Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the chairwoman's request to suspend the rules and pass S. 3253. The bill is a simple 3- month extension of all the Small Business Administration's core programs until July 31, 2010. This bill is necessary because the temporary extension we approved in January is going to expire at the end of this week. Over the past 3 years, the House Small Business Committee has worked in a productive, bipartisan manner to author legislation reauthorizing and improving the Small Business Administration and its programs. I commend the chairwoman on her leadership and willingness to work in this fashion. By working together, we have reported and passed several bills that would modernize the SBA, allowing it to serve small business owners in the 21st century. Unfortunately, our counterparts in the other body have not worked as diligently, and unless we pass this extension, many of the SBA programs that our small businesses rely on are going to expire on Friday. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. It is because of them that we have seen nominal gains in our economy recently. Still, the national unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent, with some States experiencing as much as 14 percent. If we are serious about our recovery efforts, helping our small businesses thrive has to be our first priority. The programs run by the SBA provide a critical foundation that small businesses depend on to succeed.…”