Political Quotes

“I appreciate the opportunity the leadership has provided for Senator Snowe and me to present S. 493 and continue to discuss this important bill. It is a very important program that has actually existed at the Federal level for 20 years. It is not a household word, but it is known very well in the small business community. It is supported by groups such as the Small Business Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and many high-tech organizations because they know the same thing we know, which is this is a very important Federal program that actually works and is accomplishing its mission. It is a government/public-private partnership--a government-business partnership--with the largest Federal agencies that actually set aside a small portion of their research and development dollars. The amount is actually relatively small; 2.5 to 3 percent of all of their development and research dollars is set aside, and they aggressively look for small businesses that are able to provide new services, cutting-edge technology, new methodology, new software, to solve problems the government is having. In the process of these small businesses solving problems for the government--i.e., the taxpayer--the great news is some new businesses are developed, and they can then be commercialized into the private market, which is how this program works, which is why it is so beneficial not only to taxpayers but to the market generally.…”