Date: 2007-04-18
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: VEL

ZQUEZ. does correct the PAYGO Florida. Mr. Speaker. I would like to problem by making the section subject thank my good friend. the gentleman to available appropriations. It still from Florida . the co- does not address the underlying issue chairman of the Florida congressional in contention. however. Mr. Speaker. delegation. for the time. and I yield which is. why should someone be commyself such time as I may consume. pensated twice for the same injury? It Small business. Mr. Speaker. is the is a legitimate point of contention engine that drives our economic which obviously merits debate. strength. Small businesses employ over Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of half of all private sector workers and my time. pay approximately 45 percent of U.S. 0 1330 private payroll. Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Over the last decade. small busi- Speaker. I am very pleased at this time nesses have generated 00 to 80 percent to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished of new jobs. We must not take the gentlewoman from Florida. our colamazing performance of small busi- league on the Rules Committee. Ms. nesses for granted. however. Mr. CASTOR. Speaker. They often dont have the fi- Ms. CASTOR. Mr. Speaker. I thank nancial structure and support to help my distinguished colleague from the them quickly recover from major nat- Rules Committee. ural disasters. If small businesses fail Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support in the aftermath of a natural disaster. of the RECOVER Act and this rule it only slows the recovery of the area. which charts a new direction for emerStorms have often punished the com- gency and hurricane planning. because munity that I am honored to represent. the Federal Government simply must In 1992. Hurricane Andrew. a category 5 be ready to respond in a crisis. storm. devastated much of South Flor- SAiall Business Committee Chair ida. Until 2005. Hurricane Andrew was NYDIA VELkZQUEZ and her committee the costliest natural disaster in our deserve credit for understanding the history. causing over $26 billion of expectations of the American people. damage to South Florida. Entire com- who have insisted upon better disaster munities were totally destroyed. Espe- relief planning. cially hard hit were many of the small My colleagues from Florida. and inbusinesses that make up a major part deed. our neighbors and citizens across of the South Florida economy. Fifteen the gulf coast. begin to feel a bit appreyears later. the effects of that storm hensive this time of year because hurcan still be felt. ricane season is only a few weeks away. The SBA was one of the many Fed- Yes. we are all worried about the poeral agencies that suffered a break- tential landfall of a hurricane. but we down in operations during the. rebuild- are also just as concerned about the ading efforts after the 2005 hurricane sea- ministrations ability to deal with the son. The disaster loan program of the aftermath. Following the Bush administrations poor response to the 2005 gulf coast hurricanes. the new Congress has pledged to strengthen disaster planning and response. and we are following through here today. The RECOVER Act will improve the Small Business Administrations disaster response plans and assess its technology. telecommunications and personnel in advance. In the event of another hurricane or natural disaster. small business owners will face costs of starting up again. so this act increases the funds availablefor disaster loans from $1.5 to $3 million. And importantly for the hardworking folks like those in my district in the Tampa Bay area. small business owners will no longer be required to pledge their homes as collateral for business loans less than $100.000. The act also requ4es the SBA to improve- coordination with. State and local authorities and establishes a disaster relief corps of 1.000 train&d individuals. So. Mr. Speaker. I strongly urge approval of this rule and the RECOVER Act so that ourcountry is better prepared for hurricane season and the swift recovery of our communities and small businesses.