Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise to voice my strong support of H.R. 2640, the McCarthy-Dingell National Instant Criminal Background Check Improvement Act. It is high time Congress acted to strengthen the gun laws in this country and implement common sense policies to ensure that guns are not ending up in the wrong hands.

H.R. 2640 will strengthen the National Instant Background Check System (NICS) by creating incentives for states to submit legal records about individuals who are not eligible to purchase guns.

This bill also permits Federal law enforcement grants to be cut for states that do not submit such records to the electronic database and requires greater information- sharing among Federal agencies.

This legislation will make it easier for law enforcement authorities to coordinate and work together to make sure guns do not end up in the hands of criminals, the mentally ill, and non-citizens.

This bill will also create a more uniform system of background checks to help prevent the type of tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech, where a documented mentally disturbed young man was able to buy guns and create devastation and destruction on a college campus.

Mr. Speaker, I believe this bill is an important first step in strengthening our Nation's gun laws and I support this legislation enthusiastically and without reservation.

I am also offering my own legislation, H.R. 2666, Blair's Bill, which will create a national gun registry and licensing procedure so we can finally begin to get a grip on the deadly issue of gun violence that has devastated so many of our communities across the country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this and other sensible gun control laws.

Madam Speaker, today I introduce the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2007.

I introduce this bill in tribute to a brave young hero, Blair Holt, who sacrificed his life in an attempt to protect the life of a friend. Blair was fatally shot and killed by a young man possessing a deadly firearm and a reckless disregard for human life.

Madam Speaker, the proliferation of guns in our community impacts us all. My son lost his life back in 1999 due to senseless gun violence and my nephew sits in jail today, convicted of fatally shooting someone.

I am sick and tired of shooting and the loss of innocent lives over and over again in our neighborhoods.

In Chicago, since the beginning of this school year alone, over 31 children have lost their life by violence, and the great majority were killed with guns.

This bill will assist law enforcement in tracking the flow of guns and require those who possess guns to be trained in gun safety, handling, and storage.

The purpose of this bill is to restrict the availability of firearms to criminals, youth, and gang members, and to protect the public against the unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with the unrecorded sale and transfer of guns.

I know that the powerful gun lobby will attack this bill for restricting the availability of guns, but all of us who live in the inner cities where our children and family members are losing their lives on a weekly or daily basis understand the need to implement a common sense federal law that will inform law enforcement of where the guns are and who is possessing them.

This bill will implement the same type of system that we have in place for licensing drivers and registering cars. No sensible individual can argue with the fact that with over 200 million guns in the United States, we need a uniform system to keep track of these weapons. Mayors and law enforcement officials across the country have been calling for this type of legislation for years and I hope that we will be successful in making Blair's Bill federal law.

Madam Speaker, the future of our children, our families, and our communities is at stake. I encourage my colleagues to join my efforts to increase accountability in our firearm policy and support H.R. 2666--the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2007.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 964) to protect users of the Internet from unknowing transmission of their personally identifiable information through spyware programs, 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 to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, today the House takes up H.R. 964, the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act, or SPY Act.

This bill is not unfamiliar to the House of Representatives. Twice this body has passed the SPY Act with overwhelming margins, and it is my hope that today will be the third time. H.R. 964 aggressively tackles the problem of ``spyware,'' the insidious software that consumers unwittingly download onto their computers, only to have their personal private information extracted for commercial or fraudulent purposes.

In the past two Congresses, Mrs. Bono and Mr. Towns introduced the bipartisan SPY Act, and both times the bill enjoyed overwhelming support. This year, Mr. Towns and Mrs. Bono have once again teamed up to introduce the SPY Act as H.R. 964. And on March 15, the Consumer Protection Subcommittee held another legislative hearing on the bill. On May 10, 2007, the Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously reported H.R. 964, the SPY Act, as amended.

