Mary Landrieu

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. On March 26, 2011, after 12 years of battling multiple myeloma, our country lost one of history's political trailblazers, the Honorable Geraldine Anne Ferraro. Ferraro served as a Congresswoman for the 9th District of New York from 1979-1985. At a time when less than two dozen women served in Congress, Geraldine Ferraro was a consistent voice for equality and unrelenting advocate for women's rights. In 1984--64 years after passage of the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote--Ferraro made history as the first female Vice Presidential candidate from a major U.S. political party, running alongside Walter Mondale. I vividly remember her words as I watched her speak during the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, ``If we can do this, we can do anything.'' Millions of women and girls watched that speech, inspired by the fact that a woman was one step away from holding the second highest office in America. Although the Mondale-Ferraro ticket did not win the White House, Ferraro's words, leadership and courageous spirit would forever change the way women were viewed in American politics. Her candidacy had successfully shattered the glass ceiling for the office of the Vice Presidency. Two decades later, a Congresswoman from the same city where Ferraro accepted the Vice Presidential nomination would go on to become the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Geraldine Ferraro's journey to the precipice of the Vice Presidency helped pave the way for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's historic achievement. In addition, her nomination would help pave the way for Hillary Clinton's historic bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Geraldine Ferraro will always be remembered for her passion and dedication to women's issues. The daughter of Italian immigrants, Ferraro began her career as a prosecutor for New York City focusing on sex crimes, child abuse, and domestic violence. Ferraro carried that passion with her to the U.S. House of Representatives, quickly becoming a leader among her congressional colleagues. During her three terms as a Congresswoman, she served on a number of committees including: the Select Committee on Aging, the Public Works and Transportation Committee and eventually the House Budget Committee. In addition to her work in Congress, Ferraro remained a devoted wife and loving mother to three children. After leaving public office, she remained in the field of public policy serving as a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University's Institute of Politics from 1988-1992 and as a U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights during the Clinton administration from 1993- 1996. She also authored three autobiographical books about her political career. She once again entered the world of politics in 2008, serving on Hillary Rodham Clinton's Presidential campaign. The life and accomplishments of Geraldine Ferraro opened the doors of American politics and the hearts and minds of thousands of women seeking to make a difference. She was an inspiration to me and thousands of women considering the challenge of a future in politics and government. Our country will always be grateful for her leadership. She will surely be remembered for her unique leadership, and her belief that, ``America is the land where dreams can come true for all of us.''

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I appreciate everyone's cooperation in trying to help us move the SBIR bill through the Senate this week. It is a very important bill. Hopefully, we can get back on that bill officially this afternoon as the leaders are negotiating about the amendments that are pending or those amendments filed against the bill. I see, at this time, the Senator from Maryland who is on the floor and wants to speak for just 1 minute about the bill and then Senator Boxer came down to speak about an amendment. Senator Vitter is also here, and I know he would like to be recognized in just a few minutes as well. Then we will alternate back and forth through morning business. There is no consent agreement at this point, but we will try to be fair to the Members, to move back and forth through the afternoon until 3 o'clock.

Ms. LANDRIEU. The Senator would go after Senator Cardin.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Then Senator Vitter, if that is OK.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for the period of morning business to be extended until 3 p.m., with the time equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 29, 2011, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Strengthening the Senior Executive Service: a Review of Challenges Facing the Government's Leadership Corps.''

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 29, 2011, at 2:30 p.m.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 29, 2011, at 2:30 p.m.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights, be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 29, 2011, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Protecting the Civil Rights of American Muslims.''

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 29, 2011, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Tools to Present DOD Cost Overruns.''

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 29, 2011, at 9:30 a.m.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 29, 2011, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Public Proposals for the Future of the Housing Finance System''.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 29, 2011, at 10 a.m. in Dirksen 406.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 29, 2011, at 2:30 p.m.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, could I ask the Chair--I know we are discussing the bill. But do we have a time constraint? I understand that at 12 o'clock there may be some additional commentary.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Let me try to recap for just a moment because it is my understanding there may be some colleagues coming down to the Senate floor around 12 o'clock to pay tribute to an extraordinary woman and extraordinary American, Geraldine Ferraro, whom we lost this week. I most certainly want to be respectful to the Members who are coming to the floor to pay tribute to our former colleague and an extraordinary leader. But let me remind colleagues we are still trying to get to this bill, an important bill for the country, an important bill to help put this recession in our rearview mirror, an important bill that gives us yet one more very carefully crafted tool to help create jobs on Main Street, in rural areas, in suburban areas, and in urban areas all across this country; that is, the 8-year reauthorization of the Small Business Innovation and Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program. This program is approximately 20 years old, first passed by Senator Warren Rudman, when a report found its way to Congress that said, alarmingly, agencies of the Federal Government, whether it was the Department of Defense or NASA or NIH, were not accessing the power and the