Political Quotes

“Madam President, our Nation continues to struggle out of the economic downturn that swept across the country a few years ago, and today, I am pleased that the Senate is considering S. 493, the reauthorization of the Small Business Innovation Research, SBIR, and Small Business Technology Transfer, STTR, programs. The Congress has worked toward improving the economic conditions for small businesses to survive these challenging times. It is important for us to sustain this incubator for high-tech innovation, research and development, and the driving force of our economic engine, our entrepreneurs. Today's global economy is only getting more and more competitive, and in order to maintain the United States' edge in science, technology, and engineering, opportunities to encourage small businesses through programs like the SBIR/STTR will benefit all of us. I wish to highlight some of the successes in my home State, Hawaii, that were assisted by the SBIR/STTR program. Since the program began in 1983, the State of Hawaii has received 313 SBIR grants, for a total of $94.4 million. One of these companies is Referentia Systems Incorporated, an applied research and development company dedicated to providing relevant and innovative cyber security and network enterprise solutions to meet the critical needs of our national security and Federal Government.…”