Honoring the Small Business Administration on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 368) honoring the Small Business Administration on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

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

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), the ranking minority member of the committee, be added as a an original cosponsor of H. Res. 368.

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

Mr. Speaker, as has been the tradition for the past 40 years, the President of the United States has issued a proclamation calling for the celebration of Small Business Week, which I include for the Record today. We are now in the middle of Small Business Week for 2003, which is being sponsored by the Small Business Administration.

The purpose of this week's celebration is to honor over 25 million businesses that make up the U.S. small business community. It is very appropriate for us, today, to recognize the importance of America's small businesses and the significant role played by the Small Business Administration in our Nation's economic growth.

This year is particularly important in recognizing the 50th anniversary of the SBA. President Eisenhower and Congress established the SBA in 1953 to provide financial and management assistance to startup and growing small businesses.

Over the past 50 years, the SBA has helped countless numbers of small businesses survive and succeed in this economy. It maintains a portfolio of guaranteed small business loans and disaster loans totaling more than $45 billion. The 7(a) program alone accounts for approximately 40 to 50 percent of all long-term capital needs for small businesses. The SBA has also guaranteed another $13 billion in venture capital investments to small businesses. To complement its successful credit programs, the SBA's management assistance programs were delivered to more than 1 million small businesses during the past year.

Some of the great American companies that are now household names were initially started with assistance from the SBA. Allen-Edmonds Shoe, the Panda Restaurant Group, Winnebago Industries with help from the 7(a) program, Callaway Golf, FedEx, Hewlett Packard, Intel Corporation, Jenny Craig, Outback Steakhouse, Staples, Sun Microsystems and the Gymboree Corporation all started with infusions of capital from the Small Business Investment Company program.

U.S. small businesses are the driving forces behind our economy and are poised to lead this Nation out of its economic doldrums. More than 99 percent of all employers in the U.S. are small businesses, providing between 60 and 80 percent of the net new jobs added to our workforce. In fact, the National Federal of Independent Businesses said that in August hiring intentions among small businesses are at the highest level in a year.

Small businesses have proven, year in and year out, that they are a potent force in the economy, accounting for over 50 percent of the private sector output. And their sights are not just set at home. Leading the way towards a global economy, the small business community represents 96 percent of all U.S. exporters.

Over the past 3 years, I have been the chairman of the Committee on Small Business and the previous 6 years as the subcommittee chairman. I have witnessed the enormous potential of America's small businesses at work. As someone who grew up in a small, family-owned business and who ran his own law firm, I know that small businesses are flexible, creative, give us jobs, provide economic growth, and, most importantly, provide hope in a future for millions of families and communities across our Nation.

The resolution now before the House recognizes the critical role played by small businesses and the Small Business Administration in our economy. It is appropriate that we take a moment from our busy schedule to acknowledge the success of small businesses and to encourage our Federal Government to continue to provide it help to ensure future successes.

I urge each of my colleagues to vote for H. Res. 368 as a way to say thank you to the SBA and the small business community for its contributions to our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the White House proclamation.

Small Business Week, 2003--by the President of the United States of

America--a Proclamation

The success of small businesses in America reflects the

innovation, determination, and hard work of the American

people. During Small Business Week, we celebrate the

entrepreneurs and business people who create goods, services,

and jobs, and bring opportunity and economic prosperity to

communities throughout our country. We also reaffirm our

commitment to helping more small business owners and their

employees realize the American Dream.

Small businesses create the majority of new jobs in our

Nation and account for more than half of the output of our

economy. They lead the way in generating new ideas and

creating new technologies, goods, and services for our

country and for the world.

Small businesses also reflect the diversity of America.

Nearly 40 percent of small companies in the United States are

owned by women. There are also more than 3 million minority-

owned small businesses across the country.

Because small businesses are vital to our Nation's

prosperity and reflect the hard work of the American people,

my Administration has taken important steps to assist small

businesses and the people they employ. We have reduced taxes,

encouraged investment, and removed obstacles to growth. The

Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 I

signed into law will provide 23 million small business owners

with tax cuts averaging more than $2,200 each. The Act also

quadrupled the amount that small businesses can expense for

new capital investments, encouraging new investment in

technology, machinery, and other equipment. This new

technology and equipment will increase productivity and

create new jobs, thereby contributing to the overall strength

of our economy.

We are also seeking to permanently eliminate the death tax.

