"an sba lender will be able to make the loan with a guarantee that sba will be able to provide. we probably will about 225 sba loans this year. at any point in time, we have about 1500 loans in san francisco that are sba loans. a lot of them are restaurants because that is one of the areas that is very typical because it is a riskier business. but a lot of people in san francisco see that as an opportunity for them as well. we also partner with the golden gate restaurant association to help people understand how to do financing for restaurants. a lot of what we do is helping sall businesses get access to credit. the sba loan program covers a range of small loans down to $25,000 and large loans up to $5 million, so it is a very wide range. can be used for a variety of uses -- debt refinancing, building acquisition, working capital, so it can be used for a wide range of things from a small business point of view. as you heard, we do guarantees for about 90 or 100 banks in the country -- or in the bay area. about 3000 nationwide. there is a lot of lenders that do some sba lending.

what impact will be cuts in the sba budget have on the sba program? it seems the small business committee is try to make drastic cuts. from our perspective, the new majority leadership is looking to make drastic cuts, many of the program will hold near and dear to our hearts. the question the leader is continually asking is, show me the jobs. she wants to see house bills come to the floor that create economic opportunity for middle- class -- all of americans. if the small business committee is looking to cut funds from the sba, we see that as a detriment. we do not believe in cutting to create more jobs. we agree with the idea of the recovery act, putting more money out there to get people employed. >> on congressional action, that is not my role. in san francisco, we have been the beneficiary. all small businesses should be aware that we have been the beneficiary of a lot of good resources for small businesses. we have more nonprofits that are funded through micro lending here in the city from sba programs. some are expected to be looked at for budge

>> i already have an sba loan. i went to wells fargo for a line of credit and they would not give me one. >> i can speak to you about it. when we look at funds that are needed, the biggest thing we look at our cash flow. i can address that with you. unless there is an issue, at that point -- [inaudible] >> let's talk, ok. >> i have a couple of more questions. i know that the panelists have agreed to stay after for those who have specific questions. i do have one question for wells fargo. what are the typical rules for applying for sba loan of less than $50,000? how much money do we need to have in your bank to apply for a loan? >> i am on the smaller side of the bank. i am a transaction guy. i do not technically require one to have an account to do a loan with. what i look for, i generally start at 100,000 and up. when it is a requirement of 50,000 or less, i tend to call of the micro guys to help me out. that is right in their box. for us, the capacity for us to do the smaller side is not there as much as it is fo

and the other thing i was thinking about when you are talking about these guys getting sba loans, which is amazing to me because one of the things i hear from my small businesses in my communities is how difficult it is to access sba loans. the amount of paperwork they have to go through and the, you know, the collateral they have to put up. that's one of the biggest concerns for my small businesses is their inability to access small business loans. so are we sharing these kinds of concerns with our small business administration on the ground in the different cities where these loans are being processed? is this the information that we're sharing with the proper administration in the federal government? >> can i take a quick shot at that one? because i think it's a follow-up to congressman duncan's question about what else can be done. one of the issues with 9/11 was the compartmentalization of information and the failure to connect up the dots and everybody holding their information close. so what i think congress can do is break down those walls. continue to break down those walls and

they narrow the big sea sba a line of your sweat and then they take away your last word and then they take away another. now you put the keys back in your pocket and now you push on the door until it is in flame, until it is in flame. next reader is jane herschfield. . >> one sand grain among the others in winter wind. i wake with my hand held over the place of grief in my body. depend on nothing, the voice advices, but even that is useless. my ears are useless, my familiar and intimate tongue, my protecting hand is useless that wants to hold the single leaf to the tree and say, not this one. this one will be saved. a poem written on september 15th, 2001, against the knowledge that exactly what would happen was probably going to happen. the dead do not want us dead. the dead do not want us dead. such petty errors are left for the living. nor do they want our mourning. no gift to them. not rage, not weeping. return one of them, any one of them, to the earth and look. such foolish skipping, such telling of bad jokes, such feasting. even a cucumber, even a single anise seed, feasting. an

