after all small companies create more new jobs and drive greater innovation that's been done big businesses do through the recovery act congress has delivered important form thing to small firms since then we have seen real challenge for small businesses we need to be sure that small firms have all the resources they need to roll for us because at the end of the day or we call will he on job creation the very thing that small businesses do best thirty five percent of banks have tightened lending to small firms meanwhile seventy nine percent open to open doors have seen their credit card lines caught dramatically these are troubling declines not just not just for writer for his leadership in moving it forward i would also like to thank all of my colleagues who worked so hard to make this bill a success ranking member graves mr buchanan worth mr look legislation that's going to provide changes to the small business administration programs that are going to provide new capital to small businesses testimony before this committee shows a small businesses have been unable to obtain needed capital to maintain expand their businesses in our districts business owners have noted that they have seen banks reduce their credit lines and demand excessive clear at all to get a loan the inability to obtain capital has a serious detrimental effect on the capacity of small businesses to grow their business and pull out of out of this current recession the committee has worked hard to produce legislation with significant discussions between democrat and republican members before so they is a compilation of legislative initiatives drafted by the members of both sides of the aisle their contributions cannot be understate and i would especially like to thank congressman be cannon congressman luke meyer for their input on this legislation the bill before so they make supporting changes to improve the efficiency and increase the transparency of the s b a to lending programs those modifications are needed to ensure that capital is made available to as many small businesses as possible in a timely manner because delay in the marketplace can result lost opportunities for small businesses in addition to creating improvements for the management of the s b a capital access programs the bill's primary focus is to provide vital capital of small businesses including those in rural areas the billing chris's outreach efforts to rule lenders in the seven a loan program modifying the areas in which the new market venture capital companies can operate with and will provide greater investment opportunities for rule areas that have been bypassed by other venture capitalists these are only two of the examples of the many improvements at this will increase access to capital by small business owners despite these significant improvements are still some unsolved concerns with the bill unresolved possibly with the loan package and i don't think that the s b a should be making the loan the disaster loan provisions included an authorization to make grants to small businesses rather than loans and i recognize that fema provides grants to individuals but not significant her not sufficient gran funds for small businesses and i'm not sure that we should change a loan program to grant program especially without any detail findings that grants would have saved businesses during recovery from a zester that were not saved by loans and finally we must recognize the current  constraints the deficit is an all time high and congress is considering a number of potentially expensive programs and it was old i'm concerned about the potential overall cost of the bill but those are my reservations on the bill before us given the importance of the bills to the potential prosperity of american small business the american small business economy i support bell being reported as a comedian i look forward to working with the chairwoman to address these concerns as the legislative process moves forward and again i want to thank you for holding this markup and ideal back morning's committee markup the legislation that we're considering today will provide a much needed update to the s b a as access to capital programs all of us on this have committee on this committee have heard from small business owners in our districts that have excess in capital continues to be a major challenge so small businesses need capital to grow and create new jobs but the credit crunch has made it exceedingly difficult for them to apply to obtain loans yes b a s access to capital programs are supposed to be a resource for small business owners when they have trouble getting credit from traditional sources and unfortunately we've seen a recent decrease in the s b a as loan volume in f y two zero nine s b a s made around thirty five percent fewer seventy loans than it did in the previous year this needs to be turned around and we need action now the legislation we are marking up this morning the small business financing and investment act will reauthorize and enhanced the f b i s access to capital program so that they can better serve the needs of our nation small businesses i commend the chairman of the finance and tax subcommittee mr schrader for taking the lead on this legislation and i'm also pleased that it incorporates my bill h r thirty seven twenty three the small business credit expansion and loan market stabilization act the language from my bill will improve the s b a as flagship seventy loan program it extends the provisions in the recovery act that reduced borrower fees and increase the s b a loan guarantee to seven to ninety percent we also raise the loan limit to three million dollars and i look forward to working with the chair and the committee to evaluate further raising the limit to five million which is what i've been hearing from the committee and outside people that we need to do we're also going to extend the arc loan program which was created by the a r r a to provide small business owners with interest free loans that are one hundred percent guaranteed by s b a the language from my bill will increase the maximum award from thirty five thousand to fifty thousand to  increase lender participation in seven a the bill creates new rural and small lender outreach programs at the s b a and finally we're going to help veteran entrepreneurs by fully implementing the s b a as increased veteran participation loan program so i think the bill we have before us today is a good step in the right direction and i urge members of this committee to support it madam chair i yield back the balance of my time are there any other members i wish to thank you madam chair i just like to thank everybody on the committee and everyone who's come before our committee and the testimony they've given to help us fine tune the s b a programs before us today directly enjoyed working with  the ranking member and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to