With the repeal of this tax, small business men and women

will be able to pass their life's work to the next generation

without having to pay a punitive tax that in many cases

forces the sale of the business or many of its assets. And I

support legislation that would make it easier for small

businesses to offer health coverage options to their

employees. Through Association Health Plans, small businesses

could pool together to offer group plans to all of their

employees, like those available to large businesses. In

addition, we are working to streamline small business

regulations and paperwork. To this end, I issued an Executive

Order that requires all Federal regulatory agencies to

minimize these burdens on our Nation's small businesses.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), which helps

American innovators and risk-takers launch and build their

businesses, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. By

helping small businesses succeed, the SBA continues to

strengthen America.

Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United

States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by

the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby

proclaim September 14 through September 20, 2003, as Small

Business Week. I call upon all the people of the United

States to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies,

activities, and programs that celebrate the achievements of

small business owners and their employees and encourage and

foster the development of new small businesses.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this

twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord two

thousand three, and of the Independence of the United States

of America the two hundred and twenty-eighth.

George W. Bush.

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 368, which recognizes the contributions that America's entrepreneurs make across the Nation and within our communities.

Often, people believe that GM, Lockheed Martin and IBM power our economy; but the reality is that small businesses are the driving force. Our country's 23 million small businesses create three out of every four new jobs, represent 99 percent of all employers and provide 70 percent of workers with their important first paycheck. It is because of this we, on the committee, say that small business is big business in America.

Success in small business ownership is one of the unique opportunities of our economy. Yes, in other countries their citizens can own their own businesses, but nowhere to the extent found in America. Americans grow up with the entrepreneurial spirit around us. The reality of owning your own business is not a far-off dream, but an achievable goal. We all know small business success stories, whether they are friends, grandparents, parents, or our sisters and brothers. The opportunity to start a small business is what draws many to our country. No place else in the world can someone with hard work turn an idea into a thriving business.

As these opportunities become more available, the face of small business is changing. Today, minorities are becoming business owners on a scale never seen before. Between 1997 and 2002, the number of Latino- owned firms increased by almost 40 percent and African American-owned businesses increased by 25 percent.

Small business ownership has also become a new avenue for empowering women. Whether because of family concerns or because the corporate glass ceiling still exists, women are striking out and starting their own companies at twice the rate of all businesses. This is simply phenomenal.

Make no mistake, it is not easy being a small business owner today. Small businesses are confronting health care premiums rising 14 percent this year alone, Federal regulatory compliance costs are increasing for small businesses, and the Federal Government continues blocking them from benefiting from the $235 billion Federal procurement market. While it is never easy, small business owners are in desperate need of health care reform, a national energy plan to reduce skyrocketing costs, access to capital, targeted tax relief, and access to government procurement.

Small businesses are a proven tool to guide the Nation out of economic downturns. Small businesses have done it before, and small businesses can do it again. However, their success can only be achieved if we provide them with the help they require.

So, today, as we recognize the hard work and commitment of America's entrepreneurs, it is also important that we recommit ourselves to working to create an economic environment that encourages growth for them. We must strive to make the job of our Nation's small businesses all the much easier. It is at least what we can do, given all they have done for us.

Today, with the adoption of this resolution, in a very small way we thank our Nation's entrepreneurs for the contributions they make every day. They are the catalyst for economic growth, and they are the anchors of our communities.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Guam (Mr. Bordallo).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

(Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to thank the author of this resolution and also staffer Patrick Wilson for taking the lead on today's resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, this week is National Small Business Week, and the Small Business Administration is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. I would like to congratulate the Small Business Administration, its employees and all of its resource partners on this truly momentous occasion.

Created by the passage of the Small Business Act in 1953 during the Eisenhower administration, the SBA was charged to ``aid, counsel, assist and protect'' the interest of small businesses in this nation.

Mr. Speaker, the SBA has made tremendous strides following its original mandate over the past half century. According to the agency, nearly 20 million small firms have received either direct or indirect assistance over the past fifty years.

Small businesses are the engine that drives our nation's economy, generating over half of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the SBA plays a key part in ensuring the engine remains strong and viable, especially in tough economic times.

There are currently about 23 million small businesses in the United States, which represents 99.7 percent of all private sector employers. Small businesses also generate 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually.

American small businesses are extremely diverse. Women owned small businesses generated $819 billion in revenues, and employed more than 7 million workers in 1997, the last year such data is available. In that same year, 5.8 percent of small businesses were owned by Hispanic Americans, 4.4 percent by Asian Americans, and 4 percent by African Americans.

