STATEMENT
of the
Honorable Nydia M. Velázquez, Ranking Democratic
Member
House Committee on Small Business
End of the Year Report - 109th Congress
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Good morning and thank you all for being
here today. As Congress begins to wrap up the first
session of the 109th Congress, it is time to stand back
and look at the accomplishments and the failures that
have occurred over the past year.
Looking back through the 1st session,
it is clear that this nation - and Congress - have been
faced with monumental events that have greatly impacted
the economic engines of our nation - small business.
We faced one of the most devastating hurricanes in our
nation's history, the country has been plagued with
record deficits, and we are experiencing skyrocketing
energy and health care costs.
All of these issues weigh heavily on small
businesses and pose serious challenges for this nation's
main job creators. Yet, there are a number of initiatives
in Congress that can help small business owners to work
through these barriers. When we look at the record for
the 1st session - as the Ranking Democrat on the House
Small Business Committee, I can tell you that there
is a lot of work to be done for entrepreneurs in the
last session of the 109th Congress!
That is why Democrats on the committee
issue this report each year - to hold Congress accountable
for the promises made, and the promises un-kept to this
nation's 24 million small businesses. We are not just
pushing Democratic bills here - we are looking at Republican
initiatives too. This report evaluates all of the bills
that offer potential benefit to our nation's entrepreneurs,
and will help them overcome the obstacles they face
today.
Small businesses have been promised a
great deal since the start of the 109th Congress. We
were optimistic last year when President Bush continually
talked about the importance of small businesses in his
campaign speeches. Yet, it has been over a year now,
and all that this nation's entrepreneurs have received
are a laundry list of empty promises.
Our nation's entrepreneurs continue to
be overburdened by rising health care costs, small businesses
in the Gulf Coast region continue to struggle due to
a lack of disaster assistance and the costs of capital
continues to rise. Yet, the initiatives that can ease
these burdens on entrepreneurs continue to be stalled
in Congress.
Evidence of this is the faltering state
of the business environment for entrepreneurs. The committee
released a Small Business Economic Index last month
which showed an eight year low for small firms. One
of the main reasons is that the policies that will improve
the economic environment for small businesses are simply
going NOWHERE.
If you look at the chart next to me there
are over 40 pieces of legislation that have received
little, if any, attention from the Republican leadership
and the administration.
Ironically, over half of the bills in this report are
Republican initiatives - yet they can't even push their
own bills through a Congress they control.
If the U.S. economy is ever going to experience
the booming job creation numbers that were felt a decade
ago - then Congress needs to stop just talking about
it, and start passing legislation that will foster a
strong environment for entrepreneurial growth in 2006.
The last thing we want to see is another
do-nothing Congress for our nation's 23 million small
business owners. But if we keep on the same pace that
we have started out with in the 109th Congress - that
is exactly what this Congress will be.