help reduce the cost of this bill recognizing deficit is an issue and but still trying to make sure the lending markets free up a little bit expand some of our opportunities around the country to get these agencies frankly in a better competitive position in the next step will be to instill confidence in the banks we're not adding a whole bunch of new regulations that would hamper their ability to get involved no strings attached these are just opportunities to get small business going again and support jobs but they are important contributors to local charities and nonprofit groups and small towns business owners are often engage in the civic process and service community leaders and short entrepreneurs are nothing short of the glue that hol rural communities together for these reasons small businesses play a critical role when commit and when communities recover from natural disasters when tornadoes or hurricanes strike many communities don't fully recover until local businesses reopen their doors once  businesses get back to work local commerce can resume citizens are able to find employment and eventually life returns to normal the small business administration is a disaster loan program is an important lifeline for businesses that are struggling after natural disasters low interest loans pro prodded through this program help for and rebuild if their facilities sustain physical damage the program can also help small businesses survive the economic shocks that accompany disasters earlier this year in april thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through north alabama my district more than one hundred thousand homes and businesses in our state lost power the s b a as disaster loan program is helping many businesses in the region get back on their feet already the agency has approved more than one million in disaster assistance loans for businesses these funds are helping small firms recover from both the physical and economic damage caused by storms while these programs are valuable i'm afraid th not yet function at their highest potential earlier this year the government accounting office examine the s b a as disaster recovery programs specifically g a o look at what s b a has done to improve these measures since hurricane katrina in july when the g a o testified before this committee they told us that the small business administration is still unprepared to respond to a major disaster this gives me reason for concern as the old saying goes hope for the best but prepare for the worst from the g a o from what the g a o is telling us it looks like some in the in the s b a may be hoping for the best the legislation we are considering today includes provisions i authored to improve the s ensure the agency prepares for the most likely disaster scenarios in different parts of the country madam chair access to capital is always important for small businesses but when disaster strikes finding an affordable loan can mean the difference between staying in business and going under the legislation before us will help entrepreneurs find the capital they need in good times as well as bad arge the adoption of the bill and you'll back the balance of my time are there any other members that wish to be recognized at this point elsewhere with crap that improvements to the micro loan program in the past that initiative placed by our growth in all their wives struggling communities by reducing interest rates and providing more flexible cry the terms r thirty eight fifty four gives crippen or greater control of their finance and empowers them to make new investments meanwhile a move to pair traditional loans with technical training program provides small firms with the information they need to be successful at the same time efforts to draw more lenders into the program will respond access to these bottles vital source of funding we often talk about the importance of welfare to work well micro loans put people to work through the power of entrapment warship if we're looking for policy desperate job growth then this is the kind of program we should be supporting starting a new business is the resource in guarantees in doing so all it encourages graded lending from banks this is key because many banks are concerned that they know do not want have the copied out the reso in lending in earnest until the middle of twenty ten meanwhile we are improving seven eight financing options on in doing so in a way that meets a gate's risk to the taxpayer i want to be clear taxpayer protections are a top priority in this  willing hands is be a large pool of equity copied on this small business investment company program it will do this by increasing the number asked size of investment made these inquiries could not come at a more critical time in two thousand and nine v c florence will invest ten to fifteen billion dollars less than they did in two thousand and eight that is an alarming trend one that if not reverse will significantly provision introduced by representative nine will increase investment in the kind of high growth startups that create new jobs it is important to know like many of the measures in this bill the early stage copy  so i am pleased that this bill in core your small firm to invest in an innovative new product by helping small medical practices for health i t it allows them to make yet another critical contribution to our economy is streamlined health care system at present only thirteen percent of single doctor practice is used this is because that knowledge is extremely costly for your average three doctor practice implementation groans close to one hundred thousand dollars a large sum for any small business by helping small practices a four h i t h s a fifty four wheeling corage greater adoption on in turn reduce cost meaning nice erodes these measures will not only improve the quality of our health care system but will create jobs for interpreter wars in the health i t and technology sector it could not have calmed together after when it comes to preparing for catastrophe is the ace work is never done this legislation will help they agency remain vigilant in protecting the small businesses that drive our economy the businesses that given the opportunity will drive new growth for our economy and put americans back to work the fact that this bill has such broad support is testament to its importance i am pleased to say  by a wide range of groups more almost close to twenty we have the national restaurant association the american society of travel agents think they're not you know franchise also see a sion biotech national association of credit support its adoption are there any other members that wish to be recognized on h r thirty eight fifty four well the comedian are moved to consideration of h r thirty eight fifty four entirety be open for amendments tonguing thus any member seek recognition for the purpose of