To provide an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 through September 30, 2004, and for other purposes.

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

(Ms. VELAZQUEZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, we are here today because Congress has failed to complete its work. Over 1 year ago, the Committee on Small Business unanimously reported out a bipartisan reauthorization bill. As a result of the failure to move this legislation, the authorization for the SBA expired last year and we are now forced to pass our fourth extension. Shamefully, the agency has been operating for 3 months without any authorization.

It is clear that the Nation's job creators, small businesses, are struggling. The United States has lost 1.7 million jobs since 2001, and we are continuing to see growth rates that only keep up with inflation. American manufacturers are being hit hardest, with 2.7 million jobs lost during that period and 11,000 lost in June alone. This is clearly not the picture of an economy that is getting back on its feet.

Last week, the House Committee on Small Business Democrats released a quarterly small business index showing that business conditions are at 7-year lows. Skyrocketing health care and energy costs and exploding Federal budget deficits are but a few of the barriers small firms face in achieving the growth our economy needs so badly.

At a time when we should be providing our Nation's entrepreneurs a leg up, this administration and the Republican Congress has continuously failed to provide the assistance they need by blocking passage of the SBA reauthorization.

The bipartisan reauthorization bill will provide the most comprehensive overhaul of the SBA in over a decade. It will broaden or modernize the SBA loan programs so firms can access the capital they need. At a time when the Federal Government failed to meet the small business contracting goals for the fourth consecutive year, the Republican leadership is blocking this bill that will expand procurement opportunities for small companies.

The legislation ensures small firms are given a fair chance to break into the Federal marketplace. By doing so, we provide the Federal Government a quality service at a good price. This is not just good for small businesses, it is good for the American taxpayer. Additionally, the likelihood of success for small business is nearly doubled when they have access to technical assistance.

Passage of the reauthorization bill will offer the greatest expansion of entrepreneurial assistance programs in decades.

Even more concerning is the possibility that our failure to act will actually worsen the business environment for small businesses. Small businesses are faced with a possible doubling of fees on SBA loans at the end of this month. Without immediate action, the current structure will lapse, leaving banks and entrepreneurs in a worse situation than when the program was shut down last year.

Although the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Manzullo), who cannot be here today, has tried repeatedly to bring this bill up for consideration, the Republican House leadership and the administration have blocked it.

In today's economic climate, small businesses are more important than ever. We need to ensure that they have all the tools for success, as they are facing numerous obstacles. It is unfortunate that we are here today passing an extension, rather than celebrating the passage of an SBA reauthorization.

These issues should not be subject to partisan politics. When our small businesses need us the most, our committee was able to work in a bipartisan manner to produce this legislation. We now ask the Republican leadership to recognize these efforts and pass the reauthorization bill that will get small businesses back creating jobs.

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

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

I would like to set the record straight regarding the tax cut that the President submitted to Congress and that Congress passed.

The tax cuts are not helping small businesses. The President's tax cuts have provided little relief for small businesses. In fact, under the latest tax cut, over half of small businesses receive less than $500, despite a cost of $350 billion. And, while the President talks about how the top tax rate cut helps small businesses, only 1 percent of small business owners benefit from the reduction in the top tax rate. In fact, out of the 28 million small businesses, only 180,000 benefited from the top tax rate, according to the figures presented to us by the Department of the Treasury. Those are your own numbers. Less than 5 percent of the latest 2003 Jobs and Growth package was in the form of targeted tax relief for small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Tierney).

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

Mr. Speaker, there is no disagreement that we should pass this extension. It is, though, embarrassing that it has come to this. We expect small businesses to meet their taxes, comply with Federal regulations and pay their employees on time. But when it comes to Congress, we are not held accountable for our failure to meet their needs.

At a time when our economy is struggling, at a time when small businesses are struggling, Congress should be holding up its end of the deal. Passing the Small Business Administration Reauthorization Act must be a priority.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5008) to provide an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 through September 30, 2004, and for other purposes.

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 H.R. 5008.

