Political Quotes

“as part of Small Business Week, I would like to mention a fact that is sometimes overlooked: minorities and women open small businesses at lower rates, and when they are able to open businesses, they earn less than their white counterparts. We have received many studies from all over the country that look at the utilization of minority- and women-owned businesses by public contracting agencies. As the studies show, minority- and women-owned businesses are routinely and disproportionately underutilized in public contracting. In fact, one report that looked at almost 100 studies showed that regardless of where the study was done or who did it, what was seen over and over again was a stark underutilization of minority and women owned contractors. Studies and litigation about mortgage rates also show us that minorities face additional, discriminatory hurdles when it comes to borrowing money. Minority business owners are more likely to have loan applications turned down than similar white business owners and, if the minority business owner is lucky enough to get the loan, he or she is more likely to pay a higher interest rate. Minority and women business owners are less likely to have the wealth to start their own businesses because of a history of discrimination in employment. As a result, when they do start out, they are at a significant disadvantage.…”