John Kerry: “last Thursday, June 23, the full Senate voted to pass amendment No. 825, the small business and farm energy emergency…”

“last Thursday, June 23, the full Senate voted to pass amendment No. 825, the small business and farm energy emergency relief amendment of 2005, to the Energy bill, H.R. 6. I thank my colleagues for supporting my amendment. I want to also thank the cosponsors, Senators Reed, Snowe, Kohl, Levin, Baucus, Jeffords, Harkin, Pryor, Schumer, Lautenberg, Kennedy, and Lieberman. Mr. President, the purpose of this amendment is to help small businesses and small farms struggling to make ends meet with the record high cost of energy--natural gas, heating oil, gasoline, propane, kerosene. We can do this very easily by making those small businesses eligible to apply for low-cost disaster loans through the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. To help small farms and agricultural businesses, Senator Kohl has included a provision making them eligible for loans through a similar loan program at the Department of Agriculture. It also includes a provision by Senator Levin, passed unanimously last time this was considered in Committee and the full Senate to promote the use of alternative energy sources. The need for this type of safety net is clear. The volatile and significant rise in cost for these fuels over the past several years has threatened the economic viability and survival of many small businesses.…”