Political Quotes

“I rise in support of S. 1139. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be able to support this reauthorization bill. Along with other Members, I did have serious concerns about some of its provisions. But those concerns have now been addressed, at least to my satisfaction. The legislation we have before us may have some flaws, but overall it is a very good bill and I believe it must be passed. Many Members had legitimate concerns and strong feelings about the HUB Zones Program, in particular. The bill passed by the House a little over month ago contained absolutely no reference to HUB Zones. The Small Business Committee held no hearings on HUB Zones. We had no chance to examine this concept closely, let alone make improvements. The House had no role at all in the design of this program. This troubles me, and I don't think it's a very good way to legislate. But on the whole, this is a very good bill. It reauthorizes the SBA loan programs that are the life blood of many small businesses in this country. We know there is tremendous demand from small business for these programs. We know that this financing meets a need that would otherwise go unmet. And we know how important financing is to small businesses, who make such an enormous contribution to economic growth and to job creation in this country. For this reason alone, I think we have little choice but to pass this authorization bill.”