To designate the United States courthouse located at 400 North Miami Avenue in Miami, Florida, as the "Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. United States Courthouse".

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted that we were able to expeditiously move this legislation on the floor today. This bill is identical to legislation this House unanimously approved on December 5, 2001. It is unfortunate that the Senate was unable to take this legislation up on the Senate floor last year but we are here today to try again.

The purpose of H.R. 1106 is to create jobs, to spur entrepreneurship, and to stimulate the economies and foster economic development on Indian lands. Further, the purpose of the Act is to help in the creation of new small businesses owned and managed by Indian tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians and to help expand such small businesses that already exist. The Act will provide much needed management, technical, and research assistance to small businesses owned by Indian tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians. The Act will help insure that Indian tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians have full access to existing counseling and technical assistance provided through the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program. In providing entrepreneurial assistance, a State receiving a grant under the provisions of the Act is required to seek the advice of local Tribal Councils on where small business development assistance is needed.

Approximately 60 percent of Indian tribe members and Native Alaskans live on or in the immediate vicinity of Indian lands and suffer from an average unemployment rate of 45 percent. Currently, Indian tribe members and Native Alaskans own more than 197,000 business enterprises and generate revenues in excess of $34 billion.

The service industry, the largest sector, accounts for 17 percent of the businesses, and 15.7 percent of the total revenues. The second largest sector is construction, which accounts for 13.9 percent of the businesses and 15.7 percent of the total revenues. The third largest sector, the retail trades, accounts for 7.5 percent of the businesses and 13.4 percent of the total revenues.

The number of businesses owned by Indian tribe members and Native Alaskans grew by 84 percent during the period from 1992 to 1997, while businesses, generally, grew by only seven percent. During the same period, the gross receipts for Indian tribe members and Native Alaskan business owners increased by 179 percent, in comparison with the business community, as a whole, where the gross receipts for the same period grew only by 40 percent.

In the past, the SBDC program with more than 1,100 offices throughout the United States has provided cost-effective business counseling and technical assistance to small businesses. For example, clients receiving long-term counseling under the program in 1998 generated additional tax revenues of $468 million, which was approximately six times the cost of the program to the Federal government.

By using the existing infrastructure of the SBDC program, it is anticipated that small businesses owned by Indian tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians, who receive services under the Act, will have a higher survival rate than the average small businesses not receiving such services. Further, increased assistance through SBDC counseling has in the past been able to reduce defaults under Small Business Administration (SBA) lending programs.

The business counseling and technical assistance, provided for under this Act, is critical on Indian land where, without such assistance, similar services are scarce and expensive. Past and current efforts by SBDCs to assist Native American populations located on or along reservation lands have proven difficult. In addition, the lack of resources makes it difficult to raise an equal amount of matching funds to specifically assist Native Americans.

H.R. 1166 will establish a three-year pilot project providing grants to SBDCs for assisting Indian tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiian populations with their entrepreneurial needs. The purpose is to stimulate

the economies on reservation lands through the creation and expansion of small businesses by ensuring the target population has full access to important business counseling and technical assistance through the SBDC program.

Any SBDC in a State, whose Indian tribe members, Native Alaskan, and Native Hawaiian populations are one percent of the State's total population, can apply for a grant from the SBA. Such grants must be used to provide SBDC program assistance to Native Americans. Grants under the Act are limited to $300,000 and the amount authorized to be appropriated annually, in each of the fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006, is $7 million. No matching funds are required from the States.

Services by SBDCs are to be provided to benefit the target population on tribal lands and reservations, but an individual center need not be located on each tribal land location or reservation. If the target population is in more than one location or reservation within a State, the center should be situated in a location that optimizes access by all those serviced by the center. H.R. 1166 does not limit in any way, the number of centers or subcenters a state program may implement. I expect the SBA Administrator to balance the need for multiple sites with the quality of assistance and counseling when awarding grants. Consultation with the local Tribal Council is required in determining those locations in most need and where the best access may be attained.