a partnership between the office of small business and the commission, the chamber of commerce, the sba, the golden gate is disassociation, -- golden gate business association, a number of organizations, african american chamber of commerce, so we take advantage of national small business, and we convene of the small business organizations to gather and celebrate the impact now small businesses have on a community and to partner with corporate partners to create networking opportunities throughout the week to highlight small businesses, so this is the eighth year of small business week in san francisco. we are the largest small- business week in the country. there are 4000 people who attend the event throughout the week. of we have 52 free workshops, and we do a number of mixtures throughout the week -- mixers throughout the week. the last two years we have been trying to build on our success and build a program to go from region when i came on board a few years ago we had 800 people attending our gala event, and last year we have 1400 attendees. we had six teeteen workshops, se are try

increasing private-sector development within our tribal communities there are some initiatives in the sba and others but by increasing a private sector that allows us to increase our tax base in that those dollars would go to meet things like natural resources. incentivizing private partnerships with tribal communities. if you look at the low-income housing tax credits we can sell those allowing corporations to defer their tax liabilities for ten years we can build housing infrastructure. there's the indian tax credit but effectively it's not working because we don't have the infrastructure for businesses to locate to take advantage of those tax credits. if tribes were able to sell the tax credit for indian employment, the tax availability, we did the math and if we can sell those just for the employees at our businesses not counting our government but our businesses it would increase our national budget by 25%. so there's a lot of tax policy, there's a lot of economic policy that is separate and apart from the federal funding and appropriations that could increase our national treasuries

we love what we hear from sba and then i get home and i don't remember who called, where do i start? i'm not ge. i'm a small business. so we launched a new website called business.usa.gov. it's new. the idea is that we want to have a single point of entry, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses whether they want to know about exporting or how to get financed or how they can get marketing, they can go to that one site and there is an export specific website called export.gov. if you can't remember business.usa go to export.gov if you have questions or comments. and finally, since you're local officials and i understand where you spend a lot of your time, one of the other issues we highlighted with governors and mayors, if we're going to meet the goal we have to address the other elements of the president's initiative and that's infrastructure. we're not going to compete with china and korea and others with ports in many cases, that have not be modernized in years. we have one of the most efficient but one of the most aging rail infrastructures in the world. i've been at po

>> well, we've had a good relationship -- the fed has had a good relationship with the sba, small business administration, and there were some additional provisions during the crisis that gave them more flexibility and more funding. that might be an area worth looking at. >> under your leadership, the feds have significantly increased its commitment to transparency, quoting more press conferences and increasing interest rates forecast for the first time in its history. while these policy tools are good for the financial market, they are of limited use to the general public. would you consider reenlisting guidance for house holds and small businesses after open market committee meetings on what changes to monetary policy means to them? >> that's an interesting idea. we have, of course, many speeches, and i'm here giving the report to congress without monetary policy. i'd like to think about what that would look like, but obviously we are trying to communicate to the broad public. i've been on some tv programs and the like, and in fact, later this spring, i'll be giving lectures at george wa

-- sba official. just created fictitious information in the application. so it was basically loan fraud. there were -- there was bribery of another bank official to open a bank account and allow them to basically create false identities and create a bust-out scheme with the bank -- with a checking account. >> and what were the -- who was that person? what was he? >> lebanese. >> the bank officer? >> oh, i'm sorry, i don't know the demographic of the bank officer. >> thank you. and i yield back. >> the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. meehan. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you to this very distinguished panel for your presence here today, and frankly, for each of you, for the continuing work you do and dealing with the issue of the concern that we all share about the expansion of the influence of iranian-inspired revolutionary forces throughout. some of you have already participated in a series of hearings that we've held in our. and in particular interest to that was the expansion into south and central america and the involvement. i apologize to th

they have an sba loan, a false loan. they bribed a loan officer. they had credit cards. they understood the financial system, how to exploit the immigration system. so they are well entrenched in society and well positioned to do something or facilitate someone else coming in and doing something and blending in. they can manufacture documents. it's all there and it's all in place. they don't have to make it happen. it's already well in place. the good news is there's 104 joint terrorism task forces across the country. you have 56 field intelligence groups. and you have a new preventative mind-set out there instead of reacting to what's going on. i think the intelligence community and the fbi and the nypd and other agencies are out there shaking that tree. i think we're well positioned to know what they're doing. >> you know, mike chertoff when he was the secretary of homeland security, in fact, it may have been before this committee, as he had one foot in the door and one foot out, about four years ago testified about the threat posed by terrorist organizations, middle e

