act capital, i'm not convinced. there is no guarantee small business also benefit whatsoever from the funding in this bill. mr. graves: nothing in title 1 of the bill ensures the banks will lend the capital much less to small businesses. title 2 authorizes lending by state programs to businesses that the small business consideration would consider large, and only title 3 of this bill is targeted to assist small businesses. nevertheless the overall bill is badly flawed and i can't support it nor can i support the spending in title 3. now more than ever our nation is relying on small businesses to create jobs and to lead us in our economic recovery. without sufficient access to credit or capital, small businesses can expand operations or hire new employees. there is little doubt that efforts to bail out banks and other major financial institutions has not led to improved access to capital by small businesses. last session i

to the capital access programs overseen by the small business administration. that bill, unlike the one before us today would have improved access to needed capital by small businesses. incorporated into that bill was h.r. 3738 which provided a streamline process to enabled capitalists to boost venture to provide needed early-stage equity capital to small businesses. successful operators would pay back the federal government before they took their own profits. although the legislation came with a relatively modest price tag of $200 million, its benefits would sure outweigh the costs. moreover, if the program did not succeed, the cost of failure would be very modest. that certainly isn't the case today with the bill before us. the cost has increased by 500% without any previous testing of its potential to succeed.

this will pile unnecessary risk or cost onto taxpayers at a time when we're dealing with record debt and unsustainable deficit spending. even if title 3 of this bill, the small business portion, even if title 3 stood alone given the dramatic increase of cost, i couldn't support it. but yet here it is. it remains attached to a bill that has greater costs and costs not paid for in the short term. so let's lay this out. we still have a budget -- we still do not have a budget for fiscal year 2011. our national debt has reached a new record high of $13 trillion. and the majority in the house continue to rely on unsustainable borrowing and spending to keep things running. when you consider the complete chaos of our fiscal house that it's in, the idea of more spending seems foolish, completely foolish, but that's what's being proposed by this legislation today, and i refuse to support it. you know, if my colleagues want- to get serious about supporting small businesses and encouraging their growth, then there are lots of ways to do so and i'm very happy to help.

but h.r. 5297 is yet another ill-conceived effort that at the end of the day will further punish american entrepreneurs. with that, mr. chairman, i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from illinois. ms. bean: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. hinojosa: mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.r. 5297, the small business lending fund act of 2010. i ask unanimous consent to insert into today's record letters of support for h.r. 5297 from the national association of realtors, from the independent community banks of america and from the conference of state bank supervisors. the chair: the gentleman's request is covered by general

leave. mr. hinojosa: this legislation will help small businesses survive and thrive in the current economic climate by providing the secretary of the treasury temporary authority to make capital investments up to $30 billion to banks and savings associations with assets of less than $10 billion and to their parent holding companies provide -- provided they also have assets of less than $10 billion. mr. speaker, h.r. 5297 increases the availability of credit for small businesses. it provides funding to eligible institutions that serve small businesses that are minority and women owned and that also serve low and moderate income, serve minority and other underserved or rural communities. this legislation ensures that all eligible institutions may

apply to participate in the program established under this title without discrimination based on geography, which is very important to the great state of texas. h.r. 5297 requires eligible institutions receiving capital investments under the program to provide outreach in languages other than english describing the availability and the application process to receiving loans from eligible institutions through the use of print, through radio, television or electronic media outlets which target organizations, trade organizations and individuals that work with or work with members of minority communities. it promotes financial education and literacy and would-be borrowers. i ask for an additional 30 seconds. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. hinojosa: most importantly, this program increases american jobs. mr. speaker, h.r. 5297 will

help small businesses, community banks, the low and moderate-income minorities and other underserved or rural communities and all of our constituents. it will help our great country move further down the road towards economic recovery and expansion. i strongly urge my colleagues to support this important and timely piece of legislation, and with that i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. neugebauer: mr. speaker, i continue to reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman from texas reserves his time. the gentlelady from -- who seeks time? the gentlelady from new york. ms. velazquez: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. velazquez: and i want to use this time to respond to those who are making the assessment that this money, that there is no safeguards in this legislation to make sure that the money goes to small

businesses. first, banks must apply to the treasury to receive funds with a detailed plan on how to increase small business lending at their institution. this language was included at my insistence that we need to make sure that small businesses will get the benefit of this legislation. second, this capital, repayment of the government loans will be at a deepening rate starting at 5% per year. this rate will be lowered by 1% for every 2.5% increase in small business lending over 2010 levels. -- 2009 levels. it can go to 1% if the bank

