Mary Landrieu

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, as I come to the floor today to speak, there are countless small businesses in the Gulf Coast, right this moment, that are open for business. The fact that they are open at all is a testament to the hard work and resolve of their owners, along with the focus and commitment of community leaders, state and local officials, as well as Congress and the White House. This is because, as you know, the Gulf Coast was devastated in 2005 by two of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States in recorded history-- Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I strongly believe that we cannot rebuild the Gulf Coast without our small businesses. Small businesses not only create jobs and pay taxes-- they provide the innovation and energy that drives our economy. In fact, before Katrina and Rita hit, there were more than 95,000 small businesses in Louisiana, employing about 850,000 people--more than half of my State's workforce. About 39,000 of these businesses have yet to resume normal operations so I intend to do everything I can in the coming months to get them back up and running. That is why today I am introducing legislation to first help small businesses in the Gulf recover, as well as to provide assistance to businesses in other parts of the country. In particular, this legislation is focused on promoting exports by U.S. small businesses. Small businesses are important players in international trade, which is reflected in the fact that small businesses represent that 96 percent of all exporters of goods and services. In Louisiana, we have about 2,000 declared exporters. However, there are many more businesses in my State who conduct Internet sales overseas, as well as those who focus operations on domestic sales but have some international buyers as well. These businesses are exporters but in many cases they do not even realize it! Given the importance of these exporters to my state and to the rest of the country, I would like to improve their competitive edge in the international market and give them every resource they need to succeed. Certainly my first priority is to provide additional assistance to affected Gulf Coast small businesses. As they continue to recover, one of the main issues being faced by our small business is accessing capital. Our exporters are no different. They need help accessing export financing to cover export-related costs such as purchasing equipment, purchasing inventory, or financing production costs. This legislation would help strengthen the SBA International Finance Specialist program to help these small businesses access export financing. Today I am introducing the Small Business International Trade Enhancements Act of 2007 to give all small businesses the opportunity to expand their operations into international markets. I am pleased to have Senator Kerry, the Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, as well as Senator Snowe, the Ranking Member, and my colleague Senator Coleman, as cosponsors. As I mentioned we have 2,000 exporters in Louisiana. However, there are many other businesses who are exporters, but they do not even realize it. They may have overseas Internet sales, or they focus operations on domestic sales, but have some international buyers as well. In fact, the Small Business Administration has stated that over 96 percent of all exporters of goods and services are small businesses. Given the importance of these exporters to my State and to the rest of the Gulf Coast, I would like to improve their competitive edge in the international market and give them every resource they need to succeed. As they continue to recover, one of the main issues being faced by our small business is accessing capital. Our exporters are no different. They need help accessing export financing to cover export- related costs such as purchasing equipment, purchasing inventory, or financing production costs. To assist these businesses, fifteen SBA Finance Specialists operate out of 100 U.S. Export Assistance Centers administered by the Department of Commerce around the country. That is a record staffing low for this program, down from a peak of 22 Finance Specialists in 2000. To ensure that all smaller exporters nationwide will continue to have access to export financing, this bill establishes a floor of 18 International Finance Specialists. I believe this will send a signal to our exporters that, despite current budget deficits, we are committed to our exporters and want to provide them with the necessary resources to compete internationally. I realize that the need for export financing is not just limited to the Gulf Coast. There are small businesses nationwide that are looking to find markets overseas. One tool that they can use is the SBA's International Trade Loan (ITL) program. International Trade Loans can help exporters develop and expand overseas markets; upgrade equipment or facilities; and assist exporters that are being hurt by import competition. Exporters can borrow up to $2 million, with $1,750,000 guaranteed by SBA. However, as currently structured these loans are not user-friendly to lenders or borrowers and, as a result, are underutilized. Let me explain what I mean. First, the $250,000 difference between the loan cap and the guarantee requires borrowers to take out a second SBA loan to take full advantage of the $2 million guarantee. ITLs can only be used to acquire fixed assets and not working capital, a common need for exporters. Furthermore, ITLs do not have the same collateral or refinancing requirements as SBA 7(a) loans. Because of these issues, lenders do not use these loans. This legislation will also reduce the paperwork by increasing the maximum loan guarantee to $2,750,000 and the loan cap to $3,670,000 to bring it more in line with the 7(a) program. The bill also creates a more flexible ITL by setting out that working capital is an eligible use for loan proceeds, in addition to making the ITL consistent with regular 7(a) loans by allowing the same collateral and refinancing terms as with 7(a). The SBA International Trade and Export Loans are valuable tools for exporters but they are useless if there is no one to assist borrowers with identifying which loans are right for them. Local lending institutions that specialize in export financing can help but at a cost over less than $2 million per year, the current group of Finance Specialists has obtained bank financing for more than $10 billion in U.S. exports since 1999. The $10 billion in export sales financed by these specialists helped to create over 140,000 new, high-paying U.S. jobs. The Small Business International Trade Enhancements Act of 2007 is an important first step, not just for exporters in the Gulf Coast, but also for small businesses nationwide who are looking to open markets overseas. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation since it will help our exporters in the Gulf Coast recover and also give small businesses nationwide more options when they are seeking export financing. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, as I come to the floor today to speak, there are countless small businesses in the Gulf Coast, right this moment, that are open for business. The fact that they are open at all is a testament to the hard work and resolve of their owners, along with the focus and commitment of community leaders, state and local officials, as well as Congress and the White House. This is because, as you know, the Gulf Coast was devastated in 2005 by two of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States in recorded history-- Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I strongly believe that we cannot rebuild the Gulf Coast without our small businesses. Small businesses not only create jobs and pay taxes-- they provide the innovation and energy that drives our economy. In fact, before Katrina and Rita hit, there were more than 95,000 small businesses in Louisiana, employing about 850,000 people--more than half of my State's workforce. About 39,000 of these businesses have yet to resume normal operations so I intend to do everything I can in the coming months to get them back up and running. That is why today I am introducing legislation to help provide the necessary staff to help our small businesses in the Gulf recover from the devastating storms of 2005. In particular, this legislation is focused on promoting exports by small businesses Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Small businesses are important players in international trade, which is reflected in the fact that small businesses represent that 96 percent of all exporters of goods and services In Louisiana, we have about 2,000 declared exporters. However, there are many more businesses in my state who conduct Internet sales overseas, as well as those who focus operations on domestic sales but have some international buyers as well. These businesses are exporters but in many cases they do not even realize it! Given the importance of these exporters to my State and to the rest of the country, I would like to improve their competitive edge in the international market and give them every resource they need to succeed. As our businesses continue to recover, one of the main issues being faced by our small businesses is accessing capital. They need help accessing export financing to cover export-related costs such as purchasing equipment, purchasing inventory, or financing production costs. To assist businesses with obtaining export financing, fifteen SBA Finance Specialists operate out of 100 U.S. Export Assistance Centers administered by the Department of Commerce around the country. However, despite the increased need for export financing in the Gulf Coast, there is currently no International Finance Specialist located in any of the hardest hit States of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Instead there is one specialist in Texas with responsibility for Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana and one specialist in Georgia responsible for Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Due to the extensive territories they cover and limited travel budgets of the staff, these specialists must divide their time and cannot focus on the needs of Gulf Coast small businesses. With this in mind, this legislation would provide an SBA International Finance Specialist to the New Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center with responsibility for Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. I believe this is a commonsense approach, since this position in New Orleans has remained vacant since 2003 due to retirement and budget issues. So this is not a new position or a new hire, it is simply filling a position that has sat open for far too long. The Gulf Coast Export Recovery Act of 2007 would also address Commerce staffing issues for our New Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center. In this office, there is currently four full-time export assistance staff, along with one Foreign Service Officer. This office has had two staffers leave the office since Katrina and I am concerned that when this Foreign Service Officer leaves this fall, that there will be no replacement. This understaffed office is struggling to keep up with the increasing demands from businesses for technical assistance on finding overseas markets for local products, particularly businesses near Baton Rouge and the River parishes. Staff in New Orleans cover south Louisiana as well as the coastal counties in Mississippi. With such a wide area to cover, and so few staff, they are doing a great job in providing services but obviously need additional help to fully service our local businesses. The Small Business International Trade Enhancements Act of 2007 would provide one additional full-time staffer to this office to assist our businesses in the parishes of East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. Martin, St. Landry and Iberia. Many of our businesses from the New Orleans area are relocating to these parishes so we need adequate staff to keep up with increasing export needs in the area. In closing, I should note that both of these provisions were included in the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill that was reported out of committee last Fall. Unfortunately, since that bill was not enacted, these provisions did not become law and our small business exporters have waited an additional 7 months for increased export assistance resources. I do not want them to have to wait another 7 months for this vital assistance. We are only asking for two full-time staffers for an office, but these two staffers would make a world of difference for the businesses, as well as for the understaffed office down there. I believe both the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration are supportive of these staffing increases so I look forward to working with them in the coming months to address these staffing needs in New Orleans. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation since it will help our exporters in the Gulf Coast fully recover and will help the country as a whole by increasing exports from the Gulf Coast states. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, as I come to the floor today to speak, there are countless small businesses in the Gulf Coast, right this moment, that are open for business. The fact that they are open at all is a testament to the hard work and resolve of their owners, along with the focus and commitment of community leaders, state and local officials, as well as Congress and the White House. This is because, as you know, the Gulf Coast was devastated in 2005 by two of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States in recorded history-- Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I strongly believe that we cannot rebuild the Gulf Coast without our small businesses. Small businesses not only create jobs and pay taxes-- they provide the innovation and energy that drives our economy. In fact, before Katrina and Rita hit, there were more than 95,000 small businesses in Louisiana, employing about 850,000 people--more than half of my State's workforce. About 39,000 of these businesses have yet to resume normal operations so I intend to do everything I can in the coming months to get them back up and running. That is why today I am introducing legislation to first help small businesses in the Gulf recover, as well as to provide assistance to businesses in other parts of the country. In particular, this legislation is focused on promoting exports by U.S. small businesses. Small businesses are important players in international trade, which is reflected in the fact that small businesses represent that 96 percent of all exporters of goods and services. In Louisiana, we have about 2,000 declared exporters. However, there are many more businesses in my State who conduct Internet sales overseas, as well as those who focus operations on domestic sales but have some international buyers as well. These businesses are exporters but in many cases they do not even realize it! Given the importance of these exporters to my state and to the rest of the country, I would like to improve their competitive edge in the international market and give them every resource they need to succeed. Certainly my first priority is to provide additional assistance to affected Gulf Coast small businesses. As they continue to recover, one of the main issues being faced by our small business is accessing capital. Our exporters are no different. They need help accessing export financing to cover export-related costs such as purchasing equipment, purchasing inventory, or financing production costs. This legislation would