Jon L. Christensen: “No one disputes the accomplishments and the importance of the Office of Advocacy. Just as the role of small business is…”

“No one disputes the accomplishments and the importance of the Office of Advocacy. Just as the role of small business is more critical during an economic downturn, so is the need for an independent Office of Advocacy. To achieve the goal of independence, it needs a delicate balancing act. As a voice of small business, the chief counsel is often in a difficult situation because his office is a part of the same Federal Government it has been charged with monitoring, and many of these bodies within the Federal Government have incentives to limit the chief counsel's effectiveness. In our efforts to increase independence, we need to make sure that an SBA administrator can no longer meddle in the affairs of the Office of Advocacy. The chief counsel should be able to perform his or her role without having to look over their shoulder. Legislation must strengthen the ability of advocates to speak out against all agencies, including the Office of Management and Budget. OMB must not be able to hold funding over the head of the chief counsel as a threat to fall in line with an administration. Finally, in our efforts to solve this problem, we must not create new ones. We do not want a situation where we are robbing Peter to pay Paul. Advocacy funding must not come at the expense of Small Business Administration programs designed to help our Nation's small businesses. To do so would be a step backward for this Nation's small business.”