technology of the small business community; that when they went out to do research they were just looking at research offered by either just universities and we are very proud of the work that our universities do, but they were looking at large businesses. What did GE have to offer? What did IBM have to offer? It occurred to many Members of Congress at that time that there was a tremendous amount of brain power and agility and quickness and cutting- edge, innovative technologies resting in the minds and hearts and dreams of entrepreneurs and small businesses in America the taxpayers were not benefiting from. As you can imagine, people might think of all this technology coming out of New York or California. They might skip over a place such as Montana where the Presiding Officer is from or Louisiana where this Senator is from. So there were some very wise Members who said: Let's create a program that will direct at least a portion of the research and development funding of these large agencies so small businesses can compete. Now, these are grants not given out by formula or on a first-come/ first-served basis. These grants and contracts are given out based on merit, about what looks promising, about potential, and about what the taxpayers need in terms of dealing with problems. One thing that comes immediately to mind is the terrible tragedy unfolding in Japan as we speak with the potential meltdown, the process of a nuclear reactor melting down. Some of the technology being deployed to that situation, which is technology developed in the field of robotics, was developed, a portion of it, through this SBIR Program. So that makes very relevant the debate that we are having on the floor today. When people go home and now are turning on their televisions or listening to their radios or over the Internet following those unfolding dramatic developments in Japan, they know that one of the companies that has been deployed and some of the material from the United States actually was developed through this program. So that is just one of a thousand examples that Senator Snowe and I have provided in terms of testimony before the Small Business Committee to the Congressional Record, and in our numerous speeches on the floor to talk about the importance of this program. I would like, as the manager of this bill--I am not sure it is going to be possible, but I would most certainly like to have this bill voted on and passed by the end of this week. I am not sure the leadership has decided that is something that is possible. But I would like to send a strong bill over to the House--hopefully, a bill that does not have amendments on it that would warrant a Presidential threat of a veto-- and get this bill passed through the House and then passed on to the President so he can sign it and send a very positive signal for his agenda and all of our agendas for innovation--having America be the best educated, the best competitors in the world in terms of the economy, and giving our small businesses yet another tool. We have worked on reducing the abuses in the credit card industry. We have worked on capital access through a new lending program. We have reduced fees, reduced taxes to the tune of $12 billion to our small businesses throughout the country in the last Congress. We want to continue to work on lowering taxes where we can, eliminating regulations and supporting programs like this that work. Let's eliminate or modify those programs that are not working, and let's step up our support and reauthorize the programs that are. The assessments done and the reviews of this program by the independent researchers have been very positive across the board and outstanding. Senator Snowe and I have taken into consideration those many reports in the drafting of this bill and made some changes to the program so that as it moves forward for the 8 years it will even be better. One of my key goals and objectives is to make sure States such as Louisiana or Mississippi or Montana or Wyoming, States that have not previously been awarded many of these grants, know we have stepped up some technical assistance and help so we can find the best technology in this country to apply to some of our most pressing problems, regardless of whether they are in the big cities and big places such as New York, Los Angeles, CA. But we need our entrepreneurs around the country to benefit by a program that they have access to as well. So I am pleased that we can get back on the small business innovation and research bill and small business technology transfer bill. Senator Snowe and I will be coming to the floor periodically during the day to continue to move this bill along. I see my colleague, the Senator from Maryland, who is scheduled to speak in just a few minutes. So at this time I will yield the floor. Again, I hope, and I thank our colleagues for their cooperative nature that they have been working in in terms of trying to get our bill passed that will be so important to so many people in all of our States. I yield the floor.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak on an issue that is of great importance to my home State of Louisiana: disaster recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005; Hurricanes Gustav and Ike of 2008; and the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010. Almost 6 years after these first two devastating storms, our eyes are still fixed on our shores during hurricane season as our communities and businesses in the hardest-hit areas continue to rebuild. The region is also still reeling from the oil spill and subsequent Federal deepwater drilling moratorium. As Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I remain focused on their ongoing recovery efforts and am here today to introduce a bill that I believe will help these struggling small businesses become successful once again and hire new workers. Charles R. ``Ray'' Bergeron and his wife's Fleur de Lis Car Care Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, is one of the businesses that needs this type of assistance. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills and I toured the Bergerons' business back in June 2009. Pre-Katrina, Fleur de Lis, which opened in 1988, had nine employees. After Hurricane Katrina hit, Mr. and Mrs. Bergeron found themselves having to take out two loans, one for their house and another for their small business. As of our visit that June, the Bergerons were down to 2 employees, not including themselves, and their business was back at about 40 percent of pre-Katrina sales, due in large measure to the population not returning. Their neighborhood is mostly empty homes, which Mr. Bergeron attributes in part to high flood insurance premiums, high property taxes and high homeowner's insurance. When I met with them, the Bergerons had a $225,000 SBA disaster loan with a standard 30-year term, which Mr. Bergeron says he will not pay off until he is 101 years old. And two years ago now, Mrs. Bergeron contacted my office requesting SBA assistance with their loan repayment after work to repair the flood-damaged roads surrounding their gas station had cut access to their business for even their most loyal customers. Since the project