[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 33 (Monday, August 23, 1993)]
[Page 1627]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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.
    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.