National Small Business Week

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, during National Small Business Week, I join with my fellow Americans in honoring workers, entrepreneurs, and the small business community.

From farms and factories to shops and cafes, small businesses employ hardworking Americans and provide important goods and services to their neighbors. In Pennsylvania and around the country, small businesses are not only the backbone of our economy, they are the heart our communities.

This year, they have faced extraordinary challenges. During the coronavirus crisis, many small businesses, following Federal, State, and local mandates, have been forced to radically change the way they do business or even temporarily close their doors.

As jobs were put into jeopardy, Congress quickly acted to provide targeted relief to American families, workers, and small businesses. Under the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program was enacted in record time. This unprecedented program served as a vital lifeline to millions of small businesses. Already, the Paycheck Protection Program has saved more than 50 million jobs across our country. For those workers and their families, this policy is personal.

Just last weekend, I stopped by Boyer Orchards in Bedford County. As I was waiting to buy their famous apples, I had the opportunity to speak to my fellow Penn Staters Matt and Ellen Boyer and their sons and all who work for them tirelessly to keep this family business running.

Like many farms and orchards, they had tough choices when they lost business during the coronavirus shutdown, through no fault of their own; but, thankfully, they had the support to make ends meet and, most importantly, to keep their hardworking team on the payroll.

The Boyer family attributes the Paycheck Protection Program with helping them weather the storm, and they even called this program a godsend.

Today, I am happy to report that the orchard is open and business is booming and the apples are plentiful. I can confirm that they were well worth the wait.

As we celebrate the success of the Boyer family, I also recognize that there are small businesses that are still struggling under the burdensome State and local mandates.

The deadline to apply for Paycheck Protection Program support has, unfortunately, passed, and yet too many businesses remain closed or restricted. Some small business leaders are wondering how long they can survive. And, frankly, if we do not act, we risk losing them permanently.

Most of our small businesses have been built by hardworking families over generations. Will Congress let this be their end? Will we allow families on Main Street to be used as bargaining chips in Washington?

Mr. Speaker, we cannot permit small businesses to be wiped out by a virus. This is a time for choosing, and we in Congress must put politics aside and extend a lifeline to the American small businesses.

Congressman Steve Chabot, the top Republican on the House Small Business Committee, has introduced commonsense legislation that would reopen the Paycheck Protection Program, free up over $137 billion of unspent funds, and extend this program until the end of this year. This plan makes sense, and I encourage every Member of Congress to support it.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it is to plan for the unexpected. While many circumstances beyond our control remain uncertain, Congress has an opportunity now to offer small businesses security, and, most important, we have the chance to offer hope to these hardworking Americans.

As my friend Congressman Chabot said earlier this week, our economy is depending upon America's small businesses, and American small businesses are depending on us.

This Small Business Week, there are livelihoods that are on the line. American families are counting on us. American workers are counting on us. It is time that we deliver for them.

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