increases its business lending by 10% or more, incentivizing banks to do the right thing, to ensure that banks actually use the federal funding they receive, the rate will increase and there are penalties to 7% if the bank fails to increase its small business lending at their institution within two years. to ensure that all federal funds are paid back within five years, the dividend rate will increase to 9% for all banks irrespective of their small business lending after 4 1/2 years. and let me just make it clear what the c.b.o. estimates that they provided to the congress

telling us. c.b.o. estimates that this provision will save taxpayers $1 billion over 10 years as banks are expected to pay back these funds over 10 years with interest. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from missouri. mr. graves: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i don't have any other speakers on this side. i just might comment on this. you know, one of the frustrating things about our economic recovery right now, and we continue to hear over and over and over again that small businesses are uncertain about what the future is. they don't know what's going to happen with cap and trade and what's going to happen with the energy tax. particularly those businesses that are using a lot of energy to produce whatever it is. they're uncertain about what's going to happen with this health care bill and all the mandates that are coming out. they're uncertain about what's going to happen with their taxes. they're uncertain about what's going to happen with the debt

that's taking place because somebody has to pay for it and this administration continues to look at small businesses to be able to provide that. so we come along with a bill that supposedly is supposed to help small businesses which the way it is right now there's no guarantee whatsoever that money will be london to small businesses. as the -- will be loaned to small businesses. as the bill stands right now any commercial loan can qualify -- if it's a loan less than $1 million. and the fact of the matter is -- the fact of the matter is, mr. speaker, there's no guarantee, there's no guarantee. small businesses are the ones that need help, and the fact of the matter is, two, if the government would just get out of the way then small businesses would lead us back in this economic recovery. they provide seven out of every 10 jobs in this country, and they are the ones that are going to lead us, but nobody's going to expand and nobody's going to add any new productivity and any new hires.

they don't know what's going to happen to them. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from illinois. ms. bean: i yield 2 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from michigan. the chair: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you. i rise in support of h.r. 5297. small businesses create two in every three new jobs in this country and creating an environment that allows small businesses to innovate and grow is the single most important objective necessary to reduce unemployment and lead our nation to full economic recovery. i've held a field hearing and roundtables with small business owners and have traveled door to door in downtowns in my district, and the one thing i hear over and over again, many entrepreneurs are ready to invest and create jobs again but they cannot secure the capital necessary to start or grow their business. some, like karen teague, a small 'tising firm, says

because -- advertising firm, says because she can't get a simple line of credit, she was forced to lay off workers. it's no secret why small businesses are struggling. mr. peters: wall street banks admitted that they reduced their banks in michigan as well as other states and small local lenders don't have enough capital to lend. i have been fighting for the past year for action to help solve this problem, and the bill before us today will create a $30 billion fund to promote small business lending. small local lenders can leverage this funding into $300 billion in loans for small businesses. but because local lenders will pay the investment back with interest, the nonpartisan c.b.o. says that taxpayers will earn a projected $1 billion. it's not often that a single action can create a multitude of jobs across this country and reduce the deficit at the same time. enacting this bill will do just that. in michigan our manufacturers are struggling particularly hard to get access to credit. as our assets decline in value,

they have less collateral to post, and this makes banks less likely to lend to them even if they can show that they are thriving. the michigan collateral support program helps lenders, small manufacturers and the state pool default risk to help these companies secure the capital they need to create new jobs. 30 states have similar programs, and a provision of this bill that i wrote would allow states to strengthen their existing programs and allow our states to create them. washington's top priority must be to help create an environment that allows our small businesses to succeed and to create jobs. this legislation helps one of those primary obstacles facing our small businesses and passing this bill is critical. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. neugebauer: could i inquire as to how much time is remaining? the chair: the gentleman from texas has six minutes. the gentlelady from illinois has three minutes.