began, Fleur de Lis' sales have been cut almost in half. This latest challenge comes on the heels of the economic downturn, which caused the station to lay off two employees in 2009. The Bergerons' story is one I have heard from countless businesses. Coupled with their recovery from the 2005 and 2008 hurricanes, and more recently, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Federal deepwater drilling moratorium, these businesses--the ones that took the initiative to quickly reopen after the storms--are today struggling with one challenge after another. Yet these ``pioneer'' businesses are the ones rebuilding communities, they are the businesses communities need the most because they serve as anchors. If residents see the Bergerons' gas station or their favorite restaurant open, they are more likely to come back to rebuild their homes. To help ongoing recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast, and to give these struggling businesses immediate assistance, I am introducing today the Southeast Hurricanes Small Business Disaster Relief Act of 2011. This legislation would provide targeted assistance to as many as 11,000 businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. What these particular businesses have in common is that they received SBA disaster loans following the 2005 or 2008 hurricanes. While they have made payments on these loans, I have heard from countless businesses in my State that they could expand operations if they had additional cash flow. This legislation would inject immediate capital into these hardest-hit businesses by giving SBA the authority to waive up to $15,000 of interest payments over three years, helping to create or save up to 40,000 jobs. Under this program, SBA is required to give priority to applications from businesses with 50 employees or less and businesses that re-opened between September 2005 and October 2006 for the 2005 storms or September and December 2008 for the 2008 hurricanes. This ensures that SBA first helps true small businesses and those ``pioneer'' businesses that were the first to re-open after the disaster. The bill also includes a priority for applications from businesses suffering substantial economic harm from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill last year. The program would end on March 31, 2012. The Southeast Hurricanes Small Business Disaster Relief Act also includes provisions to help reduce the program's impact on the Federal deficit. First, the bill eliminates a duplicative program at the SBA. This program, the Gulf Coast Disaster Loan Refinancing Program, was created as part of the 2008 Farm Bill. Although it was created almost three years ago, the program has not received any appropriations nor has the SBA utilized the authority to refinance any disaster loans. It is my understanding this is because the program just re-amortizes the same debt of borrowers. Furthermore, any refinancing must not exceed the original loan amount and differ from the original terms of the loan. As a result, this program is not attractive to borrowers, lenders or the SBA. Our bill eliminates this program and creates one that will work better for all stakeholders. Next, the bill allows SBA the authority to get reimbursed by the party responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for any interest relief provided to businesses impacted by that disaster. This ensures that the taxpayers will be reimbursed for interest relief related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I also note that this is consistent with the claims process provided for in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. This program makes a difference because for some businesses, depending on the loan term and loan amount, their total principal/ interest payments could run as high as $1,000 per month. For example, for a $114,000 disaster loan with a 4 percent interest rate and a 25- year term, a business could be paying as much as $400 in monthly interest. In one year, this adds up to $4,800 and almost $14,500 in three years. While this is not a lot of money for Wall Street banks or Fortune 500 companies, $15,000 makes a major impact for a gas station with two employees, like Fleur de Lis, or a neighborhood restaurant with 10 employees. These businesses have seen their bottom lines shrink as others on Wall Street received extravagant bonuses. I, for one, believe it is time to help these Main Street businesses as they are the backbone of our communities. My legislation also follows legislation approved by a previous Congress. The prior bill came after Hurricane Betsy devastated Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi in September 1965. According to Red Cross reports at the time, between 800,000 and 1 million people were adversely impacted by the hurricane. Before this storm, the only previous disaster of that magnitude was the 1937 Ohio-Mississippi River floods which forced more than a million people from their homes. In total, Betsy destroyed more than 1,500 homes, damaged more than 150,000, and damaged more than 2,000 trailers. Hurricane Betsy also destroyed 1,400 farm buildings and 2,600 small businesses. At the time, the Senate Committee on Public Works noted in Committee Report 89-917 that, ``The overwhelming magnitude of the vicious storm, surprising even to experienced disaster workers, was more apparent every day as storm victims continued to register for long-term recovery help in rebuilding their lives and homes.'' As part of the review to provide Hurricane Betsy victims appropriate assistance, including a field hearing in Louisiana, Congress determined that the massive scale of this disaster required targeted, disaster- specific programs. In particular, Congress approved the Southeast Hurricane Disaster Relief Act of 1965, Public Law 89-339. This bill authorized various business, homeowner, and agricultural disaster assistance, including loans and temporary rental assistance. In its committee report on the legislation, which is referenced above, the Senate Committee on Public Works wrote, ``This bill contains what the committee believes is needed and necessary to give further aid to the disaster-stricken areas . . . including special measures to help these States in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of devastated areas.'' Among other provisions, Section 3 of the bill authorized SBA to waive interest--for loans above $500--due on the loan over a period of three years, but not to exceed $1,800 in interest. The bill was signed into law in November 1965 and Congress later approved $35 million to implement provisions in the Act. Just as with Hurricane Betsy in 1965, in 2005, Mississippi and Louisiana again saw a catastrophic disaster hit their businesses, farms, and homes. Everyone now knows the impact Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had on the New Orleans area and the southeast part of our state. Images from the devastation following these storms, and the subsequent Federal levee breaks, were transmitted across the country and around the world. Katrina ended up being the deadliest natural disaster in United States history, with 1,800 people killed--1,500 alone in Louisiana. Katrina