help strengthen the SBA International Finance Specialist program to help these small businesses access export financing. Today I am introducing the Small Business International Trade Enhancements Act of 2007 to give all small businesses the opportunity to expand their operations into international markets. I am pleased to have Senator Kerry, the Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, as well as Senator Snowe, the Ranking Member, and my colleague Senator Coleman, as cosponsors. As I mentioned we have 2,000 exporters in Louisiana. However, there are many other businesses who are exporters, but they do not even realize it. They may have overseas Internet sales, or they focus operations on domestic sales, but have some international buyers as well. In fact, the Small Business Administration has stated that over 96 percent of all exporters of goods and services are small businesses. Given the importance of these exporters to my State and to the rest of the Gulf Coast, I would like to improve their competitive edge in the international market and give them every resource they need to succeed. As they continue to recover, one of the main issues being faced by our small business is accessing capital. Our exporters are no different. They need help accessing export financing to cover export- related costs such as purchasing equipment, purchasing inventory, or financing production costs. To assist these businesses, fifteen SBA Finance Specialists operate out of 100 U.S. Export Assistance Centers administered by the Department of Commerce around the country. That is a record staffing low for this program, down from a peak of 22 Finance Specialists in 2000. To ensure that all smaller exporters nationwide will continue to have access to export financing, this bill establishes a floor of 18 International Finance Specialists. I believe this will send a signal to our exporters that, despite current budget deficits, we are committed to our exporters and want to provide them with the necessary resources to compete internationally. I realize that the need for export financing is not just limited to the Gulf Coast. There are small businesses nationwide that are looking to find markets overseas. One tool that they can use is the SBA's International Trade Loan (ITL) program. International Trade Loans can help exporters develop and expand overseas markets; upgrade equipment or facilities; and assist exporters that are being hurt by import competition. Exporters can borrow up to $2 million, with $1,750,000 guaranteed by SBA. However, as currently structured these loans are not user-friendly to lenders or borrowers and, as a result, are underutilized. Let me explain what I mean. First, the $250,000 difference between the loan cap and the guarantee requires borrowers to take out a second SBA loan to take full advantage of the $2 million guarantee. ITLs can only be used to acquire fixed assets and not working capital, a common need for exporters. Furthermore, ITLs do not have the same collateral or refinancing requirements as SBA 7(a) loans. Because of these issues, lenders do not use these loans. This legislation will also reduce the paperwork by increasing the maximum loan guarantee to $2,750,000 and the loan cap to $3,670,000 to bring it more in line with the 7(a) program. The bill also creates a more flexible ITL by setting out that working capital is an eligible use for loan proceeds, in addition to making the ITL consistent with regular 7(a) loans by allowing the same collateral and refinancing terms as with 7(a). The SBA International Trade and Export Loans are valuable tools for exporters but they are useless if there is no one to assist borrowers with identifying which loans are right for them. Local lending institutions that specialize in export financing can help but at a cost over less than $2 million per year, the current group of Finance Specialists has obtained bank financing for more than $10 billion in U.S. exports since 1999. The $10 billion in export sales financed by these specialists helped to create over 140,000 new, high-paying U.S. jobs. The Small Business International Trade Enhancements Act of 2007 is an important first step, not just for exporters in the Gulf Coast, but also for small businesses nationwide who are looking to open markets overseas. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation since it will help our exporters in the Gulf Coast recover and also give small businesses nationwide more options when they are seeking export financing. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, as I come to the floor today to speak, there are countless small businesses in the Gulf Coast, right this moment, that are open for business. The fact that they are open at all is a testament to the hard work and resolve of their owners, along with the focus and commitment of community leaders, state and local officials, as well as Congress and the White House. This is because, as you know, the Gulf Coast was devastated in 2005 by two of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States in recorded history-- Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I strongly believe that we cannot rebuild the Gulf Coast without our small businesses. Small businesses not only create jobs and pay taxes-- they provide the innovation and energy that drives our economy. In fact, before Katrina and Rita hit, there were more than 95,000 small businesses in Louisiana, employing about 850,000 people--more than half of my State's workforce. About 39,000 of these businesses have yet to resume normal operations so I intend to do everything I can in the coming months to get them back up and running. That is why today I am introducing legislation to help provide the necessary staff to help our small businesses in the Gulf recover from the devastating storms of 2005. In particular, this legislation is focused on promoting exports by small businesses Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Small businesses are important players in international trade, which is reflected in the fact that small businesses represent that 96 percent of all exporters of goods and services In Louisiana, we have about 2,000 declared exporters. However, there are many more businesses in my state who conduct Internet sales overseas, as well as those who focus operations on domestic sales but have some international buyers as well. These businesses are exporters but in many cases they do not even realize it! Given the importance of these exporters to my State and to the rest of the country, I would like to improve their competitive edge in the international market and give them every resource they need to succeed. As our businesses continue to recover, one of the main issues being faced by our small businesses is accessing capital. They need help accessing export financing to cover export-related costs such as purchasing equipment, purchasing inventory, or financing production costs. To assist businesses with obtaining export financing, fifteen SBA Finance Specialists operate out of 100 U.S. Export Assistance Centers administered by the Department of Commerce around the country. However, despite the increased need for export financing in the Gulf Coast, there is currently no International Finance Specialist located in any of the hardest hit States of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Instead there is one specialist in Texas with responsibility for Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana and one specialist in Georgia responsible for Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Due to the extensive territories they cover and limited travel budgets of the staff, these specialists must divide their time and cannot focus on the needs of Gulf Coast small businesses. With this in mind, this legislation would provide an SBA International Finance Specialist to the New Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center with responsibility for Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. I believe this is a commonsense approach, since this position in New Orleans has remained vacant since 2003 due to retirement and budget issues. So this is not a new position or a new hire, it is simply filling a position that has sat open for far too long. The Gulf Coast Export Recovery Act of 2007 would also address Commerce staffing issues for our New Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center. In this office, there is currently four full-time export assistance staff, along with one Foreign Service Officer. This office has had two staffers leave the office since Katrina and I am concerned that when this Foreign Service Officer leaves this fall, that there will be no replacement. This understaffed office is struggling to keep up with the increasing demands from businesses for technical assistance on finding overseas markets for local products, particularly businesses near Baton Rouge and the River parishes. Staff in New Orleans cover south Louisiana as well as the coastal counties in Mississippi. With such a wide area to cover, and so few staff, they are doing a great job in providing services but obviously need additional help to fully service our local businesses. The Small Business International Trade Enhancements Act of 2007 would provide one additional full-time staffer to this office to assist our businesses in the parishes of East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. Martin, St. Landry and Iberia. Many of our businesses from the New Orleans area are relocating to these parishes so we need adequate staff to keep up with increasing export needs in the area. In closing, I should note that both of these provisions were included in the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill that was reported out of committee last Fall. Unfortunately, since that bill was not enacted, these provisions did not become law and our small business exporters have waited an additional 7 months for increased export assistance resources. I do not want them to have to wait another 7 months for this vital assistance. We are only asking for two full-time staffers for an office, but these two staffers would make a world of difference for the businesses, as well as for the understaffed office down there. I believe both the Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration are supportive of these staffing increases so I look forward to working with them in the coming months to address these staffing needs in New Orleans. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation since it will help our exporters in the Gulf Coast fully recover and will help the country as a whole by increasing exports from the Gulf Coast states. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, as we all know, there was a tremendous amount of criticism of the Federal Government's response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year. Things are better now and the region is slowly recovering. But, having luckily survived the 2006 hurricane season with no major storms, and with the 2007 season a few months away, we must be sure that if we have another disaster, the Federal Government's response will be better this time around. Disaster response agencies have to be better organized, more efficient, and more responsive in order to avoid the problems, the delays, mismanagement, and the seeming incompetence that occurred in 2005. Today, I am proud to sponsor legislation to improve the disaster response of one agency that had a great deal of problems last year, the Small Business Administration (SBA). This bill, the ``Small Business Disaster Recovery Improvement Act,'' makes a major improvement to the SBA's disaster response and provides them with an essential tool to ensure that they are more efficient and better prepared for future disasters--big and small. I should note that this bill is a result of intensive bipartisan work over the past couple of months on a larger SBA Disaster Reforms bill, S. 137, the ``Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act,'' which was introduced early in the 110th Congress. I feel strongly that this provision, an Expedited Disaster Assistance Loan Program for businesses, should be passed during this session of Congress, therefore I wanted to also introduce it in separate legislation for the 110th Congress. That said, I will continue to work with my colleagues on the Small Business Committee, Senators Kerry and Snowe, respectively Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business Committee, as well as with my colleague Senator Vitter to include this provision along with more comprehensive SBA Disaster Assistance reforms that we hope to enact in the coming months. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit, our businesses and homeowners had to wait months for loan approvals. I do not know how many businesses we lost because help did not come in time. What these businesses needed was immediate, short-term assistance to hold them over until SBA was ready to process the tens of thousands of loan applications it received. That is why this legislation provides the SBA Administrator with the ability to set up an expedited disaster assistance business loan program to make short-term, low- interest loans to keep them afloat. These loans will allow businesses to make payroll, begin making repairs, and address other immediate needs while they are awaiting insurance payouts or regular SBA Disaster Loans. However, I realize that every disaster is different and could range from a disaster on the scale of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita or 9-11, to an ice storm or drought. This legislation gives the SBA additional options and flexibility in the kinds of relief they can offer a community. When a tornado destroys 20 businesses in a small town in the Midwest, SBA can get the regular disaster program up and running fairly quickly. You may not need short-term loans in this instance. But if you know that SBA's resources would be overwhelmed by a storm--just as they were initially with the storms of 2005--these expedited business loans would be very helpful. The Small Business Disaster Recovery Improvement Act will provide an essential tool to make the SBA more proactive, flexible, and most important, more efficient during future disasters. If SBA is not in the business of short-term assistance for future disasters, I feel that we will again see businesses fail while waiting for SBA to get its act together. The agency has implemented some major changes to its Disaster Assistance Program but, if the storms of 2005 taught us anything it was that the best laid plans can fail. This Expedited Disaster Assistance Loan Program would ensure that SBA has a backup tool to provide immediate assistance to impacted businesses. Again, I look forward to working with both Senator Snowe and Senator Kerry during the coming weeks to ensure that the SBA has everything it needs to respond to future disasters. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, as we all know, there was a tremendous amount of criticism of the Federal Government's response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year. Things are better now and the region is slowly recovering. But, having luckily survived the 2006 hurricane season with no major storms, and with the 2007 season a few months away, we must be sure that if we have another disaster, the Federal Government's response will be better this time around. Disaster response agencies have to be better organized, more efficient, and more responsive in order to avoid the problems, the delays, mismanagement, and the seeming incompetence that occurred in 2005. Today, I am proud to sponsor legislation to improve the disaster response of one agency that had a great deal of problems last year, the Small Business Administration (SBA). This bill, the ``Small Business Disaster Recovery Improvement Act,'' makes a major improvement to the SBA's disaster response and provides them with an essential tool to ensure that they are more efficient and better prepared for future disasters--big and small. I should note that this bill is a result of intensive bipartisan work over the past couple of months on a larger SBA Disaster Reforms bill, S. 137, the ``Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act,'' which was introduced early in the 110th Congress. I feel strongly that this provision, an Expedited Disaster Assistance Loan Program for businesses, should be passed during this session of Congress, therefore I wanted to also introduce it in separate legislation for the 110th Congress. That said, I will continue to work with my colleagues on the Small Business Committee, Senators Kerry and Snowe, respectively Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business Committee, as well as with my colleague Senator Vitter to include this provision along with more comprehensive SBA Disaster Assistance reforms that we hope to enact in the coming months. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit, our businesses and homeowners had to wait months for loan approvals. I do not know how many businesses we lost because help did not come in time. What these businesses needed was immediate, short-term assistance to hold them over until SBA was ready to process the tens of thousands of loan applications it received. That is why this legislation provides the SBA Administrator with the ability to set up an expedited disaster assistance business loan program to make short-term, low- interest loans to keep them afloat. These loans will allow businesses to make payroll, begin making repairs, and address other immediate needs while they are awaiting insurance payouts or regular SBA Disaster Loans. However, I realize that every disaster is different and could range from a disaster on the scale of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita or 9-11, to an ice storm or drought. This legislation gives the SBA additional options and flexibility in the kinds of relief they can offer a community. When a tornado destroys 20 businesses in a small town in the Midwest, SBA can get the regular disaster program up and running fairly quickly. You may not need short-term loans in this instance. But if you know that SBA's resources would be overwhelmed by a storm--just as they were initially with the storms of 2005--these expedited business loans would be very helpful. The Small Business Disaster Recovery Improvement Act will provide an essential tool to make the SBA more proactive, flexible, and most important, more efficient during future disasters. If SBA is not in the business of short-term assistance for future disasters, I feel that we will again see businesses fail while waiting for SBA to get its act together. The agency has implemented some major changes to its Disaster Assistance Program but, if the storms of 2005 taught us anything it was that the best laid plans can fail. This Expedited Disaster Assistance Loan Program would ensure that SBA has a backup tool to provide immediate assistance to impacted businesses. Again, I look forward to working with both Senator Snowe and Senator Kerry during the coming weeks to ensure that the SBA has everything it needs to respond to future disasters. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation 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. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business for up to 10 minutes.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to join many of our colleagues in honoring one of our colleagues who celebrated a very special birthday last week; Senator Kennedy from Massachusetts turned 75. He was congratulated and applauded and heralded throughout these last few days on that milestone. I have come to the floor to give a few brief remarks in honor of this tremendous achievement because it has been 75 years well lived, in dedication to this country. He has been an inspiration to me and to many of us in the Senate. His energy, his commitment to his work, his constant thinking about new approaches and innovation is a testament to his presence and his service in the Senate. I also wish to acknowledge that, at first, coming to the Senate I felt very close to the Senator. Mr. President, you would appreciate this because you are from a large Catholic family yourself. Senator Kennedy was raised some years before I was but in a similar kind of situation, in a large and loving Catholic family, with strong parents and a real focus on community service and service to the family. That is apparent in his work. His Catholic upbringing and his deep religious beliefs are reflected in the teachings of the Catholic Church, about thinking not of yourself but of others, of service, of sacrifice. Many people talk about religious values, and I am getting somewhat skeptical the more I hear people talk. I am never skeptical of Senator Kennedy because he actually lives the values he preaches. Sometimes some of the greatest things I see him do are not evident to the camera. I would like to share one of them. I could give plenty of examples. Many people might be surprised to know that not only is Senator Kennedy a champion of education, but he actually, for over 2 years, took time out of what is an extraordinarily busy and hectic Senate schedule to tutor a child, teaching him how to read. How would I know this? Because, on occasion, I had the great honor of sitting next to him in the library down the street, where I was trying to keep up with him and thinking if Senator Kennedy can carve an hour out of his schedule, certainly I could try to do that as a freshman Senator. Needless to say, I could never keep up with the schedule. But I watched him and observed him one-on-one with a child no more than 10 years old, patiently teaching him how to read. The next year it was a little girl. One particular day, he even had the foresight or kindness to bring his pet bunny from home. He has many pets--Splash the dog, being one, and Sonny. He brought his pet rabbit to the school, to the joy of the children perhaps to encourage them to read about animals, which is a good way to get kids interested in reading, to actually show them. He knew this instinctively. Maybe that is because of the family he is from or because of the kind of guy he is. He is an extraordinary and a very different kind of Senator. I have been inspired by him, and I am confident our colleagues have been as well. I also wish to acknowledge the tremendous partner he has in Victoria Reggie Kennedy, a daughter of Louisiana. I have watched this couple grow in love and support of one another. I think they are a model for couples who are in public office. We could not find a better couple, in terms of their commitment to each other, to this body, to the Nation, and to the State of Massachusetts and, when they have extra time, to Louisiana. That was brought home when we experienced the last two hurricanes, Katrina and Rita. As you know, they struck our State in the latter part of the year 2005. These storms were of historic proportion. It was hard to describe the damage--which I still struggle with trying to describe to this body. But there was one Senator to whom I did not have to take too long to describe the damage, and that was Senator Kennedy, who got it immediately, perhaps because he has walked through south Louisiana with Vicki Reggie, his wife; perhaps he just has a big heart and great mind that can grasp situations fairly quickly; and perhaps because he leans forward always in his ability and his desire to help people in need. He didn't need the situation to be explained to him. He understood. Not only did he help us pass one of the most extraordinary pieces of legislation in