Political Quotes

“At this time, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McNerney). Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank Chairman Wenstrup and Ranking Member Takano for their continued work on behalf of our Nation's veterans and for bringing these commonsense bills to the floor today. Small businesses are the economic drivers in our communities, and we must give them opportunities they need to grow and prosper. Veteran entrepreneurs, in particular, are some of the most apt at starting, managing, and growing small businesses. In the United States, there are about 5 million veteran-owned businesses and an estimated 500,000 service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. A service-disabled veteran-owned small business is one that must be at least 51 percent directly owned and controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans. The Federal Government established procurement contracting goals for small businesses in 1978 and set aside 3 percent of the total value of all Federal contracts for veteran-owned small businesses. Although some Federal agencies meet these goals, there are no penalties for not meeting the 3 percent small business procurement goal. The VA is diligent, on the other hand, in meeting this goal.…”