SBA is responsible for designing the grant application, which should provide essential information, but should not be burdensome to applicants. At a minimum, the application should contain information concerning the applicant's (1) goals and objectives, (2) prior experience in providing entrepreneurial and technical assistance to small businesses, (3) the ability to provide training and services to Indian tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians, and (4) the extent of consultation with local Tribal Councils. In addition, the applicant should identify the location of a proposed center, and the amount of funding required.

Within 180 days after the enactment of H.R. 1166, the SBA Administrator is required to issue final regulations, after a notice and comment period, that implement the requirements of the Act. Such regulations shall include standards for the educational, technical, and support services to be provided and for a work plan for providing assistance to the targeted community.

The Act's predecessor, H.R. 2538, was subject to a hearing and a committee mark-up in the 107th Congress. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that implementing the bill would cost $20 million over the next four years and contains no intergovernmental or private sector mandates. H.R. 2538 also unanimously passed the House on December 5, 2001 but unfortunately saw no action on the Senate floor, even though a companion bill was discussed and marked-up in the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. That's why I am pleased to join again with my good friend from New Mexico, in cosponsoring H.R. 1166 in this Congress and seeing it pass the House yet once again. Hopefully, the other body will look more kindly upon the legislation this year.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Manzullo), chairman of the Committee on Small Business, and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), for their work and commitment to expanding small business opportunities for all Americans and for working to bring this bill to the floor today.

I would also like to thank the staff members of the committee for their hard work on this legislation and my colleagues who supported this bill by joining me as cosponsors.

The important legislation before us today, H.R. 1166, allows Small Business Development Centers to apply for an additional Small Business Administration grant to provide specified services to assist with outreach, development, and enhancement on Indian lands of small business start-ups and expansions that are owned by Indian tribal members, Alaskan Natives, or Native Hawaiians.

This legislation ensures participation of governing bodies of Indian tribes, Alaska Native entities, and Native Hawaiian organizations. Under H.R. 1166, States receiving a Small Business Development Center program grant are required to request advice from the appropriate governmental organization on how best to provide assistance to such members and where to locate satellite centers to provide such assistance. Our intent is to ensure these business development tools are provided in a culturally sensitive way.

Mr. Speaker, small businesses create 75 percent of all new employment opportunities, make up 99 percent of all employers, and provide almost half of all sales in this country. As many of us have said before and will say again, small businesses are the fuel for the engine of economic development. That is why it is so imperative that we take steps to help ensure that small business development reaches the places in this country where economic prosperity has yet to be realized.

The current economic situation on Native American lands is very grave. However, it does hold promise for the future. The average unemployment rate of these lands is over 10 times the national average. At the same time, small business creation is at an all-time high. Native American and Native Alaskan-owned small businesses grew by 84 percent from 1992 to 1997, and their gross receipts grew by 179 percent in that same time period.

Compare those figures to an overall small business growth rate of 7 percent and to the gross receipt growth of 40 percent, and we can see why there is reason to be optimistic about the future of small business development on tribal lands.

It is with these facts in mind and the desire to help Native American, Native Alaskan, and Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs capitalize on these positive developments that I introduce this legislation. My bill ensures that Native Americans, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians seeking to create, develop, and expand small businesses have full access to the counseling and technical assistance available through the SBA's SBDC program. The business development tools offered by the SBDCs can assist Native Americans with the information and opportunity to build sustainable businesses in their communities.

In an effort to ensure the quality and success of the program, the proposal requires the SBA to include several items in the grant application.

In addition to the obvious requirements like requiring the applicant's goals and objectives, we also must see the applicant's experience in conducting programs on ongoing efforts designed to assist the business skills of small business owners. Also the capability of such applicant to provide training and services to a representative number of Native Americans, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians is also important to this process.

I have the great honor of representing 14 Pueblos, the Hickory Apache Nation, and a portion of the Navajo Nation. These communities are in great need of economic development, and it is clear we can do more to aid Native American entrepreneurs not only in my district but throughout the country as well. Not enough has been done to assist Native Americans in building their businesses. I hope to change this situation with the passage of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Guam (Mr. Bordallo).