that whole confusing time of the first 6 months when we didn't know what levees had broken, where they had broken, whose they were, whose fault it was, and everyone was blaming everyone, but Senator Kennedy focused on getting 330,000 children into school, and he focused on getting them into the best school, any school, that would take them. He passed legislation I think will serve this country significantly and powerfully in the decades to come. If any major catastrophe, whether manmade or natural, hits our country again, at least the families with children from K through 12 and the children who are in those grades will know they have a champion in Senator Kennedy, who was not in the majority, but with Senator Enzi as chairman of the Education Committee and with a group of us who were committed to being their helpers, we passed an extraordinary piece of legislation that, with 1 million people having been evacuated from their homes, 250,000 homes destroyed, hundreds of schools, hospitals closed, literally within a few weeks, children were, for the most part, safely ensconced. Even those who found themselves in shelters for weeks and months at times were allowed and encouraged and welcomed into schools because of legislation that Senator Kennedy passed. In addition to showing up on this floor day after day fighting for that legislation and fighting against the extremes who wanted to turn it into a political football and vouchers, he held steady to allow children to go to public schools or Catholic schools--to allow children from Catholic schools to go to public schools and children from public schools to Catholic schools, which seems simple, but at the time it wasn't--he personally delivered to our office some nourishment and encouragement to my staff who were overworked and under tremendous stress and didn't call me to let me know he was coming, didn't call the news media to make sure they saw him bringing these things, but just showed up. To me and to my staff, that meant the world. I thank him for his great service to this country on his 75th birthday. I will submit a lot more for the public record because his legislative achievements are quite long. Since they are well known, I thought I would add some points people might not know about this extraordinary public servant and Senator who turned 75. I only wish medicine would keep up with us so that he could serve another 75. That is unlikely, but I am sure in the final years, in the final chapters of his life, he will continue extraordinary service and will probably go down in history as one of the finest Senators to ever serve in this body.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, my remarks about Senator Kennedy were for a happy occasion, but this is on a sad occasion. Last week--very close, actually, around the Senator's birthday--we lost our superintendent of education, Dr. Cecil Picard. Cecil Picard died prematurely of Lou Gehrig's disease, but he died in the arms of his loving wife of many years, surrounded by his children and his grandchildren. We knew for a time--and he knew, of course--that the disease that he had been diagnosed with 2 years earlier was going to be fatal. Although he fought it bravely and courageously, it took his life last week. My husband, Frank Snellings, served on the board of elementary and secondary education, and I want to say publicly what an inspiration Dr. Picard was to us, to our family but, more importantly, what an outstanding leader he was in the area of education reform in a State that he loved, a community which he loved and in which he served as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and then as superintendent of education of our State. His passion and commitment to early childhood education was contagious. In fact, in the last several years of my knowing Dr. Picard, I never had a conversation with him when he did not mention this subject to me. He would say: Senator, when is the next meeting with the Department of Education? Senator, do the other Senators understand how important early childhood is to this country? Do they really understand that without this, our children will never be ready to learn and will never be able to access the great benefits of the education infrastructure that we put together for them? Don't they understand? I would say to him: Cecil, unfortunately, they don't understand it the way you do. If everybody in this country had your passion and intellectual grasp of early childhood education, we would not be so grossly underfunded. Because of his work in Louisiana, we now have--and it is his legacy--LA4, Louisiana 4, which the majority--not all, not because of his lack of trying--our 4-year-olds in Louisiana are almost covered for early childhood opportunities. So when they show up and knock at that kindergarten door and that teacher welcomes them with open arms, those children can sit down at that desk or at that table and open a book and begin to really grasp and understand the letters and the meanings of words because they have been taught up to that point how to get their education started. Of course, learning those early language symbols and numbers and social interaction is so important in those early years. Cecil knew this. His life was committed to education, to being a leader and an advocate for children, a champion for the profession of teaching, with his enthusiasm and ability as a legislator, which is where I met him as a State senator and as a legislator before he was a superintendent. So as a father, a grandfather, a coach, a teacher, a principal, a senator, and as an education advocate, we cannot say strongly enough in Louisiana that we have truly lost a champion. We have truly lost someone who, in my lifetime, probably cannot be replaced. Hopefully, another Cecil Picard will come along, but they are few and far between. So I wanted to say on behalf of the 4.5 million people I represent-- and I can say this without fear of being contradicted--that he will be missed, but his legacy will be long remembered, not only in our hearts and minds but in the way people live. His legacy will be reflected in their life, in their productivity, and their contributions to our State and to our Nation. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 highlight the ongoing needs of our small businesses and homeowners in the gulf coast who were devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In Louisiana alone, these disasters claimed 1,464 lives, destroyed more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses and inflicted $25 billion in uninsured losses. Many of my colleagues here in the Senate have been down to Louisiana and have seen firsthand the size and scope of the destruction. The Congress has been very generous in providing billions of Federal recovery dollars as well as valuable Gulf Opportunity, GO, Zone tax incentives to help spur recovery in the region. These resources will be key in the recovery of the region but there are additional needs on the ground that still must be addressed. That is why I am proud to introduce a bill today, the Catastrophic Disaster Recovery Improvements Act of 2007, which I believe, addresses a specific problem which is impacting homeowners throughout the gulf coast. Katrina was the most destructive hurricane ever to hit the United States. The next month, in September, Hurricane Rita hit the Louisiana and Texas coast. It was the second most powerful hurricane ever to hit the United States, wreaking havoc on the southwestern part of my State and the east Texas coast. This one-two punch devastated Louisiana lives, communities and jobs, stretching from Cameron Parish in the west to Plaquemines Parish in the east. We are now rebuilding our State and the wide variety of communities that were devastated by Rita and Katrina, areas representing a diverse mix of population, income and cultures. We hope to restore the region's