was also the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, with more than $81.2 billion reported in damage. In Louisiana, we had 18,000 businesses catastrophically destroyed and 81,000 businesses economically impacted. I believe that, across the entire Gulf Coast, some estimates ran as high as 125,000 businesses impacted by Katrina and Rita. Many of these businesses, for various reasons, have not returned or re-opened. By mid-2007, Orleans Parish was still down 2,000 employers, or 23 percent of its pre-Katrina business level. Nearby St. Bernard Parish--which had up to 80 percent of its homes damaged--had the largest percentage decline of 48 percent fewer businesses open, according to Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Recovery Authority. These disasters were followed by the 2008 hurricanes that hit the same areas in Texas and Louisiana. With this in mind, on September 25, 2009, I chaired a committee field hearing in Galveston, Texas. At this hearing, we received a progress report from Federal, State and local officials on the recovery from Hurricane Ike in 2008. We also heard from individual business owners in Galveston who were still struggling a year on from the hurricane. These Galveston business owners, the Bergeron's Fleur de Lis gas station, and many other ``pioneer'' businesses did choose to re-open and are now struggling to stay alive. As is clear from the Bergeron's story, these businesses have suffered from not one disaster, but three: Hurricane Katrina/Rita in 2005, Hurricane Gustav/Ike in 2008, and the Deepwater Horizon disaster. I believe the special program implemented following Hurricane Betsy in 1965 would today greatly benefit businesses in these four states hardest hit by Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, and the Deepwater Horizon. While I recognize that these are the hardest hit states, I am also interested to hear from my other Gulf Coast colleagues on whether this program would benefit their impacted businesses as well. In closing, I would like to note that Congress has been generous in providing essential recovery funds following the 2005 and 2008 storms. However, as we approach the sixth anniversary of the 2005 disasters, we must now ensure that impacted businesses can make it past this anniversary--preventing thousands more workers from being unemployed or additional defaults on SBA disaster loans. One important way that this Congress can ensure that these workers remain employed and that these businesses survive, and even grow, would be to relieve some of the interest on these SBA disaster loans. For this reason, I urge my Senate colleagues to support this commonsense legislation which would make a difference for up to 11,000 Main Street business owners and their estimated 40,000 employees in the Gulf Coast. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity the leadership has provided for Senator Snowe and me to present S. 493 and continue to discuss this important bill. It is a very important program that has actually existed at the Federal level for 20 years. It is not a household word, but it is known very well in the small business community. It is supported by groups such as the Small Business Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and many high-tech organizations because they know the same thing we know, which is this is a very important Federal program that actually works and is accomplishing its mission. It is a government/public-private partnership--a government-business partnership--with the largest Federal agencies that actually set aside a small portion of their research and development dollars. The amount is actually relatively small; 2.5 to 3 percent of all of their development and research dollars is set aside, and they aggressively look for small businesses that are able to provide new services, cutting-edge technology, new methodology, new software, to solve problems the government is having. In the process of these small businesses solving problems for the government--i.e., the taxpayer--the great news is some new businesses are developed, and they can then be commercialized into the private market, which is how this program works, which is why it is so beneficial not only to taxpayers but to the market generally. I am excited because we have great evidence from the studies and the surveys of this program that it is meeting and exceeding its expectations. It is creating thousands of jobs. It is providing an opportunity for small businesses to compete on a level playing field with large businesses, and it is providing the taxpayer with some cutting-edge technology and innovation. Let me give one example which is close to my heart because we ran into this problem specifically and directly trying to deal with the aftermath of Katrina. This is just one example of the kinds of new technologies that are being developed through this program. This bill, which we hope will get passed this week if we can negotiate wisely and smartly on the amendments pending, will reauthorize this program for 8 years. This is a long-term reauthorization, and it is important to send a signal out to the market and to small businesses and to these coalitions: We believe in this partnership. We know it can work. We want to give a long lead time and an 8-year runway to lift off some of these businesses and launch them and to create the kind of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunity we know is out there. This is just one example. A Huntsville, AL, company, GATR Technologies, inflatable antenna--an inflatable antenna provides emergency access, cell phone coverage and phone lines over satellite networks. It was first used by responders in Haiti and Hurricane Ike. It provides communication support to our Special Operations Forces, to U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force. It so far has created 30 jobs but has tremendous opportunity; last year, $7 million in sales and this year approximately $10 million. This technology was launched with a $148,000 grant. What happened to us in the aftermath of Katrina--and the Presiding Officer may remember this--is that even the government's best satellite phones failed to work. So even with a great evacuation plan in place, with a great medical plan in place, with a great response plan in place, it is not worth the paper it is written on if you can't communicate it. So what we found was when people landed with satellite phones, there wasn't enough reception base on the ground to be able to communicate. The technology has advanced significantly since then, but the same thing happens when you are trying to get communications in a war-torn place or a catastrophically destroyed place. This technology allows basically a balloon to be put down onsite, substantially increasing the communications capabilities. This is just one example. So an agency had a problem. It couldn't communicate. It didn't have the right kind of communication technology. It puts out a small grant. Small business responds. This technology is created. Potentially, this could go on to develop into quite a large company. It might morph several times before it goes commercial, but that is what this program does. These jobs