Mr. Speaker, we thank the gentlewoman for her service on the Committee on Small Business.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case) who also serves on the Committee on Small Business and is a hardworking member on that committee.

(Mr. CASE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Ballance). He is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Rural Enterprises, Agriculture, and Technology.

(Mr. BALLANCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) has no further speakers, I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) for his management of this bill and for his hard work here on the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I would again like to thank the chairman of the Committee on Small Business and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) for their commitment to passing this important legislation. I have high hopes for the impact of this legislation and the impact it will have on small business and economic development on tribal lands.

As some of my colleagues have mentioned today, the average unemployment rate of Native American communities, particularly on reservations, is around 45 percent, while one-third of Native Americans currently live below the Nation's poverty level. Mr. Speaker, this situation is unacceptable.

The persistent poverty that is prevalent on tribal lands must come to an end, and I believe that passing H.R. 1166 is an important step towards achieving this goal. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

And just one moment before I yield back, let me also thank the committee staff, my former legislative director, Tony Martinez; my legislative assistant, Mike Collins; and Michael Day, the minority staff director of the Committee on Small Business.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I want to also thank the chairman for his very kind comments about Judge Wilkie Ferguson.

I just want to share with the House and the American people that the local community in Miami Dade County and within the circuit there in south Florida, that it is just a high honor that this House would not find it robbery and also the other body to name this courthouse after Judge Wilkie Ferguson. Many of our viewers and also Members of the House had an opportunity to hear my colleagues speak so eloquently about his past contributions to our society. Unfortunately, but some may say fortunately, he moved on to a higher place on June 9 of 2003.

I think it is very, very fitting for the American people not only to hear of his contributions, but also for judges and those that are involved in our judicial system, from the Supreme Court all the way down to a hearing officer at the county court level, to hear the contributions of this great man. He stood on behalf of not only people financially challenged or people of color, but he stood on behalf of the law and what the Constitution spoke of as it relates to representing everyone and making sure that they have a fair share.

In south Florida, we have a very diverse community, Mr. Speaker, and I must say, as it relates to Judge Ferguson and as it relates to this courthouse being named after him, we had unanimous support as it relates to individuals coming forth and saying we want to name this courthouse, which is in downtown Miami, one of the most outstanding buildings that is being erected that will be ready to open its doors in the fall of 2005, for those workers who are working on that courthouse, for those individuals that walk by every day as they walk to the county courthouse and also to the courthouse that is existing now, they will know that the American people stand behind the Wilkie Ferguson philosophy in making sure that everyone is represented.

For every judge that walks into those doors, it will remind him and her and, even as it relates to the magistrates, it will remind them of the importance of standing on behalf of all Americans and standing on behalf of individuals until they are proven guilty.

It will remind those individuals, those court reporters that walk into that Federal courthouse of the importance of making sure that as they type down the words of witnesses and defendants and prosecutors and individuals that are trying to seek justice, families that are looking to be made whole through our justice system and finding some sort of resolution, whether it be to a civil offense or to a criminal offense that may take place, that Judge Wilkie Ferguson once walked through that area in that vicinity and that his spirit will forever live in the hearts and minds of those individuals that work there every day of their lives.

I just want to also share with the House that it is very, very important that we remember the importance of the contributions of those individuals that came up on the rough side. Wilkie Ferguson did. His wife Betty Ferguson also did, who also offered her life and is still offering her service to our public there in the Miami-Dade Commission.

Wilkie Ferguson spoke to individuals, ordinary individuals at his level. Being a Federal judge, serving and being very respected in the community, he spoke to the individuals that were out there clipping the hedges. He spoke to the individuals as it relates to getting a cup of coffee for people such as himself. He is the kind, and was the kind, and I say he is the kind because in my heart and my mind he is still living with us, even though he has passed on his spirit is still alive and well, he spoke to those individuals. He made sure that people felt like people.

He represented in a way that he should. He wrote articles to our local paper about what should be happening in our judicial system. He was an advocate judge, but an advocate judge on behalf of every American.