uniqueness and its greatness. To do that, we need to rebuild our local economies now and far into the future. We cannot succeed, however, if our homeowners are being buried under Federal red tape and regulations. The people who work for the Small Business Administration and FEMA are dedicated and interested to help in the recovery of our region. However, these individuals are operating under a system which is inadequate and, in some cases, unresponsive to needs on the ground. I come to the floor today to introduce a bill which provides a commonsense solution to get the Federal assistance to our struggling homeowners. If we don't help them now, building a strong gulf coast will be all the more difficult if residents cannot rebuild their homes and businesses cannot open their doors. For homeowners in Louisiana, the State is doing its part by setting up the Louisiana Road Home program, to provide homeowners with up to $150,000 in grant proceeds for uninsured losses on their properties. This program is State-administered, but supplemental CDBG-funded. However, many applicants are concerned because under the Stafford and Small Business Acts, the SBA is required to ensure there are no ``duplication of benefits'' provided to disaster victims. This means that SBA must review every file which received an SBA Disaster Loan, and if there is deemed to be duplication, deduct the duplication amount from the grant proceeds. As I said, I want the SBA to ensure taxpayers funds are used wisely, but at the same time, I want to ensure that all residents are able to get the funds they need to rebuild their homes. Under the current scenario, some residents who have additional uninsured losses, are being required to still pay back these grant proceeds. This is because many SBA loss inspections were done right after the storms in 2005, but since then building/labor costs have increased dramatically, and this is not reflected in the SBA verified loss. Borrowers are able to request a loan modification from SBA, but many residents who waited months and months for SBA to respond are wary to go through the process again, especially if there is a prospect they will be declined for the increased loan amount. I can't blame them because there is enough uncertainty down there right now. Personally, I would also be hesitant to go through the SBA loan process again if I had to fill out as much paperwork as my constituents have had to fill out, and to receive constant requests for more information once they think they are done with submitting information. For this reason, this bill provides the SBA administrator the flexibility to waive, partially or fully at the discretion of the administrator, this ``duplication of benefits'' rule. This provides borrowers with additional funds for rebuilding while retaining the Federal Government's financial responsibility to taxpayers. I believe this commonsense fix for major disasters corrects a major problem occurring in Louisiana right now and gives SBA some flexibility for future major disasters. The current SBA interpretation of these regulations overlooks the fact that a grant, with no repayment, has a different value to homeowners than loans, which require repayment. In effect, disaster victims are being penalized for getting an SBA loan before they received their Road Home grant and that is not how the Federal Government should respond to victims, who in many cases, lost everything. We should not allow victims to ``double-dip'' or benefit from the disaster, but the Federal Government should be responsive to needs on the ground and adjust as necessary to allow disaster victims to fully recover. In introducing this bill today, I am hopeful it sends the signal to gulf coast residents that Congress has not forgotten about them and that we are doing our part to reduce red tape and bureaucracy. Congress did a great deal during the 109th Congress to help victims of the 2005 storms, but that does not mean we should just write off recurring problems to the responsibility of States or disaster victims themselves. I believe that both the leadership on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship as well as the new SBA administrator, Steve Preston, are receptive to addressing ongoing needs in the gulf coast. I look forward to working closely with them in the coming weeks to provide substantive and lasting solutions for our small businesses and homeowners. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation and ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation be printed in the record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to highlight the ongoing needs of our small businesses and homeowners in the gulf coast who were devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In Louisiana alone, these disasters claimed 1,464 lives, destroyed more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses and inflicted $25 billion in uninsured losses. Many of my colleagues here in the Senate have been down to Louisiana and have seen firsthand the size and scope of the destruction. The Congress has been very generous in providing billions of Federal recovery dollars as well as valuable Gulf Opportunity, GO, Zone tax incentives to help spur recovery in the region. These resources will be key in the recovery of the region but there are additional needs on the ground that still must be addressed. That is why I am proud to introduce a bill today, the Catastrophic Disaster Recovery Improvements Act of 2007, which I believe, addresses a specific problem which is impacting homeowners throughout the gulf coast. Katrina was the most destructive hurricane ever to hit the United States. The next month, in September, Hurricane Rita hit the Louisiana and Texas coast. It was the second most powerful hurricane ever to hit the United States, wreaking havoc on the southwestern part of my State and the east Texas coast. This one-two punch devastated Louisiana lives, communities and jobs, stretching from Cameron Parish in the west to Plaquemines Parish in the east. We are now rebuilding our State and the wide variety of communities that were devastated by Rita and Katrina, areas representing a diverse mix of population, income and cultures. We hope to restore the region's uniqueness and its greatness. To do that, we need to rebuild our local economies now and far into the future. We cannot succeed, however, if our homeowners are being buried under Federal red tape and regulations. The people who work for the Small Business Administration and FEMA are dedicated and interested to help in the recovery of our region. However, these individuals are operating under a system which is inadequate and, in some cases, unresponsive to needs on the ground. I come to the floor today to introduce a bill which provides a commonsense solution to get the Federal assistance to our struggling homeowners. If we don't help them now, building a strong gulf coast will be all the more difficult if residents cannot rebuild their homes and businesses cannot open their doors. For homeowners in Louisiana, the State is doing its part by setting up the Louisiana Road Home program, to provide homeowners with up to $150,000 in grant proceeds for uninsured losses on their properties. This program is State-administered, but supplemental CDBG-funded. However, many applicants are concerned because under the Stafford and Small Business Acts, the SBA is required to ensure there are no ``duplication of benefits'' provided to disaster victims. This means that SBA must review every file which received an SBA Disaster Loan, and if there is deemed to be duplication, deduct the duplication amount from the grant proceeds. As I said, I want the SBA to ensure taxpayers funds are used wisely, but at the same time, I want to ensure that all residents are able to get the funds they need to rebuild their homes. Under the current scenario, some residents who