used business fronts such as gas stations purchased with a frauf lent sba loan a restaurant, two tobacco shops and a painting business disguised with activities. a u.s. embassy and corrupt immigration official in venezuela bribed to obtain visas for cell members to enter the u.s. seven individuals indicted for engaging in fraudulent marriages to obtain legal status. self of the members were subjected to multiple deportation ordered but able to avoid deportation making false claims of asylum or through fictitious marriages. manufactured false licenses, driver license, social security cards and passports a ta support their multiple identities. run up credit limits that busted out some of the proceeds utilized -- >> mr. sweker, if you could try to confine your testimony. >> wrap this up in respect were many other activities alleged in the indictment. it's a public document that can be read by just about anyone. i encourage anyone who wants to understand how hezbollah operates in the u.s. to read that march 2001 indictment. you'll see some photos today we found of them training, and in their

the sba is something that defines small business with something like 1,000 employees.resident obama was referring to businesses of 100 to 500 employees. that's not main street. main street is where all the new jobs will be born. >> leonard, you are main street and you don't have any employees in this business, and do you feel like anybody is addressing you when they say small business? >> no. i am probably almost counter culture to small business, you know. again, it comes back to return on your investment. so i am trying to maximize that. i am actually with the model that we are running now, we have zero employees, and i have higher gross revenues and sales and higher margins. i can do that without employees. that's a model that is extremely appealing to me. >> one thing you are affected by is the higher gas prices, is that right? >> yes. >> what are you doing about that? how do you deal with that? are any of the republican candidates or is the administration talking to you when they talk about gas prices? >> no, not at all. what i buy is natural gas, you know, five y

the sba defines it as something with a thousand employees. that doesn't seem to be small. even in the state of the union address, president obama was referring to businesses of 100 to 500 employees. that's not main street. and main street is where all those new jobs are going to be born. >> and leonard, you are main street. you don't have very many employees or any in this business. do you feel like anyone is addressing you when they say small business? >> no. i'm probably almost counterculture to small business. you know, again, it comes back to return on your investment. so i'm trying to maximize that. i'm actually -- with the model we're running now, we have zero employees. i have higher gross revenues, higher sales and higher margins. i can do that without employees, so that's a model that's extremely appealing. >> one thing you are affected by extremely is the higher gas prices. is that right? >> yes. >> so what are you doing about that? how do you deal with that? are any of the republican candidates or is the administration talking to you when they talk about gas pri

there was a fraudulent sba loan.two men in were part of a painting business and disguises employee. >> seven individuals were indicted for false marriages. there were multiple deportation orders, but they were uploaded through their fictitious marriages. cell numbers manufactured .-full-stop mentz, drivers licenses, social security cards, passports. scores of credit cards will obtain and ultimately busted out some of the proceeds -- >> please limit your testimony to a few seconds. >> let me wrap it up. there were many other activities that were alleged in the indictment. the indictment is a public dive in there to be read by anyone. i would encourage anyone to understand how hezbollah operates. read the march 2001 indictment. you will see some photos that we found today of them training in their training in beirut. some of them were militia members in beirut. they were in direct contact with some of the highest level figures it has blood. with that, mr. chairman, i will rest on my statement, which will be a part of t

. >> that's where sba international comes in through operation baghdad pups program.transferred these back to the united states and working to find them adoptive homes, places where they will be rewarded for their life-saving work. >> for the service they provided for americans. it's only fair to get the royal treatment. we are aiming to do that, get them in great homes where they get to do whatever they want. >> reporter: today, the dogs were beginning to explore their new life, frolicking in the grass. something they have never seen in iraq. they are making new friends, accepting head scratches. one of the five dogs is already headed to an adoptive family in the san francisco area. applications are under review for the others. if you are wondering, there are reinforcements headed to iraq. the doggy cards were headed to iraq in mid may. they will replace the retirees there. >> they have long careers, seven to ten years. they are hard working dogs. >> they look happy. >> happy and healthy. >> let's hope they go to good homes. >>> let's get a final check on the weather

