Veterans Business Center Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

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

Mr. Speaker, as a new generation of heroes returns home from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, our Nation has a responsibility to ensure that they can earn a decent living for themselves and their families.

When they reenter civilian life, many of our returning soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines will be interested in launching their own businesses. This is not surprising. After all, the attributes it takes to lead a successful business, like perseverance, leadership and strategic thinking, are the same skills that make members of our military effective.

Already veterans comprise 14 percent of self-employed Americans. With more veterans returning home from Iraq every day, we can only expect the number of self-employed veterans to spike in coming months.

The bill before us today is meant to make specialized services available to veterans so that they can succeed as small business owners. Under this bill, the Small Business Administration is instructed to establish a new Veterans Business Center program. This program will provide veterans with dedicated counseling and business training.

There is already an existing Veterans Business Outreach Center initiative at the Small Business Administration, and while that program is limited in its scope, it has already demonstrated that veterans can succeed in business if they have the right tools.

Importantly, under this bill, for the first time we will have a dedicated network of entrepreneurial development centers that are designed specifically with veterans' needs in mind.

In addition to building on the success of the existing Veterans Business program, this legislation will tackle some of the most difficult challenges blocking veterans from becoming entrepreneurs. Given the ongoing credit crunch, there are specific measures in this bill to help veterans access capital and ensure loans.

H.R. 1803 also helps veterans find Federal contracts that are well-suited for veteran-owned businesses. This is a particularly timely program, given the wave of contracts that will be generated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Equally important, this bill makes clear that as the SBA activates the new network of Veterans Business Centers, it should look first to those areas of the country with large veterans populations. In short, we are bringing small business resources that veterans need to the communities with the most veterans.

Mr. Speaker, all of us owe a debt to the men and women who wear our Nation's uniform in defense of our country. While we can never fully repay that debt, we can help our veterans reenter civilian life and pursue the American Dream.

The legislation before the House today will help our returning heroes find their piece of the American Dream by launching and building their own businesses. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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

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