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

Mr. Speaker, this bill extends until September 30 the programs of the Small Business Administration not covered by an appropriation, including the Preferred Surety Bond Program, SBA's Private Sector Cosponsorship Authority, the Small Disadvantaged Business Procurement Assistance Program, the Small Business Development Center Drug-Free Workplace Assistance Grants Program and the Very Small Business Concerns Program.

Last June, the House acted responsibly by passing H.R. 4478 to extend the programs of the SBA, but the other body failed to act. These programs have been in limbo since June 4, and it is important that they are extended while we continue to work on an SBA reauthorization bill.

In addition, H.R. 5008 would help many existing Women's Business Centers keep their doors open. Passage of H.R. 5008 would free up the remaining $4 million already appropriated for the program this year to provide at a minimum approximately $70,000 to each Women's Business Center and sustainability status.

Finally, H.R. 5008 corrects a legal problem regarding how the SBA pays fiscal transfer agents, who provide a vital role in the secondary market. For nearly 10 years, the SBA's fiscal transfer agent has been paid by a float on interest on the pools of securitized 7(a) guaranteed loans. Recently there has been some confusion as to whether or not this practice violates the Anti-Deficiency Act. The SBA has proposed a fix to this problem, and that solution is incorporated in section 3 of H.R. 5008, which essentially codifies the existing practice.

Passage of this legislation is needed in order to prevent the crippling of the SBA's 7(a) loan program, because without the liquidity of a secondary market banks will not make as many 7(a) loans as in the past.

This bipartisan bill has the support of the ranking minority member, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), and it has the support of the Bush administration. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5008.

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

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

While reauthorization is extremely important, I think it would behoove us at this time to really think about all of the things that have been done and are in the process of being done for small businesses here and across America.

Twenty-five million small business owners will receive tax relief, totaling $75 billion. That is real savings. The rate reductions in the tax benefit plan is more than 90 percent small business. We also have raised the small business expensing limit from $25,000 to $100,000, and I can tell my colleagues in my home State of West Virginia, small businesses are beginning to do and beginning to feel the growth effects of being able to hire another person, being able to buy that extra piece of equipment as a result of the tax incentives.

Regulation, which is another burdensome thing on small business, this administration has slowed the growth of burdensome new rules by 75 percent. Also, small businesses saved $7 billion last year in regulatory costs, and that is significant.

We have worked a lot to try to incent and grow our small businesses, and there is always more, much more, that can be done. But in terms of government procurement, for the first time in many years, the Federal Government exceeded its small business goal by providing a record $65.5 billion in prime contracts to small businesses. That is a significant increase over past years.

So, in conclusion, I would like to say that reauthorization of SBA is exceedingly important to small business, and what we are doing here today in extending the authorization is extremely important. But much has been done and much needs to still continue to be done to help small business, which is the backbone of our American economy.

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

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

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

I would like to thank the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) for not only her advocacy for this bill before us today, but for her advocacy for small business. She is one of the staunchest cheerleaders for small businesses across this Nation, and I appreciate her service and her ability to get things done.

I thank our chairman, the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Manzullo), who is not with us today, to thank him also for his small business advocacy. It is good to know that we have a bipartisan opinion on this bill. I look forward to its passage, and I look forward to all of us working together to see that small business not only grows but thrives under this bill and also under further legislation.

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

Mr. President, I rise today to address H.R. 5008, a bill to provide a temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and to enhance the operations of the Small Business Administration.

The bill before us would extend until September 30, 2004, SBA programs that have expired. In addition, it would provide clarification as to the SBA's method of reimbursing its Fiscal and Transfer Agent, which assists in the operation of the SBA's vital loan programs.

In July 2004 I introduced S. 2700, a bill that extended these same SBA programs and also provided this clarification regarding the Fiscal and Transfer Agent. The Senate unanimously approved S. 2700 on July 20, but unfortunately the other body failed to pass that bill, leaving many critical small business assistance programs unauthorized. Today, we have another opportunity to renew these programs and to provide this legislative improvement, and we should not miss the chance.

