Peter Torkildsen: “I want to applaud the effort of the gentlewoman from Kansas, the chairman of the full committee, for the great work she…”

“I want to applaud the effort of the gentlewoman from Kansas, the chairman of the full committee, for the great work she has done in getting this bill to the floor today. Mr. Speaker, we are looking at reauthorizing the 7(a) program, and many people will understand the importance of it, but, just to reiterate, the 7(a) program is the principal, certainly not the only, but the principal, lending program, or guarantee program, of the Small Business Administration. This year, because we are looking at the very important objective of balancing the budget, we have to look at all areas for reducing spending. Under the leadership of the gentlewoman from Kansas we are going to see the subsidy rate reduced from 2.73 percent to 1.06, a very substantial reduction, and, because of that, we are going to see an additional $2 billion being lent, although the amount that taxpayers are going to contribute to this is going to be less than half what it is right now. That is a very substantial savings for the taxpayers. It is also a very substantial increase in loans that are going to be made.”