Political Quotes

“I come to the floor to urge my colleagues to consider voting yes on cloture this afternoon at 5:30, to proceed to a debate on two very important Federal programs that come under the jurisdiction of the Small Business Committee. Our committee has worked very hard in the Senate, and in the House I might add, to get these programs ready for reauthorization. They are the Federal Government's largest research and development programs for small business. As you know, I have said many times on the floor, as chair of the Small Business Committee I want and hope the Federal Government itself would be a better partner with small businesses in America to encourage innovation, to encourage appropriate risk-taking. We can do that in a variety of different ways. Of course, we have authority over banking systems and capital systems and financial systems. We need to think about giving the 27 million small businesses in America opportunities for capital through the banking system and through nonbank lenders. Our committee has been very busy trying to do our part helping our country out of this recession by continuing to focus on capital access for small business.”