Political Quotes

“in this period of economic downturn, we must ensure that we are doing everything we can to support American small businesses. We also have to protect our hard-working taxpayers. American small businesses still to this day remain the backbone of our economy, and that is why I am offering this amendment today to H.R. 5819, the SBIR Reauthorization Act. Madam Chairman, this amendment will guarantee that businesses that are awarded funding from the small business research and development programs in this bill have their primary business operations located in the United States. The amendment ensures that we continue to provide support to American-owned businesses and reiterate our commitment to protecting American jobs. Since its inception in 1982, the Small Business Innovation Research program, SBIR, has helped small businesses compete for Federal research and development awards. Eighty-five percent of businesses competing in SBIR are small firms employing 20 or fewer persons. And the program has generated an impressive 50,000 patents over these 25 years. I have seen the success of SBIR awards in my district at the high-tech, highly creative Breault Research Organization in Tucson, Arizona. As we expand this program, we must keep responsible taxpaying, job-creating organizations like Breault Research in mind. We have to ensure that truly American-owned companies are winning these valuable awards.”