To amend the Small Business Act to improve SCORE, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today in support of H.R. 1839, ``to amend the small business act to improve SCORE, and for other purposes.'' I would like to thank my colleague, Congressman Vern Buchanan, for his leadership on this important legislation. The SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) program provides entrepreneurs with the business advice of working and retired executive volunteers.

This legislation will modernize the Small Business Administration's (SBA) small business counseling program. This legislation requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to ensure that SCORE carries out a plan to increase the proportion of small business mentors from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and reports annually to the Administrator on plan implementation, establishes benchmarks for evaluating its activities and volunteers and establishes a mentoring program of one-on-one advice to small businesses from qualified counselors.

Over the years SCORE has been providing entrepreneurs with free, confidential, and valuable small business advice. With unprecedented unemployment rates, more people will be trying to start their own business. Their success is vital to our economic recovery. This bill will help ensure that qualified volunteers are available to provide one-on-one advice and counsel to small businesses.

Research shows that small businesses are five times more likely to start if they get assistance from a government supported program such as SCORE. The ``Retired Executives Building Better Businesses Act of 2009'' would require SCORE administrators to actively recruit and maintain volunteer mentors and track their success. Counselors would be required to have at least ten years of similar experience.

My district is the perfect example of why small businesses are so vital to the nation's economy. Houston's newer and growing economic sub-centers have relied more on small business as their cornerstone than the older Central Business District. According to a report issued by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration findings suggest that while small firms support urban economic growth, as development proceeds they grow substantially. In turn, small firm growth plays an important role in urban economic development which is likely to lead to economic growth for the entire local economy. Moreover, small businesses--including minority- and women-owned companies--are the leading employers in the Houston area and provide nearly half of all jobs in Texas.

Many small businesses continue to struggle with layoffs, access to capital, cash flow and overall management issues. SCORE has a proven track record of both creating and saving jobs by improving business survival rates as well as accelerating small business formation which is why this legislation is so important. SCORE fulfills a vital role for America's small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs by providing much needed technical assistance. In 2007 SCORE volunteers assisted in the creation of almost 20,000 new small businesses and help create more than 25,000 new jobs each year. Currently, SCORE has 389 chapters in locations throughout the United States with 10,500 volunteers nationwide.

I urge my colleagues to support small business by voting in favor of this vital legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise today in strong support of my legislation to modernize the Small Business Administration's small business counseling program. The Service Corps of Retired Executives program, also known as SCORE, provides entrepreneurs with the small business advice of working and retired executive volunteers.

For years, SCORE has been providing entrepreneurship with free, confidential, and valued small business advice. With double-digit unemployment rates, more people will be trying to start their own business today. Their success is vital to an economic recovery. This bill will help ensure that qualified volunteers are available to provide one-on-one advice and counsel to small businesses.

Research shows that small businesses are five times more likely to start if they get assistance from a government-supported program such as SCORE. This bill will require SCORE administrators to actively recruit and maintain volunteer mentors and track their success. Counselors will be required to have at least 10 years of similar experience.

Earlier this year, the chairwoman from the Manasota SCORE chapter, Jeannette Mills, testified in support of my bill before the small business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Entrepreneurship and Trade. She said, ``SCORE fulfills a vital role for America's small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs by providing much needed technical assistance. As you know, many small businesses continue to struggle with layoffs, access to capital, cash flow and overall management issues advise. SCORE has a proven track record of both being creative and saving jobs by improving business survival rates as well as accelerating small business formation.''

Here are some facts about SCORE for people that aren't aware. They have assisted in more than 523,000 people in the last year; they provided counseling to more than 8.5 million business owners; they've conducted more than 322,000 counseling sessions; they've received 3.2 million visitors to their Web site in just the last year; they have helped create more than 20,000 new small businesses.

I know from my own experience in the 1980s, I remember the U.S. Chamber came out with a statistic, as I remember today, 92 percent that start up small businesses fail in 5 years. But the IFA had a statistic during that time, the International Franchise Association, that 80 percent of businesses succeed. Because of that partnership, they could be in business for themselves, but not by themselves. That's what SCORE provides. We want a much higher probability of success, not a 92 percent failure rate. We want an 80 percent or better-type success rate for small businesses that will create jobs.

Also, currently SCORE has 389 chapter locations throughout the United States with over 10,000 volunteers nationwide.

I'd like to close by thanking my good friend, and her incredible leadership on small business, Chairwoman

Velazquez, as well as Ranking Member Graves for their support and assistance with this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1839) to amend the Small Business Act to improve SCORE, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, when first starting out, entrepreneurs often struggled with basics, like marketing their services, accessing capital, and learning to navigate the tax code. In the earliest stages of development, mistakes in these areas can mean the difference between a venture's success and its failure. That is why the SCORE program was established to help fledgling business owners learn the ropes of entrepreneurship.

By matching new business owners with practiced hands, SCORE helps entrepreneurs trade best practices and learn from the mistakes of their forerunners. The program functions as a mentoring service, one that allows retired business owners to continue giving back to their communities. This is a laudable goal to be sure. But unfortunately, SCORE has not kept pace with the shifting marketplace. H.R. 1839 will update and enhance the program, tailoring it to meet the needs of today's entrepreneurs.

With the economy in flux, small firms require specialized training in areas not previously offered. To begin, technology plays a vastly more important role in entrepreneurship than it has in the past.

This bill recognizes that fact and modernizes the SCORE to deliver the kind of training that is critical to doing business in the information age.

Just as the business world is changing, so, too, is the face of entrepreneurship. In recent years, we have seen a surge in the number of women and minorities starting their own firms; and yet for some reason, SCORE has failed to reflect that trend.

Mr. Buchanan's bill will promote greater diversity within the program. That way, we can better match small business owners with mentors and be sure every entrepreneur, regardless of race, gender, industry or region, has access to the specialized resources they need to be successful.

This bill helps train the next generation's small business innovators. It allows them to sidestep the pitfalls of early entrepreneurship and get straight to work doing what they do best: creating jobs and growing our economy.

H.R. 1839 is an important piece of legislation, and I thank Representative Buchanan for his contribution.

I urge support and reserve the balance of my time.

I yield back the balance of my time.