[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21689]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 
                                 AGENCY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 15, 2009

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in 
support of H. Res. 215 to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the 
Minority Business Development Agency, a member of the Department of 
Commerce.
  Established on March 5, 1969, the Minority Business Development 
Agency is the only federal agency specifically created to foster the 
establishment and growth of minority-owned businesses in America. With 
five regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York and San 
Francisco, the Minority Business Development Agency network offers a 
broad range of services to minority entrepreneurs that are 
strategically located in areas with large concentrations of minority 
businesses. As a Representative of an area with a large concentration 
of minority-owned businesses, and as a business owner myself, I am 
especially aware of the necessity for the services provided by the 
Minority Business Development Agency business specialists.
  Created in the midst of the Civil Rights Era, the Minority Business 
Development Agency has participated in many extraordinary events and 
left an impressionable footprint in its four decades of work. It 
participated with the International Trade Administration in the first 
trade mission to Bahrain, and many ITA missions with minority business 
delegations followed due to the success of this mission. Additionally, 
the Agency coordinated and supported disaster relief efforts for 
minority businesses following the devastating aftermath of the 1992 Los 
Angeles riots and the hurricanes that ravaged many of the coastal 
communities along the Gulf of Mexico.
  With a current focus on access to capital for minority-owned 
businesses, I look forward to celebrating the future success of this 
organization. I urge my colleagues to join me in commending the 
Minority Business Development Agency on its 40 years of prosperity and 
endeavoring to advance minority businesses in our nation.

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