CBC Calls for
Select Committee on Hurricane Katrina
Congresswoman
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI), Chairwoman of the
Congressional Black Caucus CBC, has sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi requesting the appointment of a Select Committee on Hurricane
Katrina. Members of the 43-member Caucus believe rebuilding at home must be a
priority for the over 200,000 Americans still out of their homes.
“The Bush Administration has turned its back on
our fellow Americans, the victims of the greatest disaster on American soil in
our generation,” read the letter. “How can we talk about reconstruction abroad
when we cannot help our fellow Americans at home?”
The President’s failure to mention Hurricane
Katrina in the State of the Union address reinforced the Administration’s
failed response, relief, and recovery.
“Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are
disappointed that President Bush did not mention, or address, the continuing
catastrophic situation in the Gulf Coast, particularly New Orleans...We must
act immediately to give the over 300,000 people, including women and children,
hope for the future…a Select House Committee on Katrina offers the best hope
for development.”
CBC Members met to discuss a plan of action aimed
at meeting the needs of those affected by Hurricane Katrina. In addition to
forming a Select Committee, the group’s strategy for confronting the
continuing crisis includes pursuing debt forgiveness for the City of New
Orleans and State of Louisiana, securing funds for transitional housing,
providing emergency financial resources to bolster public safety
infrastructure, holding hearings on FEMA’s post-Katrina efforts, and
introducing legislation designed to repeal immunity laws for the Corps of
Engineers.
“The CBC wants to ensure that the Administration
plans to ‘[extend the] hope and opportunity’ President Bush mentioned in his
recent State of the Union address to the thousands of families that were
displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” said Congresswoman Kilpatrick. “The
American people expect our country to live up to its promise to help all
Americans achieve their full potential. We will continue to fight for the
families so that today’s obstacles become tomorrow’s opportunities.”
Senate Passes Provision to Ease Regulatory Burden
on Small Businesses; Key Funding for
Women’s Business Centers
The United States Senate unanimously (99 to 0)
passed a bipartisan amendment by Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine),
John Kerry (D-Mass.), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Mary Landrieu
(D-LA) that would greatly reduce the burden of onerous federal regulation on
small businesses. The provision is now a part of the minimum wage legislation
(H.R. 2) that is currently being debated by the Senate.
“Overly complex federal regulations place an
unfair burden on American small businesses that are forced to waste time and
money to ensure they are in compliance,” Snowe said. “Establishing
guidelines and standards for the production of assistance material by federal
agencies will allow small businesses to focus their energy where it belongs,
on meeting the needs of their customers. That is exactly what this amendment
accomplishes and I am proud to have worked side-by-side with Senators Kerry,
Enzi and Landrieu to get this critical provision through the Senate today.”
“Reducing red tape for small businesses is one of
my top priorities. Helping small firms navigate the system for complying
with regulations is critical to their success and continued contribution to
our economy. I’m committed to seeing that small businesses have every tool
available – from guides to direct compliance assistance and counseling,” said
Kerry, Chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
“Cost mandates, such as a minimum wage increase,
impose significant financial burdens on our small employers. We must do
everything we can to help alleviate this burden and ensure that small
businesses remain the well-running engine of our economy. Providing the kind
of common-sense compliance assistance called for in Senator Snowe’s amendment
is one of the ways that we can assist small businesses in meeting the
administrative costs associated with federal regulation,” said Enzi. “I
commend Senator Snowe for her efforts on behalf of small businesses and am
proud to be a co-sponsor of this legislation with her.”
“I support Senator Snowe in her efforts to reduce
the burden on small businesses nationwide,” Sen. Landrieu said. “Louisiana
businesses in particular have little time to deal with additional red tape and
paperwork, as they recover from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. This amendment is
a commonsense solution that lessens the regulatory burden on our businesses by
providing them with some relief from the usual layers of federal red tape.”
This amendment will facilitate the compliance of
small businesses with federal regulations that directly impact their
productivity. Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act (SBREFA) requires that agencies produce small entity compliance
guides when the agency is required to prepare a final regulatory flexibility
analysis under the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
However, the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) has reported that several loopholes exist in Section 212, allowing
agencies to either poorly fulfill their duties under Section 212, or ignore
them altogether. The amendment will:
-
Clarify that compliance guides should be
published simultaneously with, or as soon as possible after, the final rule
is published, or no later than the rule’s effective date.
The Senate also unanimously passed an amendment
sponsored by Senators Kerry, Snowe, and
John Sununu (R-N.H.) to create a grant program for established, successful
Women’s Business Centers around the country. The provision is also now part of
the minimum wage legislation being considered on the Senate floor.
“I’ve been working for 21 years on the Committee
to promote expanded entrepreneurial opportunities for women and secure funding
for these centers which help turn ideas into jobs, start-ups into success,”
said Kerry. “I cannot stress enough the vital role Women’s Business Centers
play in cities all around the country, like Boston and Worcester. This
amendment ensures we will be providing women-owned small businesses the tools
they need to grow and flourish.”
“We cannot afford to ignore, or minimize, the
extraordinary contributions America’s business women are making to our
economy, our culture, and our future. The achievements of women entrepreneurs
are undeniable. Women-owned firms generate almost $2.5 trillion in revenues.
They employ more than 19 million workers and are the fastest growing segment
of today’s economy. In my home state of Maine alone, more than 63,000
women-owned firms generate an astounding $9 billion in sales,” said Snowe.
Senator Sununu said: “Women’s Business Centers
contribute to the strength and diversity of the small business community.
Centers that have performed at a high level should have the option of applying
for additional help to enable their important work to continue.”
The amendment is similar to language that passed
out of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship last summer as
part of S. 3778, the comprehensive Small Business Administration
reauthorization bill, which is based on the Women’s Business Center
Sustainability Pilot Program Kerry created in 1999.
Specifically, the amendment allows established
Women’s Business Centers to apply for 3-year grants on an ongoing basis. This
permanent stream of federal funding is critical to helping the Centers secure
matching private funds. This amendment also prohibits the Centers from sharing
information about their clients without their consent, unless the information
is required by a court order or to do an audit of the center.
Small Business Committee Reorganized to Provide
Entrepreneurs with a Stronger Voice
With the House Small Business Committee’s position
to assume a new role in Congress, Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez announced a
reorganization of the subcommittee structure. The committee’s goal is to
ensure that the needs of small businesses are being fully examined, and that
necessary actions are being taken to address those issues.
“The reorganization of the subcommittee structure
will ensure that the committee is best positioned to evaluate the issues small
firms face, and to take legislative action to address those needs. This will
help guarantee that the committee can successfully fulfill this new function
and give small businesses a greater voice in Congress,” Chairwoman Velázquez
said.
In the 110th Congress,
the Small Business Committee has been given a greater ability to address a
broader scope of issues that impact entrepreneurs, beyond the Committee’s
traditional purview of the Small Business Administration (SBA). This will
ensure Congress considers the effects of these initiatives on this nation’s 26
million small businesses. To accomplish this, the number of subcommittees
will increase from four to five, and each will have its own specific focus and
jurisdiction over various SBA programs and small business issues.
The five subcommittees are as follows:
Subcommittee on Finance and Tax, Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology,
Subcommittee on Regulations, Healthcare and Trade, Subcommittee on Rural and
Urban Entrepreneurship and Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight.
“As drivers of the economy, small businesses
deserve nothing less than to have their needs fully examined, and considered,
in Congress today,” Chairwoman Velázquez said.
“With the expanded responsibility and new organization, the committee will be
able to ensure the needs of this nation’s entrepreneurs are being met so they
can move forward as the innovators, and main job creators, of this country.”
