Small Business Additional Temporary Extension Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1082, and in strong support of the Small Business Innovation and Research program. I urge my colleagues to vote yes, and send this extension to the President to prevent this crucial program from lapsing.

This is a short term extension, coming on the heels of 10 short term extensions in the past 3 years.

While I urge my colleagues to vote yes, I also urge members on both sides to continue working on a long term reauthorization that brings certainty to this program while at the same time preserving the initial intent of SBIR: the nurturing of bona fide and innovative small businesses. As of 2010, SBIR had granted 88,651 awards, totaling over $28 billion, to Small Businesses around the country.

This program supports two of the things that I've spent my 35 years in Congress fighting hard to advance: innovation and small business.

Nationally, the program is an unparalleled success. Even though SBIR only accounts for 2.5% of the Research and Development extramural budget, SBIR has provided 25% of the 100 most important innovations as reported by R&D Magazine.

SBIR is the nation's largest source of early-stage research and development funding. This program has provided for more than 50,000 patents since its inception, successfully harnessing the proven innovative power of small, technology-based businesses to meet the nation's technology needs.

On average, SBIR generates seven new patents per day--which is far more than all U.S. universities combined--at less than one-twelfth their level of federal research and development funding.

In Massachusetts, we know about innovation and energy. We might not be blessed with Oil, or Natural gas, but we are blessed with a different kind of energy.

My state of Massachusetts is not just ``The Bay State''--it's also the Brain State.

Since its inception, over 12,500 awards have gone to Massachusetts, totaling almost $4 billion. One need not travel far in my district to see the affects of the SBIR program. Whether it is the development of rapid, painless bedside muscle evaluation of children in Woburn, or the study of Oral antibody therapy for Celiac disease in Wayland, this program pushes small business, the engine of our economy, into new levels of discovery and success.

I thank the Speaker for my time, and urge a yes vote on S. 1082. Let's stand alongside Small Business, and save this crucial and innovative program from lapsing.

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