And I am so honored; I am pleased that my community came together on this. I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for their forward thinking in saying that this was appropriate to name this courthouse after him. I thank this House for coming together and making sure that we honor a man of great dignity and integrity on the bench and even before he got on the bench.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the American people for this opportunity to address the House.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1166) to amend the Small Business Act to expand and improve the assistance provided by Small Business Development Centers to Indian tribe members, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1166 is identical to legislation the House passed unanimously December 5, 2001. Unfortunately, this bill did not pass the Senate last year. We are here today to try again.

This bill simply establishes a 3-year pilot program providing grants to the Small Business Development Centers for assisting Native Americans, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiian populations with their small business development needs.

Few people realize that 60 percent of our Native American population lives in or adjacent to Indian lands that suffer from an average unemployment rate of 45 percent. One-third of Native Americans live below the poverty level. However, the number of businesses owned by Native Americans grew by 84 percent between 1998 and 1997, as compared to all other businesses, which grew at only 7 percent over the same time period.

It is quite clear that the entrepreneurial spirit of Native American small business ownership is the key to economic growth and revitalization of these often forgotten communities. Instead of creating a new program, H.R. 1166 uses the existing Small Business Development Center network to develop culturally sensitive entrepreneurial counseling and technical assistance programs for Native Americans.

The SBDC network has a track record of success. Small businesses that use their service have a higher survival rate than the average small businesses not receiving such assistance. Any SBDC in a State whose Native American population is at least 1 percent of the State's total population can apply for a grant from the SBA. Such grants must be used to provide SBDC program assistance to Native Americans. The maximum grant size is $300,000 and the authorized level is capped at $7 million per year.

Already this fiscal year, the Small Business Administration received a $2 million appropriation to develop Native American entrepreneur education programs. I join many of my colleagues, including the chairman of the Committee on Small Business, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Manzullo), who is an original cosponsor of this bill, in supporting H.R. 1166.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers. I reserve my right to close.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would close by first commending and congratulating the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) for his hard work on this legislation and his support for the small business men and women across America. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) for her support on H.R. 1166. And I finally want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Manzullo) for his leadership and his passion for defending the backbone of the American economy and that is small business.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, S. 1904 is a bill to designate the United States Courthouse located at 400 North Miami Avenue in Miami, Florida as the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. United States Courthouse. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek) introduced the House companion bill, H.R. 2538, for himself, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), and the gentlemen from Florida (Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart), (Mr. Mario Diaz- Balart), (Mr. Deutsch), and (Mr. Brown).

Judge Wilkie Ferguson, a native Floridian, was born to immigrant parents in 1938 and was raised in a public housing project in Miami. Through hard work, perseverance, and personal drive, he received degrees from Florida A&M University, Drexel University in Philadelphia, and a law degree from Howard University Law School in the District of Columbia.

Judge Ferguson served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1960 until 1964 as a Lieutenant and as a Reserve Captain from 1964 to 1968. He was nominated to the Federal bench by President Clinton in 1993 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in November of 1993.

Despite his humble beginnings, Judge Ferguson achieved the highest levels of judicial service and was a dedicated public servant. He holds the distinction of being the first black jurist appointed to the Miami Dade Circuit Court and the Third District Court of Appeals. His judicial legacy includes a 1980 ruling that African Americans cannot be systematically excluded from a jury. His rulings also significantly affected the lives of many disabled individuals by prohibiting the State from reducing services to the disabled.

Judge Ferguson was a prolific writer and authored many articles on Federal drug laws, expert witnesses, and privacy in the computer age. He received numerous awards and honors, including the Courage and Scholarship in Legal Writing Award from the National Bar Association, the Champions of Higher Education in Florida Award, and the Thurgood Marshall Achievement Award For Exceptional Scholarly Performance.

He was a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions.

Judge Ferguson was highly regarded and was liked by not only his peers, but also by many young colleagues. He was experienced, knowledgeable, and dedicated to fairness and compassion. It is most fitting that the courthouse in Miami be named in his honor. I support S. 1904 and urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.