H.R. 964 provides a broad regulatory framework that empowers consumers with knowledge and the ability to control what software is installed, and is not installed, on their personal computers. This bill prohibits unfair or deceptive acts and practices related to spyware and creates an ``opt in'' regime whereby entity cannot execute any program that collects a person's personal information without, first, giving explicit notice to the consumer and second, receiving his or her consent. H.R. 964 provides that the FTC will enforce the SPY Act and will have the authority to impose significant civil penalties. During both the full committee and the subcommittee markups of H.R. 964, I introduced manager's amendments tweaking provisions of the bill, and they were the work product of deliberative bipartisan cooperation. This bill has been thoroughly honed to be effective without being overbearing.

Mr. Speaker, the SPY Act is a quality piece of legislation that all Members of the House should enthusiastically support. The full Committee on Energy and Commerce and the subcommittee that I am privileged to chair, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, have a long history of bipartisan cooperation, and this bill is an extension of that longstanding tradition.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York, my colleague, my friend (Mr. Towns).

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

Mr. Speaker, as was indicated earlier, this is the third time that this bill has been before this body. It was passed overwhelmingly two times in prior Congresses. We really believe that the third time should be the charm. This bill should pass out of this House with the same kind of margins that it passed out of two previous Congresses, and I would urge my colleagues to vote for this bill once again.

This bill needs to become law. This bill protects the American consumer. This bill protects the American economy. This is a good bill. It needs to become law.

None of the practices outlawed by section 2 of the bill are ``legitimate.'' As for section 3's consumer notice, consent, identification, and easy disabling requirements, legitimate business practices are exempted by the exceptions in section 3(b)(2) and the limitations in section 5 of the SPY Act. The committee added new rule- making authority to exempt a broad class of entities operating Internet Web sites that collect information if the FTC finds that their notice to consumers is adequate.

Mr. Speaker, we have corrected the bill, made minor tweaking improvements on the bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my support for H. Res. 422, which calls on the Government of the People's Republic of China to use its unique influence and economic leverage to stop the genocide and violence in Darfur.

The world must be united in its call for an end to genocide. As China seeks to enter onto the world stage as a global economic and diplomatic power, the government must assume the responsibility, as well as the benefits that accompany this distinction.

China must use its close economic and military ties and advise the Sudanese government that genocide is very bad for business. Congress and the world are watching. It is imperative that China uses its power in a responsible manner and help bring a change to this troubled region.

Madam Speaker, today I am introducing a bill to raise the cap on civil penalties that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) currently may impose against a person or company for knowingly violating the statutes that the CPSC enforces. Currently, the CPSC is limited to assessing a mere $1.825 million against anyone company for related violations.

This amount is entirely too low to serve as an effective economic deterrent, especially for large corporations, and to help ensure that companies follow the law with regard to safe products. For some companies, this cap amounts to little more than a cost of doing business--a figure they can just write off in deciding to follow the law, or not.

My legislation would raise the cap to $20 million, a more realistic number to serve as a deterrent against violations and a more appropriate penalty for violations that have occurred.

Madam Speaker, raising the cap to an amount that better reflects today's economic realities will encourage manufacturers, among other things, to report promptly critical information about unsafe products, to recall defective products more quickly, and generally to comply more cooperatively with statutes designed to promote and ensure safe products in the American marketplace.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1252) to protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and other fuels, 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, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, gasoline prices are now at record highs. The average price of gas is $3.19 nationwide, with my home State of Illinois having higher prices than any other at $3.46 a gallon. Now, rising gas prices are one thing, and I fully recognize the reality of global oil markets, the current state of our refinery capacity, and the basic laws of supply and demand. But the gouging of American consumers is another matter entirely, and the bill on the floor, H.R. 1252, the Federal Price Gouging Protection Act, ensures that American consumers are protected from companies that will prey on them during emergencies when they are most vulnerable.

I want to commend the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak) for a fine piece of legislation that is both thoughtful and careful in its scope. On the one hand, the bill is tough and decisive. It gives the Federal Trade Commission the tools to crack down on and punish those companies that would price-gouge American consumers by unscrupulously taking advantage of unique energy shortages and unconscionably raising the price of gasoline on the American consumer.

