Political Quotes

“The concern the Senator from Ohio expressed was one that we took into account in the process of putting together the amendment originally. What we tried to balance was the responsibilities of the different officials in the Small Business Administration. The reason that we felt this particular office was the appropriate place to vest this authority was because of two things. No. 1, the responsibilities of this office are expressly those of advocating the concerns of small businesses. With all due respect to the head of any agency, as far as their set of responsibilities goes, whether it is the head of the SBA or any of the other agencies of our Government, they have other considerations they must take into account, whether it is political considerations or considerations that have to do with budget needs or managerial duties. But this office was set up, as we interpreted it, in an exclusive sense to try to really be the advocate of the small business community of America. It is the one place in Government where that power has been authorized by Congress. We felt, as a consequence, that there would be fewer countervailing types of considerations brought before the advocate than at the other offices of SBA. We thought, as a consequence, the advocate could perform their jobs freed of, and somewhat liberated of, some of the other countervailing responsibilities that an administrator or other agents of the SBA might have. That is how we reached this judgment.”