are being created in Huntsville, AL. We are thrilled for Alabama. Jobs are created through this program in every State in the Union. Here is another example. This is a small business from Watertown, MA. It is the A123 lithium-ion battery. The advanced lithium-ion battery is used widely for transportation power grid and commercial and industrial products. It opened the largest lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in North America, in Michigan, a place where we need to be creating jobs. This program is doing exactly that. It has created more than 400 jobs across the State of Michigan. I think this grant initially came out of the Energy Department. The technology was initially developed at MIT, but the road to commercial success was paved in 2002 when this company was awarded $100,000 for a small business innovation research grant. So this successfully leveraged this SBIR grant to take this lab and its product to the market. It employs now more than 2,000 people globally and has facilities around the world. So this is creating jobs for America, new technology for America, but the world is benefiting from this. In fact, Senator Snowe has joined me on the Senate floor, and she will remember when we had testimony from our consultant, Dr. Weissman, who testified that actually as the chief reviewer of this program, he has been asked to speak in many different countries about its success. So while people are trying to eliminate government programs that aren't working, let's make sure this week in the Senate we take the opportunity to reauthorize programs that are working and that are creating jobs at home and serving as a model for entrepreneurship development all over the world. I see Senator Snowe is on the floor, so I am going to wrap up my opening remarks soon. I do want to review briefly. As I said, this program was designed in 1982 to harness the innovative capacity of America's small businesses to meet the needs of our Federal agencies. Senator Warren Rudman from New Hampshire had a great part to play as a lead sponsor of this bill. To date, the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program have produced more than 85,000 patents and have generated tens of thousands of well-paying jobs across all the 50 States, in addition to creating jobs overseas that are a benefit to America as well. This is a good return on the investment we make for our economy. As I said, it has garnered high praise from well- respected sources and governments around the world. It is an 8-year authorization. In this bill, we update the award sizes, which have not been changed since 1994. Phase I awards will be increased from $100,000 to $150,000; phase II, from $750,000 to $1 million. We adopted the House measure that allows the SBA to update these award guidelines annually instead of every 5 years. We also put certain amounts of caps on some of the awards to make sure as many businesses as possible get access to these awards. This is merit-based. This is not a formula distributed based on applications. These are based on the quality of the application, the promise of the technology, and also on the level of need the agency has for this kind of new technology. As I said, it creates a Federal-State technology partnership program. It improves the SBA's ability to oversee and coordinate these programs. It provides some administrative funding, which we thought was lacking, to make sure the agencies themselves have the wherewithal and the expertise to really get this program maximized in its job-creation potential. The reason I think this is so important--and Senator Snowe and I have been almost singly focused on doing everything we can, leading this Small Business Committee, across party lines and together, Democrats and Republicans--is to try to put this recession behind us. This is a fight. This is not something that will happen naturally. It is going to be by this government in Washington and at the State and local levels creating atmosphere for businesses to prosper and jobs to be created. I have to say I was very pleased to get a copy of the ``Kaufman Index on Entrepreneurial Activity,'' which I will submit a portion of for the record. I think people will be pleased to hear its opening paragraph, as follows: In 2010, .34 percent of the adult population, which is 340 out of 100,000 adults, created a new business each month. That means that in America, 565,000 new businesses were created each month in 2010, approximately. That is pretty extraordinary. Every month, 565,000 new businesses were launched. We know all of them don't succeed, but some of them do, and some of them grow to be huge, extraordinary companies. QualComm comes to mind, and Microsoft comes to mind. They started as small businesses and grew. The 2010 entrepreneurial activity rate was the same as 2009, but it represents a substantial increase from 2007 and, most significantly, represents the highest level over the past decade and a half. I wish I could say this particular program was responsible for all of this, but obviously it is not. But it is one of the tools the Federal Government has, along with our contracting and procurement tools, along with our Tax Code, along with our other incentives that we passed in our last small business bill--the new $30 billion lending program, which is leveraged up to 300 and potentially could leverage up to $300 billion in lending to small businesses on Main Street, not Wall Street--getting money to small businesses, these 565,000 small businesses that are started every month by great Americans who are trying to provide a livelihood for themselves, opportunities for their families, and strength for their communities. So for innovation and jobs, fighting hard for them, we are trying to pass this reauthorization that can contribute to this substantial growth. Things are looking better. Trendlines are in a positive direction. Let me show you some other growth lines that are very important. We had a terribly substantial loss of jobs, as you know, in 2008 and 2009. The President largely inherited this situation. He did not even take office until half of this job loss was completed. But I think we have been working together and the President has been leading a great effort to turn this situation around and start creating jobs as opposed to losing them. You can see this is a pretty dramatic turnaround. After losing 3.6 million in 2008 and 5.5 million in 2009, we have had a net increase of 1.3 million in 2010, with things looking promising in the first quarter of 2011--still moving in a very positive direction. I don't know what these projections are, but I think it will be greater than 1.3 million, which was last year's increase, which would be encouraging. We have a long way to go to make up for the job loss of the great recession. When Wall Street collapsed, the housing market, the real estate market was terribly wounded. That is a story for another day. But the good news is that it looks as if we are recovering. The unemployment rate is still too high in too many places in this country. That is why Senator Snowe and I are on the floor again this week. That is why we are asking our colleagues to be as cooperative as possible. We know