On the other hand, the bill explicitly takes into account the totality of market forces, both domestic and international. H.R. 1252 preserves the ability of companies to mitigate against legitimate risks and raise prices as necessary. Simply put, the bill is carefully written such that if a company is found liable of price gouging under this act, then they are in fact price gouging. It is very difficult to argue that we are overreaching or too vague in this bill.

As chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, I fully support Mr. Stupak's bill and its expeditious treatment on the suspension calendar. It is important for the American people to know we are on the ball, and that this ball is moving quickly to address their concerns. I urge Members of the House to pass the legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kagen).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy).

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

Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. Speaker, we have additional speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind my friend from Texas that he should take a closer look at the bill. The bill explicitly takes into account market conditions, both domestic and international. The bill has two pages of mitigating factors. If the costs go up, and they are going up, this bill allows companies to capture the costs.

And I would have to just conclude, Mr. Speaker, that my friend from Texas needs to take a closer look at this bill because his arguments are just not true.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 seconds to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak).

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time we have remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak).

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

Mr. Speaker, the opponents of this bill, my friends on the other side of the aisle, are asking for this Congress to wait until a more perfect time, a more perfect time to help the American consumer out.

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind my friends on the other side of the aisle that the American people are suffering right now, and they are demanding this Congress to take action right now.

There can never be a more perfect time for this Congress to take action. Now is the time to take action. Now is the time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to just inform my colleagues that scare tactics will not work this time. If they will look at this bill, they will see that scare tactics are nowhere in this bill. This bill is a scalpel, it is not a meat axe. This bill carefully speaks to the issues that the American people face. This bill is carefully crafted to take into account market conditions, explicitly listing those mitigating factors that will spur the FTC into action.

Any company that gouges should be sought out, should be identified, should be brought before justice, should be brought before the American people in the form of the Federal Trade Commission. A company will be found guilty of price gouging under this bill only, and I repeat, only if they engage in unconscionable pricing. We do not suspend free markets nor do we suspend the laws of supply and demand.

Mr. Speaker, again, the American consumers need us to act, they want us to act, they demand that we do act. Now is the time. Now is the time for us to act. I ask Members of this Congress to vote in favor of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my full support for National Teacher Day and Teacher Appreciation Week. There is no calling more noble than the profession of educator, as teachers play a vital role in shaping the future of our country and they have a deep impact on every member of our great society.

Like many of my colleagues here in Congress, I can recall wonderful teachers who helped change my life for the better and who have influenced me in profound ways, which they may never fully understand.

Madam Speaker, on a daily basis teachers are tasked with educating all of our children, in some cases spending more hours with students than they spend with their parents. Besides teaching students reading and math, educators help students learn the value of responsibility, social skills, discipline, and respect for themselves and others.

Teachers have the solemn responsibility of shaping the minds of our youth and preparing them intellectually, socially, emotionally, and psychologically to become productive and responsible members of our society.

In a time when so much is asked of our teachers, when they are required to play the role of educator, parent, counselor, and friend, it is imperative that we provide them with the tools needed to accomplish their important jobs.

I will continue to support legislation to fully fund educational initiatives such as Head Start, Pell Grants, and the No Child Left Behind Act, to name a few, and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

We cannot continue to emphasize accountability and high-stakes testing for our teachers, who are on the frontlines working with students, without providing them with the resources to fully and effectively accomplish their objectives.

Despite the negative press that the teaching profession regularly endures, in the face of funding cuts and intense scrutiny, I know that every one of my colleagues realizes that the vast majority of our teachers are doing yeomen's work with the resources they are given.

So I would like to commend America's teachers and express my full support for National Teacher Day and Teacher Appreciation Week. As a Member of Congress, I will continue to do all that I can to support your efforts and provide you with the resources you need.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to introduce a private immigration relief bill for several Chicagoans who remain in daily jeopardy because they seek a path to citizenship in the United States.

