Political Quotes

“I wish to discuss an amendment entitled ``the Greater Accountability in the Treasury Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2011.'' As ranking member of the Senate Small Business Committee, it is my responsibility to ensure that small businesses have access to affordable credit. In this regard, I have worked on a bipartisan basis with Senator Landrieu, chair of the Small Business Committee, to include provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that enhanced the SBA's 7(a) and 504 loan programs. Those measures resulted in a 90-percent national increase in SBA lending at a crucial time in our Nation's lending crisis. I also authored provisions, recently enacted into law, to increase the SBA's maximum loan limits for its microloan, 7(a), and 504 loans, to make the SBA more relevant to the needs of today's borrowers. Additionally, I have been supportive of efforts to increase the arbitrarily imposed cap on member business lending at credit unions--at no cost to taxpayers--so that credit unions can play a greater role in helping to address the problems that small businesses continue to face in accessing credit. But, unfortunately, I was unable to vote in favor of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, even though it included many of my priorities, due to my significant concerns with the Treasury Small Business Lending Fund--SBLF or lending fund--provisions included into that bill. I opposed the inclusion of the lending fund for several reasons.…”