Since 1953, nearly 20 million small business owners have received direct or indirect help from one of the SBA's lending or technical assistance programs, making the agency one of the Government's most cost-effective instruments for economic development. The SBA's current loan portfolio of more than 175,000 loans, worth more than $45 billion, makes it the largest single supporter of small businesses in the country.

According to the SBA, the $65.5 billion awarded to small businesses in Federal prime and subcontracts in FY 2003 allowed small businesses to create or retain close to 500,000 jobs. Over the last five years the SBA's programs and services have helped create and retain over 6.2 million jobs.

The Senate agreed unanimously in September 2003 to pass a bill I introduced, the Small Business Administration 50th Anniversary Reauthorization Act of 2003, to authorize the entire SBA for a three- year period. However, we have been unable to reauthorize the SBA because the other body has been stalled in its consideration of SBA authorization legislation. According to the SBA, reauthorizing the agency will result in an estimated 3.3 million jobs created or retained over the next 5 years, with the SBA and its programs predicted to support over 1 million additional jobs over that same period through prime contracts and subcontracts.

In the absence of a full reauthorization of the Agency, which I am still working to bring about, it is vital that we extend those programs that can provide current assistance to small businesses. The bill before us, H.R. 5008, would renew the authorization for several SBA programs, including the Preferred Surety Bond Program. This program provides an essential service to small businesses by guaranteeing surety bonds for small business contracts, thereby permitting small businesses to undertake thousands of projects which would otherwise be out of reach.

H.R. 5008 would also specify the manner in which the SBA may compensate its Fiscal and Transfer Agent. This agent administers payments and fee collection in the SBA's loan programs and in the secondary market for those loans. This legislative change, requested by the administration in its budget submission to Congress for Fiscal Year 2005, would provide guidance as to the SBA's method of compensating its agent.

Additionally, this legislation will preserve the operations of existing Women's Business Center that currently serve women entrepreneurs in almost every State and territory. Today, more than 10.6 million women-owned small businesses are helping to fuel our economic recovery: they employ over 19 million Americans and contribute $2.46 trillion in revenues. In my home State of Maine, there are more than 63,000 women-owned firms, generating more than $9 billion in sales. Numbers like these speak for themselves, and are clear evidence of the success of the Women's Business Centers Program.

Moreover, according to research, between 2001 and 2003, women's business center clients reported starting over 6,600 new firms and creating more than 12,000 new jobs.

Mr. President, without this legislation, many of the Centers may be in jeopardy of closing their doors. This would be a significant loss, given that some of these Centers have proven to be powerful engines of economic development in communities across the Nation.

As we work toward the larger goal of a full reauthorization of the SBA, I urge my colleagues to support the enactment of H.R. 5008. This legislation would allow essential SBA programs to continue to assist small businesses during the remainder of this Fiscal Year.

(At the request of Mr. Daschle, the following statement was ordered to be printed in the Record.)

Mr. President, today I join Chair Snowe in supporting legislation to keep the Small Business Administration and its financing and counseling assistance available to small businesses. This bill temporarily authorizes the SBA and most of its programs through September 30, 2004. In addition to the temporary extension, this bill includes a provision necessary to bring the administration into compliance with a January 2003 recommendation by the SBA's Inspector General. This change will save the SBA hundreds of thousands of dollars by allowing the agency's fiscal and transfer agent for the 7(a) loan program's secondary market program to keep the interest earned on fees lenders pay before they are remitted to the Government. Currently, the SBA does not have that authority. The committee wants the program to continue running smoothly and successfully, and we think this change should accomplish this.

Six SBA programs were halted after S. 2700, a similar bill sponsored by Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Chair Olympia Snowe and myself, passed the Senate on July 20 but did not pass the House prior to the August recess. The six programs reinstated by H.R. 5008 are: the Women's Business Center Sustainability program, the Small Disadvantaged Business, SDB, program, the Preferred Surety Bond, PSB, Guarantee program, the Small Business Development Center, SBDC, Drug- Free Workplace Assistance Grants program, the Very Small Business Concerns program, and the SBA's co-sponsorship authority.