Over the past few years, I have met with several residents in my community and heard detailed accounts of abuse by the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

I was told stories of children being ripped from the arms of their parents by immigration enforcement officers toting machine guns and aiming their weapons at family members.

I was told stories of mothers who had lived in the United States for years, bore children, paid taxes and owned homes--but still faced deportation because they hadn't met all the standards required for citizenship in our country.

There were numerous stories of immigrants who were being sponsored by their sick and ailing family members--mothers, husbands, children and babies; who were thrown off the path towards citizenship because of tragic illnesses resulting in death.

Madam Speaker, we all understand the debate on illegal immigration strikes considerable emotion and debate; however, my legislation today is in support of average people who were trying to do the right thing.

Every name on this private bill: Elvira Arellano, Juan Carlos Arreguin, Martin Guerrero Barrios, Maria I. Benitez, Francisco J. Castro, Jaime Cruz, Martha Davalos, Herminio Davalos, Adan Disifredo Delvalle, Angel Espinosa, Veronica Lopez, Francisca Lino, Maria A. Martin, Juan Jose Mesa, Maria Natividad Loza, Blanca E. Nolte, Domenico Papaianni, Romina Perea, Juan Jose Rangel, Sr., Dayron S. Rios Arenas, Araceli Zepeda, Doris Oneida Ulloa and Bladimir I. Caballero, Arnulfo Alfaro, Consuelo and Juan Manuel Castellanos, Eliseo Pulido, Gilberto Romero, Maria Liliana Rua-Saenz, Tomas F. Martinez-Garcia, Flor Crisostomo; Fatuma Karuma, Stanislaw Rychtarczyk, Slobodan Radanovich, Agustin Sanchez-Dominguez, are victims of circumstance.

They all want a chance to stay with their families in the United States, make an honest living and pursue the American dream. I call on my colleagues to support this legislation and the immediate consideration of immigrant visas, adjustments of status for permanent residence, and practical paths towards citizenship for the above immigrants.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in fervent support of H.R. 1429, the Improving Head Start Act. This bill represents one of the most important pieces of legislation that Congress will deliberate because it affects a countless number of our young children and helps prepare them for a lifetime of learning and success.

Specifically, I applaud and support Congresswoman Johnson's amendment which addresses the need of engaging low-income and minority students, who overwhelmingly attend HCBU's, and provides them with additional opportunities to train in early childhood education at the undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels.

These same college students would then be required to teach in Head Start programs educating students who share similar backgrounds and family situations.

Mr. Chairman, the Johnson amendment is a win-win for our college students, our beginning students, and for the health and future of this country.

Research verifies what we already understand, that the earlier our children are engaged in the learning process the higher their chances of success later in school and in life.

Head Start promotes school readiness by providing our youngest students with early reading and math skills, enhancing their social and cognitive development, and providing them with health, nutritional, and other services.

By addressing the educational needs of our youngest children early on, we will increase our chances of closing existing achievement gaps. I urge all of my colleagues to support the Johnson Amendment, and the Improving Head Start Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise to show my strong and enthusiastic support for H.R. 362 and H.R. 363. Both of these bills are extremely timely and worthwhile pieces of legislation that will provide much needed assistance to my constituents, and to the country as a whole.

As we advance forward in this new century, it is of the utmost importance that we prepare our young people for the challenges that lay ahead. Addressing issues such as global climate change and making our nation more energy efficient require that we train our students to become the scientists, mathematicians, and engineers of the future.

In the district that I represent, families are yearning for more schools that focus on math and science. Such curriculums offer greater opportunities to help prepare our students to attend college and graduate school in these areas and to secure jobs in the new millennium in the fields of biofuels, biotechnology, and biodefense.

I have personally been involved in trying to secure more funding to address these concerns and bring science and math-oriented schools into my district.

Additionally, with the selection of Chicago as a potential host for the 2016 Olympics, our great city will need to fulfill the demand for more civil engineers, technicians, and architects. We will need to construct new buildings, roads, and stadiums, and we would like to utilize the limitless talent of Illinois' most skilled and well trained mathematicians, scientists and engineers.