the gentlelady from new york has seven minutes. the gentleman from missouri has 10 minutes. mr. neugebauer: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from illinois. ms. bean: i yield one minute to the majority leader. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hoyer: thank you very much. i appreciate the gentlelady from illinois, ms. bean, for yielding. i want to first thank the chair of the small business committee, congresswoman velazquez, for the work that she has done on this bill and for others who have worked on this bill. as i'm sure as has been said many times on this floor but bears repeating, small businesses are the job creating engine of our economy. they employ more than half of all employees in the private sector, and they've created 64%

of net new jobs over the past 15 years. so ensuring that small businesses have the resources they need to keep innovating, growing and creating jobs is essential if we're going to sustain the economic recovery. . small businesses have been at the heart of the democratic recovery strategy ever since this convened. the deepest recession we have seen in 3/4 of a century. the recovery act which cut taxes for 98% of americans and is responsible for some two million jobs gave small businesses tax credits for hiring many unemployed workers, and helped them make the capital investments that are essential to their growth. since the recovery act, we have expanded small business administration lending. created further tax credits for hiring unemployed workers, and offered immediate and long-term

tax credits to help small businesses afford employee health care. and yesterday, the house passed the small business jobs tax relief act which will exempt 100% of small business capital gains from taxation. and increase the amount of start-up expenses, small business owners can deduct from their taxes. all designed to allow small businesses to grow and expand. that means more investment in small businesses and more entrepreneurs willing and able to start businesses of their own. and hire workers to staff them. today, today, ladies and gentlemen of the house, we can take another step to help small business and workers. establishing a $30 billion fund to expand lending to small businesses looking to make new investments in growth at no cost to the taxpayer. ladies and gentlemen, i know that those of you who have been not only in your own districts but in your states and

throughout the country know that every small business man and woman in washington that wants to expand has a singular complaint and that is that they cannot access capital. that's what this bill is about. this bill, the small business lending fund act, invests capital in community and small banks that were not the problem that caused this financial meltdown. invest in those community and small banks under terms that become more favorable to those banks as they make more loans to small businesses. in other words, carrots for getting money to small businesses. and the c.b.o. tells us all the money in the small business %% lending fund will be repaid with interest and that taxpayers will actually make $1 billion profit over the next decade. now, that's not too hard to believe, i think, when you

understand that in terms of the dollars that the bush administration asked us to put on the table to stabilize the economy back in 2008, that to the extent that the money has now been paid back, not all of it yet, but to the extent that we have gotten repayment, we have made some 12% on that money. unfortunately 45% of small businesses seeking loans to expand or even just stay afloat were turned down last year. and you can imagine how those denials led directly to unemployment. this bill, ladies and gentlemen of the house, can go a long way towards opening up the flow of credit that helps create jobs. that's what this is about. allowing small businesses to expand, grow their businesses, hire more people, pay good salaries and benefits, and get our economy moving. i urge my colleagues to support

this bill and help our small businesses create jobs. i want to congratulate once again the chair of the small business committee for her leadership. thank ms. bean from illinois for her leadership on these issues and thank our republican friends who i hope will join us in supporting this effort to make sure small businesses have the capital they need to grow our economy. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri. mr. graves: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from new york. ms. velazquez: mr. chairman, i yield myself the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. velazquez: mr. chairman, the face of american small business is changing and rapidly. 20 years ago entrepreneurs were likely to rely on loans and credit cards to start up or expand their businesses.

this meant delays of most. but stayed's start-up costs have grown dramatically. this has caused many small companies to turn to equity investment, particularly those in high growth, technology-based sectors which show the greatest promise to create new jobs. for this firm, the assets are not building or machinery. they are people, ideas, and skills. for this new generation, the old method of ensuring capital through debt is no longer sufficient by itself. in a world where revolutionary new products are conceived and companies are launched in garages, new ways of meeting businesses capital needs are needed. through the small business early stage investment program, this bill recognizes this fundamental shift and takes steps to make

the capital -- meet the capital needs of our new businesses. our nation's entrepreneurs have led us out of every previous recession and they can do so again. but only if we give them the right tools. this legislation will make loans more affordable for assisting businesses so they can grow and add to their payrolls. and for the enterprises just getting off the ground, it will mean investments in cutting edge status. a vote for this bill is a vote in favor of the american traditions of innovation and entrepreneurship. i urge my colleagues to vote with the small businesses in their district, vote yes. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. the gentleman from texas. mr. neugebauer: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. neugebauer: i appreciate the

majority leader coming and telling us this won't cost the taxpayers any money. we have asked the majority for an updated c.b.o. score on this bill. with the revisions. we have not seen it yet. we don't actually know that for certain, but what we do know is that from the tarp program there was losses incurred in the tarp program, and this program has been identified by people who are very familiar with the tarp program as another tarp program and said some people want to call it tarp two, tarp junior, but by and large this is another tarp program. there's no question today that all of us realize that small businesses are the number one job creator in our country. mr. chairman, in fact i am a small business man, i came to congress not from being a lifelong politician but from creating jobs in this country. of making payrolls.

