Nydia M. Velazquez: “I believe that the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Wolf) and the ranking member, the gentleman from New York (Mr.…”

“I believe that the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Wolf) and the ranking member, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano), have produced a bill that is an improvement over the past years. Unfortunately, I am afraid their hard work has fallen short for one of the most productive forces for America today, our small businesses. This bill will severely cut the Small Business Administration's funding level. The recent 'long boom,' our greatest in history, came as a direct result of the productivity of American small companies and entrepreneurs. Small businesses employ half our workers, account for half our GDP, and grow almost 60 percent faster than large corporations. But this bill will cut SBA's tap that currently provides capital liquidity to small business across the country. It will, I fear, dry up assistance just when we most need to give our economy a boost. This bill proposes to cut funding for the SBA from $860 million this year to $728 million next year. Ten programs will be zeroed out and another half dozen or more will be so severely underfunded as to render them ineffective.”