[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3993]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               SBIR/STTR

  Mr. REID. Madam President, this bill is another jobs bill. It is a 
very important bill. I did a press event yesterday with the chairman of 
the committee, Senator Landrieu. It was a good meeting. We talked about 
some of the things that are happening in our States regarding small 
business under this program that was developed during President 
Reagan's administration. Some remarkably good things happen in every 
State.
  As to New Hampshire, I do not know which ones happen there, but there 
are a number of things in every State. In the State of Nevada, 
wonderful things have occurred. One of the things a smart man decided 
is that we should not have 9/11-type incidents where people are trapped 
and cannot get out of high stories. He has an apparatus that goes up 
and brings people down. For an initial grant of some $150,000, he was 
able to do that.
  We have another--a battery that is now being used by the military--
for $180,000. It does all these great things improving batteries in 
vehicles.
  This did not occur in Nevada, but one of the amazing things is the 
electric toothbrush came about as a result of one of these small 
grants.
  Every State in America has benefited from these grants. The program 
has worked well for almost 30 years, and we are reauthorizing it. That 
is what we are doing so these programs can continue.
  We hope people will offer amendments to improve this legislation and 
not detract from it. We would like to complete this legislation this 
week. We know we have the CR coming over probably tonight sometime. We 
will have to deal with that. The next work period is going to be filled 
with a lot of business. We are going to soon have to reauthorize the 
PATRIOT Act. We have many things to do, but the things we have done so 
far this year are job creating. Not only the small business legislation 
I just talked about, but the patent bill, the first revision of that in 
some 60 years, that is 300,000 jobs. We did FAA reauthorization; that 
is 280,000 jobs.
  I hope the House will complete these measures--we are waiting for 
them; the President is waiting for these matters--rather than doing 
what they are doing, which is not job creating.
  There is a piece in the Washington Post today about how the 
Republicans are being so shortsighted. For every dollar we spend with 
the IRS going after people who cheat, we bring in more than $10 to the 
Treasury. They are cutting the ability of the IRS to go after people 
who cheat on paying their taxes. That makes it more difficult for the 
people who pay their taxes. I hope they will get off the government 
bashing program they have been on and focus on job creation.
  We all know we need to reduce our debt. We are engaged in that, but 
in a way that is smart, not a way that is, as indicated in that 
Washington Post article, penny-wise and very pound-foolish.
  Will the Chair now announce morning business.

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