Small Business Lending

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, over the last several months I have been pushing very hard for this legislation that would help small business owners in my home State of Washington access the capital they need to expand and create jobs.

I stand here today to urge all of our colleagues to put politics aside and finally allow this critical legislation to pass. I spent the last month crisscrossing my home State of Washington talking to families and small business owners about ways that we can create jobs and grow the economy. What I heard again and again from so many of these small business owners is that one of the major factors that prevented them from growing is their inability to access credit. Banks were not lending their money to the small businesses that were doing better than they have ever done before.

I recently spoke with a small business owner named Alton McDonald who owns a grocery store in Tacoma. He told me he wants to hire new employees. His business is primed to grow. But when he went to the bank to get a loan he was turned down.

I spoke with a small business owner named Peter Aaron, who owns the Elliott Bay Bookstore in Seattle which has been a local institution for decades. He is doing his best to keep his head above water in these tough economic times. But he told me that finding a lender to lend him the money he needs to stay in his business is an ongoing challenge. Right now he is struggling to get the financing he needs to put books on his shelves for the holiday season so that when people come in to buy there is something for them to buy.

I had the opportunity to speak with Timothy Robinson. He owns a small manufacturing company in Snohomish County. His small business today employs about 14 people and he is doing well. But he told me that despite his best efforts, he simply cannot get access to the credit he needs to expand. If he could get a bank to give him a loan, Timothy told me he could add 30 people right away, 30 new jobs in Snohomish County.

What I heard from these small business owners and dozens more over the last several weeks was clear: If small businesses were given access to credit, they would be able to expand their operations and add new jobs--as simple as that. Small businesses such as the ones I visited in Washington State can be the engines that drive our economic recovery. But that engine needs fuel in the form of credit to run, and that fuel is not flowing right now.

In communities across my home State of Washington, it has been community banks that have taken the lead in providing that fuel for small business growth. They understand the communities they work in, and they work closely with local small business owners to make sure that their needs are met. But the sad fact is that for far too long our community banks been ignored in our economic recovery. Since this recession began, we have seen banks fail one after another, lending drying up to our small businesses, and job growth suffering. Meanwhile, Wall Street institutions such as AIG and Goldman Sachs were deemed too big to fail. The collapse of our community banks has apparently been too small to notice.

That is why last year I introduced the Main Street Lending Restoration Act, which would direct $30 billion to help jumpstart small business lending.

It is why I spoke directly to Secretary Geithner about this several times. It is why I have been pushing my colleagues hard to make small business lending a priority. It is why, when President Obama came to Seattle last month, I introduced him directly to several small local business owners and we specifically talked about this issue. I believe strongly that we need to focus more on community banks if we are really going to make progress and bring true recovery to Main Street businesses.

I am proud to stand here today in support of the small business lending legislation now before us. This bill takes the most powerful idea from my Main Street Lending Restoration Act. It sets aside $30 billion to help local community banks--those under $10 billion in assets--get the capital they need to begin lending money to small businesses again. It would reward banks that are helping small businesses grow by reducing interest rates on capital they receive under this program. It would help support small business initiatives that are administered by States across the country struggling today because of budget cutbacks. It does all this while saving taxpayers an estimated $1 billion.

When I met with small business owners across my State, I spent a lot of time talking with them about this bill. I talked about how it would help them create jobs and grow their businesses. Every single small business owner with whom I spoke thought this was a very important idea. Many of them had a question for me--a question to which I wish I had a better answer. Their question: Who would oppose this bill? Who would oppose a bill that seems to be such a commonsense solution to a most pressing problem, a bill that would create jobs and help small businesses grow, boost our economy at a time when it is so desperately needed? Who would stand up and say no? I was asked that constantly. Unfortunately, I suspect it comes down to some old-fashioned political games. I fear too many of our Republican colleagues are afraid that a victory for small businesses is a victory for the Democratic Party. They don't want that to happen this close to an election. I think that is truly a shame because I believe the challenges small business owners face today transcend partisan politics.

The truth is that this is a nonpartisan bill. It is a bill that puts credit back into the hands of small business owners. It is a bill that puts people back to work. It is a win for small business. It isn't a win for a political party. It is a win for the economy, our workers, and our country. I urge my colleagues to put partisan politics aside, listen to the voices of their constituents, listen to small business owners, and support this critical legislation.

I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source