i've made a payroll. i've borrowed money. i have been a lender. if you really want to get the economy going back in america as the majority has tried throwing money at the problem, and i thought they would have learned right now that all this money, these trillions of dollars they have thrown at the economy hasn't created any jobs. we still have almost 10% of the american people that are unemployed in this country today. numbers show that 17% of the american people are either unemployed or underemployed. so we are throwing money at the problem isn't the answer. if you want to create jobs in america, i'll tell you how you create jobs in america. number one, you bring some certainty to america. right now the american people are questioning what the future of their country is. they are seeing record deficits by this administration. this year alone if we had a budget we don't know what the deficit's going to be this year because, one, we haven't passed any appropriation bills in this congress, and secondly, the leadership of this -- majority hasn't brought a budget to the

floor. maybe they are not going to because they don't want their members to have to take a vote on a budget that's going to spend -- for every dollar we spend we'll have to borrow 42 cents. i'm sure they would be embarrassed if you voted for a budget like that. one, we have to start cutting back our spending and reducing these deficits. leaving money in the economy. as a small business man when i had the capital in my business and the government wasn't taxing away my capital, i was able to leverage it and go to my lender and be a responsible borrower and it would be prudent to lend to me. we could expand our business. the other thing yesterday, this body had an opportunity to do something for small business and that was to repeal the mandate for health care that was in the democrats' health care bill. unfortunately there was not enough votes, but some of our democratic colleagues understand the same thing we do. if you want to bring certainty, create jobs in america, you take

that off the backs of small businesses. and so really i wish that this bill would do something for small businesses in this country because small businesses are the lifeblood and engine for our country. unfortunately, this bill will not do anything for small businesses, but it will put the taxpayers, again, at risk to underwrite and invest in banks. i figured this. it's simple back there. if somebody wants to invest their dollars in a bank, let them invest their dollars in a bank. don't take the money away from the taxpayers and invest it because the government thinks they know what is a better program. and so again i urge my colleagues to vote for small business, but not this bill. this bill doesn't help small business. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from illinois. ms. bean: i yield myself the remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. bean: first i would like to

address some of the points our colleague from missouri suggested that all we need to do for business is less federal action and less regulation. on that point i would have to agree the minority has delivered. less action and less regulation, a culture of deregulation that led to the financial crisis and the recent oil spill in the gulf. but this bill isn't about regulation, it's about credit. and i would then like to move to the point to my colleague from texas who suggested that this bill adds $33 billion to the national debt. that's disingenuous as the gentleman knows. this is not a $30 billion cost according to the nonpartisan c.b.o. the legislation in fact will reduce the deficit. these funds are an investment and safe wards to ensure that taxpayers are repaid with interest. also his concern for small businesses fearing higher taxes is unwarranted if taxes are in fact at historic lows and in the recovery act of $288 billion in

tax cuts, many of those went to our community businesses. he also cited the nfid to claim that access to credit is not a serious problem, yet the nle fib's own data show that 40% of small business owners attempting to borrow last year had all of their credit needs met and nearly 1/4 of would-be borrowers, 21% had none of their needs met. he did suggest some -- he suggested all businesses are just in a holding pattern when the reality is some aren't. that's not who this legislation is directed to. there are many others who have started to see their pipeline bills and forecast develop and they are seeking to expand their operations and hire people and they need to -- that access to capital. this small business lending fund act is for those who are going to grow us out of this recession and i urge my colleagues to support this important investment in those community banks that are the cornerstone

-- community business that is are the cornerstone of our -- businesses that are the cornerstone of our economy. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. all time for general debate has expired. in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on financial services printed in the bill, it shall be in order to consider add original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in part a of house report 111-506 modified by the amendment printed in part b of that report and the order of the house today. the amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. no amendment to that amendment in the nature of a substitute is in order except those printed in part c of the report. each amendment may be offered only in the order printed in report, by a member dellingd in the report, shall be considered as read, shall not be debatable for the first time in the report equally divided and controlled

by a prone opponent. shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question. it is now in order to consider amendment number 1 printed in part c of house report 111-506, for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk made in order under the rule. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 1, printed in part c of house report number 111-506, offered by mr. israel of new york. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 1436, the gentleman from new york, mr. israel, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. israel: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself two minutes. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. israel: i thank the chairman. i rise in support of the israel-barrow amendment.