III 

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; 


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•SRES 524 IS 

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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors the entrepreneurial spirit of the own3 ers of small business concerns in the United States 

4 during National Small Business Week, beginning 

5 April 21, 2008; 


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•SRES 524 IS 

1 (2) honors the efforts and achievements of the 

2 owners and employees of small business concerns, 

3 whose hard work, commitment to excellence, and 

4 willingness to take a risk, have made them a crucial 

5 part of the Nation’s economy; 

6 (3) recognizes that small business concerns are 

7 essential to restoring the Nation’s economic health; 

8 (4) recognizes the vital role of the programs of 

9 the Small Business Administration and the work of 

10 its employees and its resource partners in providing 

11 assistance to entrepreneurs and the owners of small 

12 business concerns; 

13 (5) strongly urges the President to take steps 

14 to ensure that— 

15 (A) reasonable rules relating to the pro16 curement program for women-owned small busi17 ness concerns under section 8(m) of the Small 

18 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(m)) are expedi19 tiously implemented to give women business 

20 owners a fair opportunity to compete for Fed21 eral contracts; 

22 (B) small business concerns have access to 

23 quality affordable health insurance; 

24 (C) the needs of veterans and reservists 

25 who own their own businesses, who work for 


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•SRES 524 IS 

1 small business concerns, or want to start their 

2 own businesses, are met during deployment and 

3 upon their return from duty; 

4 (D) proper measures are enacted to pro5 vide a stimulus for business lending during this 

6 economic downturn; 

7 (E) the tax burdens of small business con8 cerns are reduced, and that there is a reduction 

9 in regulatory and bureaucratic barriers; 

10 (F) small minority owned businesses are 

11 supported in their efforts to access the Federal 

12 marketplace and gain access to capital; 

13 (G) small business concerns have the tools 

14 to become more energy efficient to survive ris15 ing costs of energy, increase profits, and reduce 

16 the Nation’s reliance on foreign oil; 

17 (H) all Federal agencies adhere to the con18 tracting goals for small business concerns, in19 cluding the goals for small business concerns 

20 owned and controlled by service-disabled vet21 erans, small business concerns owned and con22 trolled by women, small business concerns 

23 owned and controlled by socially and economi24 cally disadvantaged individuals, and HUBZone 

25 small business concerns; 


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•SRES 524 IS 

1 (I) venture capital and small business 

2 loans, including microloans and guaranteed 

3 loans that are delivered through private lenders, 

4 for start-up firms and growing small business 

5 concerns are available to all qualified small 

6 business concerns; and 

7 (J) the management assistance programs 

8 delivered by resource partners on behalf of the 

9 Small Business Administration, such as small 

10 business development centers, women’s business 

11 centers, and the Service Corps of Retired Ex12 ecutives, are provided with the Federal re13 sources necessary to do their jobs; and 

14 (6) urges that the Administrator of the Small 

15 Business Administration have an active role as a 

16 member of the President’s Cabinet. 

Æ 


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