With passage of this bill, the committee expects the SBA to move forward on grants for all its programs and certification for minority businesses, and any other activities it has been delaying.

And while I am pleased that this bill will extend all of SBA's programs and pilot programs, I am disappointed that the dire and urgent needs of the women's business center program have yet to be fully addressed. Given the abysmal job creation record of this administration, we must aggressively seek and support innovative ways to create jobs, and the women's business center program has a proven track record of doing just that. Last year alone, the women's business center network helped over 100,000 female entrepreneurs grow their businesses, employ more people, and expand economic opportunity.

A study recently released by the National Women's Business Council shows that over the past 2 years, while funding for the women's business center program has remained essentially flat, the number of clients served increased by 91 percent and the number of new businesses started went up 376 percent.

The study also found that the businesses counseled by women's business centers had an economic impact of $500 million in gross receipts, $51.4 million in profit, and created 12,719 new jobs. With these numbers, it is clear that the women's business center program is a wise investment that will continue to pay dividends to women in business, the Government and our national economy well into the future.

As many of my colleagues know, there are currently 87 women's business centers. Of these, 35 are in the initial grant program and 53 have graduated to the sustainability part of the program. These sustainability centers make up more than half of the total women's business centers, but under the current funding formula are only allotted 30 percent of the funds. Without changing the portion reserved for sustainability centers to 48 percent, as the Senate-passed Snowe- Kerry bill, S. 2267, directs, all grants to sustainability centers could be cut in half, or worse, more than 20 experienced centers could lose funding completely.

I believe it is very important to pass H.R. 5008 and extend the pilot so that our most experienced centers can continue their good work for women-owned businesses; however, the current funding formula for the Women's Business Center still needs to be updated. As the author of the bill to establish the sustainability program, I am hopeful that my colleagues in Congress will soon come together to fix this problem and secure the women's business center network once and for all.

I thank my colleagues for their support of small businesses and for considering immediate passage of this important small business bill.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time.

Although I would rather be here to support the SBA reauthorization, I rise today in support of H.R. 5008, which would simply, once again, extend the important programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5008 marks the fourth extension of the SBA programs. The House Committee on Small Business passed the extension on the SBA programs with bipartisan support a year ago. I want to take this opportunity to commend the leadership of our ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), and our chairman for their strong leadership and their bipartisanship in working on that reauthorization.

Yet, the House leadership has failed to bring this bill to the floor for a vote. Why?

The leadership in this and the other body give a lot of lip service to small business. We constantly tout them as the backbone and the engines of our economy. Yet, on legislation as critical to their and, thus, our Nation's well-being as the reauthorization of programs on which they depend, this Congress has, once again, failed to act.

It is getting late in the year. Our small businesses cannot wait. They need security now. They need the assurance that the programs they will need to continue will be there now. They need to know what to expect, and we need to stop these stop-gap measures and give them that security and that assurance.

I am particularly concerned because I have heard Members ask, Why should we continue to fund agencies and programs that have not been reauthorized?

Mr. Speaker, actions speak louder than words. Failure to act on this legislation is sending the message that our Nation's small businesses are not a priority for this administration. But they are very important to both the Democrats and the Republicans on the committee.

It is also of great concern that this bill fails to address the current problem of high fees associated with the 7(a) program, the flagship lending program for the Small Business Administration. If the leadership fails to bring the reauthorization to a vote by the end of this month, the 7(a) lending program will once again be in jeopardy.

It is a good thing that, in our districts, the agencies charged with supporting small businesses are doing what they need to do. On that positive note, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and congratulate the University of the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center, the university president, Dr. Laverne Ragster, and the SBDC director, Mr. Warren Bush, for successfully hosting its Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program Orientation Conference last week.

Finally, on a bill previously before this body today, I want to take this opportunity to also join my colleagues in supporting House Resolution 717 and belatedly extend, on behalf of all of my constituents in the U.S. Virgin Islands, our best wishes to President Bill Clinton on his 58th birthday, as well as to wish him a continued speedy recovery, many, many more birthdays and good health and happiness, and God's richest blessings on him and his family.