mr. loebsack: madam speaker, yume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. loebsack: i first want to thank congressman fincher and the financial services committee for bringing this package further. i am glad that the house is taking the first step to help small businesses and i hope the house will take up additional legislation to create jobs. as any iowa family can tell you, our nation is recovering from the worst recession since the great depression and congress' focus must be on jobs. our unemployment rate is still painfully high and has been a long-term problem for millions of americans and thousands of iowans. we need to be working on legislation to boost our economy and helping our small businesses flourish is an important step in that direction. this is why i'm offering this amendment to ensure provisions of this legislation are made widely available and particularly to women-owned, veteran-owned and minority owned businesses to make sure they are informed with changes that might help. small businesses will be leaders in helping our country climb out

mr. loebsack: mr. speaker, while i oppose the underlying bill, i'm offering this final amendment on a topic i know is important to all of us here in this chamber. our nation's seniors. i grew up in poverty and my grandmother took care of my siblings and me during my childhood. >> mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. mr. loebsack: she was right on social security survivor benefits to put food on the table and because -- relied on social security benefits to put food on the table. because of her i know firsthand how important programs like social security and medicare are to our seniors. in my grandmother's case, it meant the difference between putting food on the table and my family going hungry. before these historic programs were enacted, -- mr. speaker, the house is not in order. . the gentleman may continue. mr. lobiondo: far too many -- mr. loebsack: they couldn't access the appropriate medical care to keep them safe and healthy. these impor