H.R. 362 and H.R. 363 will help address the needs of my community, as well as the many challenges that this great country faces. I urge all of my colleagues to support these bills.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1592, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This bill lends a voice to those who have no voice.

As a nation, we have been endowed to preserve the truth that all men and women are created equal under God and as Members of Congress, we must fight to preserve this truth as long as we continue to live in a democracy.

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act does not in any way infringe on the First Amendment rights of Americans. On the contrary, the bill only covers violent criminal actions. Nothing in this legislation would prohibit any form of lawful expression of one's religious beliefs.

This legislation brings our current hate crimes laws into the 21st century by expanding the current provision to cover all violent crimes motivated by race, color, religion, or national origin when the defendant causes bodily injury, or attempts to cause bodily injury through use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive device.

Additionally, the bill will also allow the Federal Government to provide crucial Federal resources to State and local agencies to equip local officers with the tools they need to prosecute hate crimes. This resolution ensures that the Federal prosecution of hate crimes is limited to cases that implicate the greatest Federal interest and present the greatest need for Federal intervention.

This bill will protect people like Billy Ray Johnson of Linden, TX, a mentally-challenged African-American man who suffered severe brain damage after being maliciously attacked by four white men who hurled racial expletives at him. This law would properly prosecute the individuals, ensure that justice is allowed to run its course, and is seen by Mr. Johnson's family.

In conclusion Mr. Speaker, hate in any form is neither a Democratic nor an American value and I do not subscribe to it.

We must love our neighbors and moreover we must protect them from crimes committed against them due to their self-expression.

We must be vehemently opposed to prejudice in all forms. I strongly support this legislation and encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this important bill.

Madam Speaker, on Sunday April 22, 2007, my dear friend and colleague Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald was called home.

Juanita was a great woman who worked passionately for justice and cared deeply for mankind. She was a phenomenal Congresswoman, a loving wife, mother and grandmother and a dutiful friend.

She made time for her constituents--and didn't just listen, but heard them, and spoke for them.

Madam Speaker, Juanita began her tenure in Congress in 1996. She represented California's 37th Congressional District and was a proud leader in the Congressional Black Caucus where she championed the caucus' disparities agenda to advance economic development, expand access and affordability for health care, truly ``leave no child behind'' in our education policy and the list goes on.

She was a true legislator. For example, she authored several pieces of legislation focusing on health care, specifically woman's heart health. Legislation such as H.R. 51, a bill to support National Wear Red Day, and H.R. 52 the American Heart Month which called on women to take action and prevent heart disease were just a few examples of her legislative priorities.

Juanita was a trailblazer, becoming the first African American woman to chair the House Administration Committee for the 110th Congress. She was known as the Mayor of Capitol Hill; overseeing the operational and safety needs of the Capitol compound.

She was truly a jewel and a joy to have known. In closing, I'm reminded of a passage from Proverbs 31:10-31 KJV, verse 10 which reads:

``Who can find a virtuous woman? . . . for her price is far above rubies.''

Congresswoman Millender-McDonald was a great woman, epitomizing humanity, humility and virtue. She will truly be missed.

Madam Speaker, April is both National Fair Housing Month and National Financial Literacy Month, and I rise today to acknowledge both of these important goals and to highlight a serious issue that both of the these areas address--home foreclosure

Many of us have seen the recent reports of a skyrocketing increase in the number of foreclosures and of people losing their homes. Across the country thousands of families have had the American dream of homeownership snatched away.

In the 1st Congressional District of Illinois, which I am privileged to represent, many of my constituents have fallen victim to increases in adjustable rate mortgages, high-cost home equity lines of credit, and predatory loans which have made their dreams of home ownership turn into nightmares.

Homes in Chicago have entered into foreclosure at an alarming rate: currently, Chicago homeowners are in foreclosure at more than twice the national average. One in every 471 homeowners is in foreclosure: that compares with 1 in 1,030 for the Nation.

