To Extend Temporarily Certain Authorities Of The Small Business Administration
TO EXTEND TEMPORARILY CERTAIN AUTHORITIES OF THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION -- (House of Representatives - September 26, 2006)
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Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the legislation being offered today will extend the authorization of the Small Business Administration and most of its programs. While these initiatives would have been extended with any the continuing resolution that the House will pass this week, this bill will extend the authorization to February of 2007.
It is unfortunate that after 2 years, and nearly 50 hearings in the committee, that the only legislation to address the issues at the SBA consists of eight lines of text. While this extension may not include any program changes, it in no way should reflect that the agency is without its problems.
In fact, over the past 2 years, many of the issues at the SBA have been exacerbated by a combination of budget cuts, mismanagement and the inability to adequately respond to the needs of small businesses.
In the last few years, SBA loan programs have grown more expensive to borrowers because of an increase in fees that are being paid by small businesses. We have also seen the problems in our Federal contracting system grow worse for small firms. This year alone, $12 billion in Federal contracts that should have gone to small businesses went to large corporations.
The situation in the gulf coast also revealed that the SBA has serious structural and management problems related to its disaster loan program. Over a year after Hurricane Katrina, just over $2 billion of the $10 billion in approved disaster loans for Katrina victims had been disbursed.
At a time when small businesses are faced with an economic environment that is less than certain, I believe that we should be doing more to help these entrepreneurs. The SBA has a role in improving the climate for small businesses, and Congress has a duty to give them the tools to do just that.
While this legislation will ensure that many of the successful programs can continue to operate, it does fail to extend key provisions that serve veterans and low-income populations. We should be extending all of the initiatives, not picking and choosing.
I am disappointed that Congress will not improve the operations at the SBA, and it is my hope that the committee in the next Congress will act quickly to rectify this
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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