but small business as defined by the sba is business less than 500 people.of what they talk about helps big small businesses. so they talk about corporate tax reform and that's going to help small business. that's not going to help the guy who has four employees, that's going to help the guy who has 300 employees. and so there needs to be a distinction between a big small business and a small, small business. and what's going to help them. >> so what will happen? what did you find will help the small business that has four employees? they're struggling to stay open. >> there are a lot of them. >> we have this focus group of businesses across the country, different sizes, people with different political leanings, and what i got the most from these people is, a, the economy, get the economy back rolling, because what i need are customers coming in the door. there's lots of talk about lending and tax relief, just get the economy rolling and we will be doing better. and interesting thing i also heard from a lot of these people is i can't find good people to work

that's according to one of his wives telling sba inin ining in about his life in hyden. brian todd reports. >> reporter: alternately hiding, running and fathering children in the years after 9/11. new details of osama bin laden's life on the run emerged given by his youngest wife, yemeni born amal ahmed abdul if a fateh. she said they lived in pakistan. consistently during those years, pakistani leaders said this about bin laden's whereabouts. >> i don't think that osama bin laden is in pakistan. >> the interrogation report filed in january is prayer phra paraphrased saying the family lived in at least five locations in pakistan after 9/11 in at least five safe houses. according to the record, abdul fateh says after 9/11 the family scattered. she went to karachi, pakistan, stayed there eight or nine months. nd 2002, she went to peshawar pakistan reunited with bin laden there and then the family went to sawat in pakistan, stayed there eight or nine months. in 2003, another city, stayed there about two years. then in 2005 she says she went to the compound where she says th

the other major loan program -- most of us associate sba with small businesses.wners can receive disaster loans. if fema does not declare a disaster or the president does not declare a disaster oftentimes the minister will declare and loans will be available to repair their homes. host: john is a republican court in maryland. -- a republican caller. caller: i have about 25 ideas for fema. i have seen all these different contracts that were awarded. i thought, oh, my goodness. i have about 25 different ideas for fema. i have been trying to get through. i have not had too much success to get these ideas through fema. i see mr. fugate is in charge of fema. how can i get in touch with him? two ofive uson one or your ideas. caller: different color-coded signs. that would be specified with hospitals, police, fire departments, which roads are good roads to go, which roads are bad roads to go through. it could be changed and switched over accordingly. that's one of the ideas i had. i have some many ideas. host: thank you for sharing them. guest: that does sound like an i

the other major loan program -- most of us associate sba with small businesses.omeowners can receive disaster loans. if fema does not declare a disaster or the president does not declare a disaster oftentimes the minister will declare and loans will be available to repair their homes. host: john is a republican caller in maryland. caller: i have about 25 ideas for fema. i have seen all these different contracts that were awarded. i thought, oh, my goodness. i have about 25 different ideas for fema. i have been trying to get through. i have not had too much success to get these ideas through fema. i see mr. fugate is in charge of fema. how can i get in touch with him? host: give us one or two of your ideas. caller: different color-coded signs. that would be specified with hospitals, police, fire departments, which roads are good roads to go, which roads are bad roads to go through. it could be changed and switched over accordingly. that's one of the ideas i had. i have some many ideas. host: thank you for sharing them. guest: that does sound like an interesting id

sba communications mentioned by morgan stanley as a tactical long-term -- >> you need antennas if you'reto expand your cellular experience. i also like american tower. >> rg energy. >> david crane had been the foremost proponent of nuclear power. that was a negative piece for them. >> manpower rated a buy. >> do you upgrade that if you really think the economy is getting soft? they have a big french business. you have to look international. >> credit suisse upgrades lululemon to outperform. >> what a battleground. this is the anti-stink pants formulation. high multiple stocks not doing that well. >> automated data. >> i prefer paychecks. a higher yield and more levered to smaller business. >> finally, chesapeake midstream. >> i have them on tonight. they're talking about cng in a box. >> as people try to make sense of energy these days, the cost to a household of rising gas prices is offset to a degree by the lower cost of natural gas. >> and i think that's important that the overall price of energy in this country has not gone up a lot because of gasoline. can i point out that chesapeak