there are so many issues people want to talk about, and time is limited on the floor. In our minds, we should be almost singularly focused on job creation and reducing the debt and closing this deficit. By creating jobs and building businesses in the private sector--and this is one program that absolutely hits this mark--we can do all three. We can create jobs and expand economic opportunity. We are making a dent in the debt, and we are closing the deficit gap by creating new tax dollars that come in from hard-working Americans in the private sector. Mr. President, I am excited to present this bill again. We will have a lot more information as the day unfolds. I understand we have a vote on a different matter at around 5 or 5:30 today. Senator Snowe and I will be on the floor to answer any questions Members might have. We are not encouraging additional amendments. We already have 89 that have been filed on this bill. We are hoping to get some of them withdrawn that are not germane to the bill. We will be working throughout the week, and hopefully together we can give a very strong vote of confidence to entrepreneurs who are taking extraordinary risks in very challenging times. The least we can do is get the government programs that are there for them to support them up and running and as strong as possible to help them in their quest to be successful. I yield the floor.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I will follow up with a few brief comments. The transition is important and worth noting. I am so glad Ranking Member Snowe made reference to the fact that the two of us are on the floor not just to reauthorize because it is the time for reauthorization but because this program works, because it is cost- effective, and because it actually is a job creator. It creates jobs in the private sector, not necessarily the public sector, although there are some public sector jobs associated with it that are crucial and important--people in the agencies working on identifying this new technology. But the lion's share of these jobs by far is being created in the private sector. I wish to show what our challenge is. Here you can see both President Bush and President Obama faced extraordinary challenges. This is the Monthly Changes in Private Payrolls, Seasonally Adjusted from January 2008, when this recession began, until today. You can see it is absolutely a dramatic loss of private payroll, reductions in private payroll. This represents substantial job losses. But as you can see, it is just now, in April 2010-July 2010, and now to the present, to February of 2011--I know we are into March but this doesn't have the final month or two on here--we are making tremendous progress in turning this around. Again, this is the Monthly Changes in Private Payrolls. This represents the teeth of the great recession that caught so many businesses, large and small, off guard. There are many reasons why this recession happened, and the collapse of our financial markets, but that is not the subject of this debate. What is the subject of this debate is how we get out of it, how we create jobs in the private sector. Senator Snowe and I are proud to have brought several bills to the floor, this being the latest, that we believe can contribute to the increase in private payroll. I want to be clear, because many of our colleagues have been challenging, and I think appropriately, why we can't eliminate some government programs; why do we have to keep them all. Senator Snowe and I have jointly recommended the elimination of two, though relatively small, programs within the SBA, and we will be reviewing just this week with the Administrator of the SBA the efficiency of their whole budget. If we can find other places and other programs to eliminate that are not hitting their marks, not meeting their goals, we are committed to working together to do that. But this program we have reshaped, we have modified, we have improved, and we are strongly and passionately recommending its reauthorization for 8 years. We have together reviewed nine studies of the National Research Council, studies by the Government Accountability Office to help guide our committee in the drafting of this bill. We have included many additional policy goals and some former goals and appropriate interest to balance. We wanted to improve the diversity of the programs geographically and otherwise so more States and individuals could participate. We also wanted to maintain a fair playing field so true small businesses could continue to compete for this very small but important percentage of overall R&D. We wanted to encourage exploration of high-risk, cutting-edge research. As Dr. Charles Wessner said--the lead assessment adviser on this program--if every program you give money to is working, or every business you are awarding grants to works, you are not running your program correctly, Senators. Because this is high-risk early funding, where it is the most difficult funding for these businesses to receive. Obviously, once they show promise, there are any number of investors and capital out there looking right now for good investments, particularly right here in the United States. So at a certain point, at a certain level, with certain proven technologies, there is enough venture capital out there to take these programs to the next level. But what is not there right now is that first dollar, that early $150,000 grant that says: We think you have something of promise. Go ahead and try it. They try it for a year or two, they come back, and they can get another $150,000, up to $1.5 million. Eventually, it may collapse because it wasn't what people thought, and that money is lost. But the great news is that collectively, cumulatively, this program makes money for the taxpayer--it does not lose money--although not every grant is successful. We wouldn't want that. This is a fairly high-risk, early form of capital, but it is a smart use of taxpayer dollars, and that is why Senator Snowe and I enthusiastically recommend it. This program has been supported by every President. President Reagan was supportive, President Bush was supportive, President Clinton has been supportive, and now President Obama has signaled his support as well. So we are very proud to be able to present this. