    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [August 13, 1993]
    [Pages 1378-1379]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the Small Business Guaranteed Credit Enhancement
    Act of 1993
    August 13, 1993

        Today I am signing S. 1274, the ``Small Business Guaranteed Credit
    Enhancement Act of 1993.'' This legislation will inject new life into
    many small businesses by significantly increasing the availability of
    loans that can be guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
        My Administration and the Congress recognize that SBA is an
    increasingly critical component of our efforts to end the credit crunch
    by making sufficient capital available for small businesses to grow and
    prosper. The demand for SBA loan guarantees has increased over the past
    several years at a 35 to 40 percent annual rate, as banks have
    increasingly turned to SBA for assistance in small business lending.
        S. 1274 increases the amount of loans that may be guaranteed per
    dollar of credit subsidy. This will allow SBA to more than double its
    Section 7(a) General Business Loan Guarantee program from a range of $3
    billion to $4 billion to a range of $7 billion to $8 billion in fiscal
    year 1994, based on anticipated appropriations. This higher program
    level will provide an uninterrupted source of credit for small
    businesses, something that has been lacking over the past few years. And
    it will do so while providing significant savings to the taxpayers. The
    savings will be about $180 million in the first year and $748 million
    over four years relative to appropriations that would be needed to meet
    expected demand for the 7(a) program absent the reforms.

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        Perhaps most importantly, the lending authority provided by S. 1274
    will assist firms in maintaining and creating more than 600,000 jobs
    over the next four years.
        S. 1274 also makes technical changes to other small business
    programs in order to improve SBA's administration of the Small Business
    Development Center Program and the Microloan Demonstration Program, and
    to facilitate planning and execution of the White House Conference on
    Small Business.
        I am pleased to sign legislation that helps small businesses and
    their employees.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,
    August 13, 1993.

    Note: S. 1274, approved August 13, was assigned Public Law No. 103-81.
    This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    August 14.