Small businesses also made up 97 percent of all identified exporters and produced 29 percent of the known export value in fiscal year 2001.

As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Tax, Finance and Exports, I am especially proud of the agency and its tireless efforts to help all small businesses.

Two weeks ago, I held a field hearing in my District, Long Beach, California, where a very distinguished group of panelists discussed the importance of small businesses to not only southern California but to the nation as well.

I was pleased to learn during the course of that hearing that the SBA Los Angeles District Office is the number one business lending office in the United States. Over the past three years, the office has provided $128 million in financing to 381 businesses in my home District.

I am sure that there are many more success stories nationwide about the hard work the SBA does on behalf of our nation's entrepreneurs, and I am sure that the SBA will be helping small businesses in their efforts to keep our economy strong for years to come.

Congratulations on 50 years of service to our small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, I rise as an original cosponsor in strong support of H. Res. 368, introduced by the Committee on Small Business chairman, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Manzullo).

This legislation honors the Small Business Administration on the occasion of its 50th anniversary and designates this week as National Small Business Week.

In 1953, the SBA was created to champion the interests of the Nation's entrepreneurs for the benefit of all Americans. Our Nation's economy is built on and draws its strength from the creativity and entrepreneurship of its people.

Over 25 million small businesses employ more than half of all private sector employees. They pay 44.5 percent of the total United States private payroll. They generate 60 to 80 percent of all new jobs annually. Small businesses are, in fact, the engine of this Nation's economy, as was said earlier by the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez).

I worked with my father in south Texas to build a small business in my district that today employs over 300 people. The SBA played a key role in this company's development by assisting my family in growing this business during the last 54 years. Presently, Ms. Sylvia Zamponi, the district director for the SBA in the Lower Rio Grande Valley District, is providing similar assistance to my constituents. I want to commend her for all her efforts on behalf of the small business owners in my congressional district.

I also want to express my appreciation for all of the efforts of the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Manzullo) to support small businesses and to improve their situation, particularly the manufacturing sector in the United States that currently is in a crisis with the dramatic loss of manufacturing jobs.

To help address this crisis, the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Manzullo) organized the Congressional Manufacturing Caucus, which I have joined, to preserve manufacturing jobs in America. The caucus will not only educate Washington on the importance of manufacturing in America, but it will work to enact policies to stem job losses and to put people back to work, including in south Texas and throughout the country.

I also commend the ranking member, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), for taking appropriate actions to ensure that SBA continues to perform effectively the mission Congress gave it over 50 years ago.

Mr. Speaker, again, I congratulate the SBA on its 50th anniversary and hope that the current administration will continue to fully fund SBA so it may continue to assist entrepreneurs throughout this country.

Mr. Speaker, for the past 40 years the President has issued a proclamation calling for the celebration of Small Business Week. This year National Small Business Week runs from September 15th through the 20th. Since the founding of our country, small businesses have contributed immeasurably to our progress and economic strength.

Let us celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit in America during National Small Business Week. The approximately 23 million small businesses in the United States employ more than half of the country's private work force, create three of every four new jobs, and generate most of America's innovations. Small businesses are the backbone of this country and they are an enduring symbol of the American Dream.

For example, five years ago a young couple in my district had a dream to open a grocery store in the City of Whittier, California. Their vision for the store was to specialize in fresh, ready to prepare Hispanic foods in the historic district of Whittier. Country Fresh Market has found a niche in the grocery retail market that has posted double-digit gains from last year. Subsequently, on March 27th Country Fresh Market was featured on the Food Network in a nationally broadcast segment of ``Food Finds,'' hosted by Sandra Pinkney.

Country Fresh Market is a business success story, and they make many contributions to their local community, including the local Boys and Girls Club and YMCA's Annual Pancake Breakfast. Since its inception, Country Fresh Market has also had four employees graduate from college and helped many of its employees purchase homes. Country Fresh Market prides itself in its employees' success, because its employees are its ``familia'' (family).

Country Fresh Market is a true business success in my district. As a member of the small business community, I'm working to increase the SBA's microloan program from $35,000 to $50,000. By helping small businesses gain access to capital, I hope to bolster the number of small businesses that succeed each year.

Today, let us honor small businesses, like Country Fresh Market. By celebrating America's small businesses, we are keeping the American Dream alive and well for today, and for future generations.