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record another report regarding the state of small business--not the entire report but some parts of it that are central to this debate, sponsored by Network Solutions, the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, this portion of the report says, interestingly enough: After having reached a low point in the summer, technology investment is on the rise and social media adoption continues to grow. Despite poor competitive health now, owners are becoming increasingly optimistic about the economy and their future business success. They have been taking this survey of small businesses since the recession started, and the report continues: Over a quarter plan to add staff in 2011, and if they carry out their plans, will create 3.8 million jobs. Again, it is the magic of small business. We have 27 million small businesses in America. If every one of them, obviously, created one additional job, that would be 27 million more jobs. And we could use it. That is not going to happen, but if even a portion of them added one job to their bottom line, we know they could have an impact. It is important for programs such as this and getting capital at their local bank, being able to access credit from credit cards, that have reasonable charges and transparent charges--which I am proud to have been a part of helping on--and it is getting access for new technologies to find a friend at the Federal Government who will step up and help them grow their business. We strongly recommend this program. I am going to yield the floor at this time, but we do have several amendments that are pending, and we will have to organize those votes sometime this week. We have over 89 amendments that have been filed, but we are hoping some of the Members, if they do not feel they have to offer those amendments, will withdraw them. Some of them are not germane to this bill and we wish to keep this bill very focused on small business. I do want to join Senator Snowe in support of the repeal of 1099, which is represented by the Johanns amendment, and Senator Menendez may have a perfecting amendment to that, I understand, and I look forward to working with Senators Johanns and Menendez to get that regulatory burden lifted off the back of small business. It doesn't go into effect until 2012, but small businesses around the country are quietly alarmed, as they should be, in my view, regarding that additional paperwork that would be required. There is a fair amount of across-the- board support on both sides of the aisle for that repeal, and I hope we can get that done sometime this week as well, either specifically attached to this bill or parallel to this effort, because it is a very important effort for small businesses to get that new 1099 requirement repealed, as well as getting this bill passed. Mr. President, with that, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak on an issue that is of great importance to my home State of Louisiana: disaster recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005; Hurricanes Gustav and Ike of 2008; and the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010. Almost 6 years after these first two devastating storms, our eyes are still fixed on our shores during hurricane season as our communities and businesses in the hardest-hit areas continue to rebuild. The region is also still reeling from the oil spill and subsequent Federal deepwater drilling moratorium. As Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I remain focused on their ongoing recovery efforts and am here today to introduce a bill that I believe will help these struggling small businesses become successful once again and hire new workers. Charles R. ``Ray'' Bergeron and his wife's Fleur de Lis Car Care Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, is one of the businesses that needs this type of assistance. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills and I toured the Bergerons' business back in June 2009. Pre-Katrina, Fleur de Lis, which opened in 1988, had nine employees. After Hurricane Katrina hit, Mr. and Mrs. Bergeron found themselves having to take out two loans, one for their house and another for their small business. As of our visit that June, the Bergerons were down to 2 employees, not including themselves, and their business was back at about 40 percent of pre-Katrina sales, due in large measure to the population not returning. Their neighborhood is mostly empty homes, which Mr. Bergeron attributes in part to high flood insurance premiums, high property taxes and high homeowner's insurance. When I met with them, the Bergerons had a $225,000 SBA disaster loan with a standard 30-year term, which Mr. Bergeron says he will not pay off until he is 101 years old. And two years ago now, Mrs. Bergeron contacted my office requesting SBA assistance with their loan repayment after work to repair the flood-damaged roads surrounding their gas station had cut access to their business for even their most loyal customers. Since the project began, Fleur de Lis' sales have been cut almost in half. This latest challenge comes on the heels of the economic downturn, which caused the station to lay off two employees in 2009. The Bergerons' story is one I have heard from countless businesses. Coupled with their recovery from the 2005 and 2008 hurricanes, and more recently, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Federal deepwater drilling moratorium, these businesses--the ones that took the initiative to quickly reopen after the storms--are today struggling with one challenge after another. Yet these ``pioneer'' businesses are the ones rebuilding communities, they are the businesses communities need the most because they serve as anchors. If residents see the Bergerons' gas station or their favorite restaurant open, they are more likely to come back to rebuild their homes. To help ongoing recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast, and to give these struggling businesses immediate assistance, I am introducing today the Southeast Hurricanes Small Business Disaster Relief Act of 2011. This legislation would provide targeted assistance to as many as 11,000 businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. What these particular businesses have in common is that they received SBA disaster loans following the 2005 or 2008 hurricanes. While they have made payments on these loans, I have heard from countless businesses in my State that they could expand operations if they had additional cash flow. This legislation would inject immediate capital into these hardest-hit businesses by giving SBA the authority to waive up to $15,000 of interest payments over three years, helping to create or save up to 40,000 jobs. Under this program, SBA is required to give priority to applications from businesses with 50 employees or less and businesses that re-opened between September 2005 and October 2006 for the 2005 storms or September and December 2008 for the 2008 hurricanes. This ensures that SBA first helps true small businesses and those ``pioneer'' businesses that were the first to re-open after the disaster. The bill also includes a priority for applications from businesses suffering substantial economic harm from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill last year. The program would end on March 31, 2012. The Southeast Hurricanes Small Business Disaster Relief Act also includes provisions to help reduce the program's impact on the Federal deficit. First, the bill eliminates a duplicative program at the SBA. This program, the Gulf Coast Disaster Loan Refinancing Program, was created as part of the 2008 Farm Bill. Although it was created almost three years ago, the program has not received any appropriations nor has the SBA utilized the authority to refinance any disaster loans. It is my understanding this is because the program just re-amortizes the same debt of borrowers. Furthermore, any refinancing must not exceed the original loan amount and differ from the original terms of the loan. As a result, this program is not attractive to borrowers, lenders