2266, contemplates, all grants to sustainability centers 
could be cut in half, or worse, 23 experienced centers could lose 
funding completely. In short, this change would simply direct the SBA 
to reserve 48 percent of the appropriated funds for the sustainability 
centers, instead of 30 percent, which would allow enough funding to 
keep open the most experienced centers, while still permitting the 
establishment of new centers and protecting existing ones.
  I believe it is not enough to merely extend the Women's Business 
Center program and not make this critical and bipartisan change.
  I thank my colleagues for their support of small businesses and for 
considering immediate passage of this important small business 
bill.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, and that any statements regarding this matter be printed in 
the Record.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The bill (S. 2700) was read the third time and passed, as follows:

                                S. 2700

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. ADDITIONAL TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF PROGRAMS UNDER 
                   SMALL BUSINESS ACT AND SMALL BUSINESS 
                   INVESTMENT ACT OF 1958.

       The authorization for any program, authority, or provision, 
     including any pilot program, that was extended through June 
     4, 2004, by section 1 of Public Law 108-217 is further 
     extended through September 17, 2004, under the same terms and 
     conditions.

     SEC. 2. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.

       Section 2 of Public Law 108-205 is amended by striking 
     ``October 1, 2003'' and inserting ``March 15, 2004''. The 
     amendment made by the preceding sentence shall take effect as 
     if included in the enactment of the section to which it 
     relates.

[[Page 16259]]



     SEC. 3. COMPENSATION OF AGENTS.

       Section 5 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 634) is 
     amended--
       (1) in subsection (g)(4), by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(C) The Administration may contract with an agent to 
     carry out, on behalf of the Administration, the assessment 
     and collection of the annual fee established under section 
     7(a)(23). The agent may receive, as compensation for 
     services, any interest earned on the fee while in the control 
     of the agent before the time at which the agent is 
     contractually required to remit the fee to the 
     Administration.''; and
       (2) in subsection (h)--
       (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
       (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
       ``(2) The agent described in paragraph (1)(B) may be 
     compensated through any of the fees assessed under this 
     section and any interest earned on any funds collected by the 
     agent while such funds are in the control of the agent and 
     before the time at which the agent is contractually required 
     to transfer such funds to the Administration or to the 
     holders of the trust certificates, as appropriate.''.

                          ____________________