```

[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 524 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th Congress
  2d Session
S. RES. 524

  Honoring the entrepreneurial spirit of the owners of small business 
  concerns in the United States during National Small Business Week, 
                       beginning April 21, 2008.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 22, 2008

   Mr. Kerry (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Vitter, Mr. 
Cardin, Mrs. Dole, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Thune, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Enzi, Mr. 
Bayh, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Levin, and Mr. Tester) submitted the 
  following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Small 
                     Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  Honoring the entrepreneurial spirit of the owners of small business 
  concerns in the United States during National Small Business Week, 
                       beginning April 21, 2008.

Whereas the 26,800,000 small business concerns in the United States are the 
        driving force behind the Nation's economy, creating more than \2/3\ of 
        all net new jobs and generating more than 50 percent of the Nation's 
        nonfarm gross domestic product;
Whereas small business concerns represent 99.7 percent of all businesses and 
        employ 50 percent of the Nation's workforce;
Whereas small business concerns represent 97 percent of all exporters and 
        produce 28.6 percent of exported goods;
Whereas small business concerns are the Nation's innovators, advancing 
        technology and productivity;
Whereas the resilience, vitality, and growth of small business concerns are 
        critical to the Nation's competitiveness during a time of economic 
        downturn;
Whereas Congress established the Small Business Administration in 1953, to aid, 
        counsel, assist, and protect the interests of small business concerns in 
        order to preserve free competitive enterprise, to ensure that a fair 
        proportion of the total purchases and contracts or subcontracts for 
        property and services for the Federal Government be placed with small 
        business concerns, to ensure that a fair proportion of the total sales 
        of Government property be made to such small business concerns, and to 
        maintain and strengthen the overall economy of the Nation;
Whereas for over 50 years, the Small Business Administration has provided aid 
        and assistance to millions of entrepreneurs who have succeeded in 
        achieving the American dream of owning a small business concern, and 
        thus has played a key role in fostering economic growth; and
Whereas the President has designated the week beginning April 21, 2008, as 
        National Small Business Week: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) honors the entrepreneurial spirit of the owners of 
        small business concerns in the United States during National 
        Small Business Week, beginning April 21, 2008;
            (2) honors the efforts and achievements of the owners and 
        employees of small business concerns, whose hard work, 
        commitment to excellence, and willingness to take a risk, have 
        made them a crucial part of the Nation's economy;
            (3) recognizes that small business concerns are essential 
        to restoring the Nation's economic health;
            (4) recognizes the vital role of the programs of the Small 
        Business Administration and the work of its employees and its 
        resource partners in providing assistance to entrepreneurs and 
        the owners of small business concerns;
            (5) strongly urges the President to take steps to ensure 
        that--
                    (A) reasonable rules relating to the procurement 
                program for women-owned small business concerns under 
                section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
                637(m)) are expeditiously implemented to give women 
                business owners a fair opportunity to compete for 
                Federal contracts;
                    (B) small business concerns have access to quality 
                affordable health insurance;
                    (C) the needs of veterans and reservists who own 
                their own businesses, who work for small business 
                concerns, or want to start their own businesses, are 
                met during deployment and upon their return from duty;
                    (D) proper measures are enacted to provide a 
                stimulus for business lending during this economic 
                downturn;
                    (E) the tax burdens of small business concerns are 
                reduced, and that there is a reduction in regulatory 
                and bureaucratic barriers;
                    (F) small minority owned businesses are supported 
                in their efforts to access the Federal marketplace and 
                gain access to capital;
                    (G) small business concerns have the tools to 
                become more energy efficient to survive rising costs of 
                energy, increase profits, and reduce the Nation's 
                reliance on foreign oil;
                    (H) all Federal agencies adhere to the contracting 
                goals for small business concerns, including the goals 
                for small business concerns owned and controlled by 
                service-disabled veterans, small business concerns 
                owned and controlled by women, small business concerns 
                owned and controlled by socially and economically 
                disadvantaged individuals, and HUBZone small business 
                concerns;
                    (I) venture capital and small business loans, 
                including microloans and guaranteed loans that are 
                delivered through private lenders, for start-up firms 
                and growing small business concerns are available to 
                all qualified small business concerns; and
                    (J) the management assistance programs delivered by 
                resource partners on behalf of the Small Business 
                Administration, such as small business development 
                centers, women's business centers, and the Service 
                Corps of Retired Executives, are provided with the 
                Federal resources necessary to do their jobs; and
            (6) urges that the Administrator of the Small Business 
        Administration have an active role as a member of the 
        President's Cabinet.
                                 <all>
```