or the SBA. Our bill eliminates this program and creates one that will work better for all stakeholders. Next, the bill allows SBA the authority to get reimbursed by the party responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for any interest relief provided to businesses impacted by that disaster. This ensures that the taxpayers will be reimbursed for interest relief related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I also note that this is consistent with the claims process provided for in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. This program makes a difference because for some businesses, depending on the loan term and loan amount, their total principal/ interest payments could run as high as $1,000 per month. For example, for a $114,000 disaster loan with a 4 percent interest rate and a 25- year term, a business could be paying as much as $400 in monthly interest. In one year, this adds up to $4,800 and almost $14,500 in three years. While this is not a lot of money for Wall Street banks or Fortune 500 companies, $15,000 makes a major impact for a gas station with two employees, like Fleur de Lis, or a neighborhood restaurant with 10 employees. These businesses have seen their bottom lines shrink as others on Wall Street received extravagant bonuses. I, for one, believe it is time to help these Main Street businesses as they are the backbone of our communities. My legislation also follows legislation approved by a previous Congress. The prior bill came after Hurricane Betsy devastated Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi in September 1965. According to Red Cross reports at the time, between 800,000 and 1 million people were adversely impacted by the hurricane. Before this storm, the only previous disaster of that magnitude was the 1937 Ohio-Mississippi River floods which forced more than a million people from their homes. In total, Betsy destroyed more than 1,500 homes, damaged more than 150,000, and damaged more than 2,000 trailers. Hurricane Betsy also destroyed 1,400 farm buildings and 2,600 small businesses. At the time, the Senate Committee on Public Works noted in Committee Report 89-917 that, ``The overwhelming magnitude of the vicious storm, surprising even to experienced disaster workers, was more apparent every day as storm victims continued to register for long-term recovery help in rebuilding their lives and homes.'' As part of the review to provide Hurricane Betsy victims appropriate assistance, including a field hearing in Louisiana, Congress determined that the massive scale of this disaster required targeted, disaster- specific programs. In particular, Congress approved the Southeast Hurricane Disaster Relief Act of 1965, Public Law 89-339. This bill authorized various business, homeowner, and agricultural disaster assistance, including loans and temporary rental assistance. In its committee report on the legislation, which is referenced above, the Senate Committee on Public Works wrote, ``This bill contains what the committee believes is needed and necessary to give further aid to the disaster-stricken areas . . . including special measures to help these States in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of devastated areas.'' Among other provisions, Section 3 of the bill authorized SBA to waive interest--for loans above $500--due on the loan over a period of three years, but not to exceed $1,800 in interest. The bill was signed into law in November 1965 and Congress later approved $35 million to implement provisions in the Act. Just as with Hurricane Betsy in 1965, in 2005, Mississippi and Louisiana again saw a catastrophic disaster hit their businesses, farms, and homes. Everyone now knows the impact Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had on the New Orleans area and the southeast part of our state. Images from the devastation following these storms, and the subsequent Federal levee breaks, were transmitted across the country and around the world. Katrina ended up being the deadliest natural disaster in United States history, with 1,800 people killed--1,500 alone in Louisiana. Katrina was also the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, with more than $81.2 billion reported in damage. In Louisiana, we had 18,000 businesses catastrophically destroyed and 81,000 businesses economically impacted. I believe that, across the entire Gulf Coast, some estimates ran as high as 125,000 businesses impacted by Katrina and Rita. Many of these businesses, for various reasons, have not returned or re-opened. By mid-2007, Orleans Parish was still down 2,000 employers, or 23 percent of its pre-Katrina business level. Nearby St. Bernard Parish--which had up to 80 percent of its homes damaged--had the largest percentage decline of 48 percent fewer businesses open, according to Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Recovery Authority. These disasters were followed by the 2008 hurricanes that hit the same areas in Texas and Louisiana. With this in mind, on September 25, 2009, I chaired a committee field hearing in Galveston, Texas. At this hearing, we received a progress report from Federal, State and local officials on the recovery from Hurricane Ike in 2008. We also heard from individual business owners in Galveston who were still struggling a year on from the hurricane. These Galveston business owners, the Bergeron's Fleur de Lis gas station, and many other ``pioneer'' businesses did choose to re-open and are now struggling to stay alive. As is clear from the Bergeron's story, these businesses have suffered from not one disaster, but three: Hurricane Katrina/Rita in 2005, Hurricane Gustav/Ike in 2008, and the Deepwater Horizon disaster. I believe the special program implemented following Hurricane Betsy in 1965 would today greatly benefit businesses in these four states hardest hit by Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, and the Deepwater Horizon. While I recognize that these are the hardest hit states, I am also interested to hear from my other Gulf Coast colleagues on whether this program would benefit their impacted businesses as well. In closing, I would like to note that Congress has been generous in providing essential recovery funds following the 2005 and 2008 storms. However, as we approach the sixth anniversary of the 2005 disasters, we must now ensure that impacted businesses can make it past this anniversary--preventing thousands more workers from being unemployed or additional defaults on SBA disaster loans. One important way that this Congress can ensure that these workers remain employed and that these businesses survive, and even grow, would be to relieve some of the interest on these SBA disaster loans. For this reason, I urge my Senate colleagues to support this commonsense legislation which would make a difference for up to 11,000 Main Street business owners and their estimated 40,000 employees in the Gulf Coast. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I might note that Senator Johnson's committee has jurisdiction over the amendment Senator Udall spoke about. The Banking Committee has the jurisdiction, not the Small Business Committee, which is one of the concerns I have.