May 25, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H 5589

tax-exempt facility bonds—for firms

within the zones.

REGULATION AND PAPERWORK

But increasing the availability of

capital to small firms is only part of

the battle. We also have to make sure

that Government doesn’t get in the

way. And we’re making progress in our

efforts to create a smaller, smarter,

less costly and more effective Government that is closer to home—closer to

the small businesses and citizens it

serves.

In the first round of our reinventing

Government initiative—the National

Performance Review—we asked Government professionals for their best

ideas on how to create a better Government with less red tape. One recommendation was that Federal agency

compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act—that requires agencies to

examine proposed and existing regulations for their effects on small entities—be subject to judicial review. In

other words, they said we need to put

teeth in the legislation requiring Federal agencies to pay attention to small

business concerns when they write regulations. That proposal has been under

debate in the Congress.

Federal agencies are already considering and implementing specific ways

to streamline regulations and make paperwork easier for small businesses to

manage. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responded to small business owners and

advocates who said that the agency’s

toxic release inventory rule was especially costly and burdensome. In November 1994, the EPA announced a

final rule that will make it easier for

small businesses to report small

amounts of toxic releases.

And SBA has slashed the small business loan form for loans under $100,000

from an inch-thick stack to a single

page. The SBA is also piloting a new

electronic loan application that will

involve no paperwork, but will allow

business owners to concentrate on the

business at hand—building a successful

operation.

When businesses are unable to succeed, no one is served by a process that

entangles small business owners in an

endless jumble of paperwork. Sweeping

changes made to bankruptcy laws in

the past year will help small businesses

reorganize. Small firms with less than

$2.5 million in debt may utilize a

streamlined reorganization process

that is less expensive and more timely.

My Executive order on Regulatory

Review provides a process for more rational regulation, and we’ve been listening to the concerns of small firms

through a Regulatory Reform Forum

for Small Business. Five sector-specific

groups have made specific proposals for

regulatory relief. These groups have

said that a comprehensive, multiagency strategy, with better public involvement, is probably the most costeffective way to improve both the quality of regulations and compliance with

them. The key is to make sure that

Government serves small business and

the American people, not the other

way around.

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND GOVERNMENT

PROCUREMENT

The reinventing Government initiative also called for expanded use of

electronic marketing and commerce,

and we have made great strides in providing information about Government

programs electronically. These methods will increase small business access

to markets.

Another area that has been sorely in

need of reform is the Government procurement process. In October 1994, I

signed into law the Federal Acquisition

Streamlining Act, which will change

the way the Government does business.

The law modifies more than 225 provisions of procurement law to reduce paperwork burdens, improve efficiency,

save the taxpayers money, establish a

Federal acquisition computer network,

increase opportunities for womenowned and small disadvantaged businesses, and generally make Government acquisition of commercial products easier. This report documents how

small businesses are doing under the

old system; my hope is that opportunities for small business success will be

even greater once these reforms are in

effect.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Beyond encouraging an economic environment that supports small business

success, opening doors to capital resources, buying more of our goods and

services from small firms, and getting

out of small business’ way, I believe we

in Government have a responsibility to

ask whether we are doing enough to ensure a healthy and adequately prepared

work force.

I remain committed to seeking a way

to provide health insurance coverage

for all Americans. As this report clearly shows, the number of uninsured

Americans is too high—and it’s growing. Millions of those citizens are in

working families. And the sad fact is

that many of those workers are in

small businesses, which have seen their

premiums and deductibles soar. We

must make sure that self-employed

people and small businesses can buy insurance at more affordable rates—

whether through voluntary purchasing

pools or some other mechanism.

We also ought to be able to ensure

that our citizens are adequately provided for when they reach the end of

their working years. Here too, small

firms have been at a disadvantage. Our

proposed pension legislation exempted

most small plans from compliance and

reporting increases.

And while our industries restructure

and move from an age of heavy industry to an information age that demands new skills and new flexibility,

we need to make sure that our work

force has the skills and tools to compete. That is why I proposed the Middle

Class Bill of Rights, which would provide a tax deduction for all education

and training after high school; foster

more saving and personal responsibility by permitting people to establish

an individual retirement account and

withdraw from it tax-free for the cost

of education, health care, first-time

house buying, or the care of a parent;

and offer to those laid off or working

for a very low wage, a voucher worth

$2,000 a year to get the skills they need

to improve their lives.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

We also want to empower small businesses to succeed in a global economy.

One of the greatest challenges in the

next century will be our international

competition. Ninety-six percent of all

exporting firms are small firms with

fewer than 500 employees, but only 10

percent of small firms export; therefore

the potential for increasing small firm

exports is significant. I believe the

North American Free Trade Agreement

and the General Agreement of Tariffs

and Trade will benefit small firms interested in expanding into international markets in this hemisphere

and beyond.

Lending to small exporters is being

eased through reforms in the ExportImport Bank’s Working Capital Guarantee Program. New one-stop export

shops are moving in the right direction

to assist small firms by providing access to export programs of the Department of Commerce, Export-Import

Bank, and Small Business Administration all under one roof.

HEARING FROM SMALL BUSINESS

Small businesses are too important

to our economy for their concerns not

to be heard. That is why I have given

the SBA a seat on the National Economic Council and invited the SBA Administrator in to Cabinet meetings.

Over the past 2 years, my Administration has been asking questions of

small business owners and listening to

the answers—seeking advice and guidance from a diverse audience of business leaders to determine the most

critical problems and devise solutions

that work.

This year presents a special opportunity for small business persons to

make their concerns known at the

White House Conference on Small Business, set to convene in Washington in

June 1995. In State conferences leading

up to the national conference, small

business owners have been frank about

their concerns. I look forward to hearing their small business action agenda.

I firmly believe that we need to keep

looking to our citizens and small businesses for innovative solutions. They

have shown they have the ingenuity

and creative power to make our economy grow; we just need to let them do

it.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON.

THE WHITE H

fOUSE, May 25, 1995.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER

PRO TEMPORE

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The

Chair will entertain 1-minute requests.