In 2006, Cook County, Illinois had 19,522 foreclosures, up 35 percent from 14,506 in 2005 and above its peak of 18,612 in 2002.

These are staggering statistics and they have a devastating effect on our neighborhoods. As foreclosures rise our communities diminish, local property values drop, people move out and vacant homes become magnets for crime.

Madam Speaker, we must find solutions to the problem of home foreclosures that are in the best interests of lenders and financial institutions, local and state governments, and most critically, our families and communities.

Homeownership is one of the principal tools by which families build generational wealth. If done wisely, a person may use their home to leverage financial dreams of entrepreneurship, property acquisition, and paying for higher education. But, in order to achieve these goals, consumers must have the tools of financial literacy.

In conclusion Madam Speaker, Congress must put the tools of financial literacy into the hands of all people and create fair housing policies, that protect consumers from the pitfalls of financial ruin and foreclosure.

I encourage my colleagues to use Financial Literacy and Fair Housing Month as a catalyst for immediate passage of federal predatory lending measures that put people before profit.

I want to thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to commend you and all the others, my colleague from California, my other colleagues and friends who have worked so tirelessly on this particular issue, and on other issues.

Congresswoman Lee, you are an inspiration to all of us because of the stance that you take on these and other humanitarian issues.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to show my strongest support for the Darfur Partners for Peace Act. We must continue to put pressure on the international community to intervene on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who are being brutally slaughtered even as we speak in the killing fields called Darfur. With over 2 million people displaced, and more than 400,000 people murdered, we cannot allow the world to become numb to the tragedy that is taking place in the Sudan.

Madam Speaker, after Rwanda we said ``Never again. Never again. Never again.'' Well, Madam Speaker, never is now. This is a genocide, and now is the time to act. Now is the time to speak out, and now is the time to stand up against this viciousness and cruelty.

Madam Speaker, we can do no less than to use all of the resources, every resource at our command, every fiber in our body, every moral indignation that we can find in our humanity. We can do no less than to stand up now and to speak out against the killing of women, men and children in Darfur. Our future as a nation will be predicated on the issues and on how we react and stop this genocide.

Madam Speaker, a year from now, 2 years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now an apology should not be necessary and an apology should not be appropriate for this kind of tragedy. Never is now. Speak out now.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I also want to commend her for her outstanding leadership on this issue and other important issues that face this Congress.

And I want to also commend the ranking member, Mr. Chabot, for his outstanding leadership on this particular issue.

Mr. Chairman, today I rise in strong support of H.R. 1332, the Small Business Lending Improvements Act of 2007.

As a former small business owner and an advocate for minority entrepreneurship and franchising, I might add, I am pleased that this legislation would target money more aggressively and efficiently towards small businesses and finally put them in a position to compete.

Mr. Chairman, the Small Business Administration's support of communities like my own in the First Congressional District of Illinois needs to be improved. One of the services that I provide to my constituents is monthly small business development seminars that we are conducting in cooperation with the local SBA. Also, I have hosted two franchise fairs to educate and engage my constituents on the power of minority entrepreneurship.

Mr. Chairman, one of the biggest issues raised is the accessibility of the SBA loans. Small business owners and startups have a hard time navigating the SBA. This important legislation bridges the financial gap for small business owners, particularly minority businesses. These owners are trying to create economic opportunities. They are trying to create jobs, and they are trying to increase the competition of goods and services. Not only do they need and deserve our support, but, Mr. Chairman, by focusing on these urban business pioneers, we honor the entrepreneur spirit that this Nation was built on.

I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.

I fully support this bill's provision of:

Establishing a small bank outreach division;

Increasing capital for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses; and

Completely eliminating loan fees to veteran-owned small businesses.

Mr. Chairman, this bill ensures that the mission and goals of the Small Business Administration are not only being maintained but that their standards for aggressive outreach, increasing access and promoting equitable lending are raised.