Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I wish to thank all of my colleagues for really helping us to focus on this debate yesterday and today. We started discussing the reauthorization of the SBIR and STTR Programs within the Small Business Administration. Senator Snowe has been on the floor most of the day yesterday and part of the day today as we have managed this bill. As I have said many times, this particular program is the Federal Government's largest research program for small business. It was started in 1982 by a bipartisan group of Senators and House Members who believed small businesses in America had something to contribute in the technological and scientific advances in this country, and they were right. They said the Federal Government spends billions of dollars every year on research and development, and yet some of our most promising small businesses--maybe independent scientists or researchers or engineers or inventors of all different backgrounds and persuasions--could not really get in the front door of the Department of Defense or NIH. In those days, people only wanted to see people from big companies. Well, not only was that not allowing small business an opportunity, but it was shortchanging the taxpayers because what taxpayers want is the best technology. It does not matter to them whether it comes from a small shop down the street operating on the second floor above a doughnut shop--like my father got started many years ago--or whether it comes from the back office of IBM.…”