Political Quotes

“I am extremely concerned because small businesses across this country will be ill-served because we have been denied the opportunity to extend the very important program that this Congress enacted back in 1994 to help all those small businesses who during the cold war kept their lines open, purchased their specialized equipment to provide for the national security and the defense of this Nation. This program allowed businesses that were suffering because of the 13 years of downsizing of defense; these small businesses have suffered, and to allow them to convert from defense businesses to commercial applications, this delta program is critical and something very unique in Washington. Mr. Speaker, we were not asking for any more money. The money is already there. All we were asking was for the simple opportunity to extend a program that helps small businesses in defense-dependent areas like New York and California and Massachusetts and many of the States across the country. This program is expiring, and I am deeply disappointed that the Committee on Rules denied America's small businesses the opportunity to continue to partake in this program as we leave the cold war and look for new opportunities to help this Nation.”