have additional uninsured losses, are being required to still pay back these grant proceeds. This is because many SBA loss inspections were done right after the storms in 2005, but since then building/labor costs have increased dramatically, and this is not reflected in the SBA verified loss. Borrowers are able to request a loan modification from SBA, but many residents who waited months and months for SBA to respond are wary to go through the process again, especially if there is a prospect they will be declined for the increased loan amount. I can't blame them because there is enough uncertainty down there right now. Personally, I would also be hesitant to go through the SBA loan process again if I had to fill out as much paperwork as my constituents have had to fill out, and to receive constant requests for more information once they think they are done with submitting information. For this reason, this bill provides the SBA administrator the flexibility to waive, partially or fully at the discretion of the administrator, this ``duplication of benefits'' rule. This provides borrowers with additional funds for rebuilding while retaining the Federal Government's financial responsibility to taxpayers. I believe this commonsense fix for major disasters corrects a major problem occurring in Louisiana right now and gives SBA some flexibility for future major disasters. The current SBA interpretation of these regulations overlooks the fact that a grant, with no repayment, has a different value to homeowners than loans, which require repayment. In effect, disaster victims are being penalized for getting an SBA loan before they received their Road Home grant and that is not how the Federal Government should respond to victims, who in many cases, lost everything. We should not allow victims to ``double-dip'' or benefit from the disaster, but the Federal Government should be responsive to needs on the ground and adjust as necessary to allow disaster victims to fully recover. In introducing this bill today, I am hopeful it sends the signal to gulf coast residents that Congress has not forgotten about them and that we are doing our part to reduce red tape and bureaucracy. Congress did a great deal during the 109th Congress to help victims of the 2005 storms, but that does not mean we should just write off recurring problems to the responsibility of States or disaster victims themselves. I believe that both the leadership on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship as well as the new SBA administrator, Steve Preston, are receptive to addressing ongoing needs in the gulf coast. I look forward to working closely with them in the coming weeks to provide substantive and lasting solutions for our small businesses and homeowners. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation and ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation be printed in the record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today as a cosponsor of the Domestic Pet Turtle Market Access Act of 2007. If enacted, this bill would re-open the U.S. market to allow the sale of baby turtles as pets. In Louisiana, we have 72 licensed turtle farmers who produce over 13 million turtles year with a farm value of $9 million. Unless Congress enacts this bill, this industry will die and Louisiana will bear the brunt of the loss. Since 1975, the FDA has banned the sale of turtles sold as pets due to health concerns regarding salmonella poisoning. The FDA, through its Center for Veterinary Medicine, banned the sale of baby turtles in the U.S. due to salmonella poisoning occurring in children in households with pet turtles. The industry has survived by taking their market abroad to Asia. Asia has developed their own turtle market and is no longer in need of U.S. turtles. As a result, U.S. turtle farmers have nowhere to sell their product, and they are barely getting by. Three decades have now passed and our knowledge of the salmonella bacteria and the technology for treating this bacterium has greatly advanced. Scientists at Louisiana State University have developed salmonella treatments for pet turtles. Thanks to these methods, pet turtles can be treated for salmonella before they are shipped for sale. This treatment, combined with a much higher awareness of how serious salmonella poisoning is and how one prevents transmission of the bacteria, is more than enough to protect individuals who seek to own pet turtles--in fact, it will be more protection than any other amphibian or reptile seller currently provides. Other similar amphibians and reptiles are not banned for sale in the United States and they also carry salmonella and are a potential health threat. There is no requirement that these pets be treated for salmonella before sale. As a result, the FDA has singled out one industry primarily located in Louisiana. This bill will require the turtle industry to submit a plan to the FDA for approval. Turtle farmers will be required to demonstrate how they will treat turtles and ensure compliance with this act. The FDA must approve the plan if an acceptable treatment is chosen by the turtle farmer and it exceeds current similar methods being used by other amphibian and reptile pet sellers. The Louisiana turtle industry will become a dead industry this year unless Congress enacts this bill and allows the U.S. market to re-open. In 30 years, our understanding of salmonella prevention and the technology and science has advanced tremendously. This bill keeps intact important safety provisions to protect individuals and at the same time allows the re-opening of a market to stop an important industry in Louisiana from dying. I support this bill, and I hope the rest of the Senate will join me in supporting this commonsense bill that will protect consumers, protect farmers, and bring the joy of caring for pet turtles to millions.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I again come to the floor today to highlight the ongoing needs of our small businesses in the gulf coast who were devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In Louisiana alone, these disasters claimed 1,464 lives, destroyed more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses and inflicted $25 billion in uninsured losses. Many of my colleagues here in the Senate have been down to Louisiana and have seen firsthand the size and scope of the destruction. The Congress has been very generous in providing billions of Federal recovery dollars as well as valuable Gulf Opportunity--GO--Zone tax incentives to help spur recovery in the region. These resources will be key in the recovery of the region but there are additional needs on the ground that still must be addressed. That is why I am proud to introduce a comprehensive package of three bills today--the Gulf Coast Back to Business Act of 2007, the Helping Our States Through Tourism Act of 2007, and the Work, Hope, and Opportunity for the Disaster Area Today Act of 2007. I believe these three bills provide substantive, commonsense solutions for addressing needs on the ground in the gulf coast. I am pleased that my colleague from Mississippi, Senator Lott, as well as Senator Kerry, chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, joined me in cosponsoring both the Gulf Coast Back to Business Act and the Helping Our States through Tourism Act. My friend Senator Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, also joined me by cosponsoring the Gulf Coast Back to Business Act. I appreciate my colleagues' support on these bills and hope that we continue to work in this bipartisan manner to provide real solutions for the gulf coast. As you know, Katrina was the most destructive hurricane ever to hit the United States. The next month, in September, Hurricane Rita hit the Louisiana and Texas coast. It was the second most powerful hurricane ever to hit the United States, wreaking havoc on the southwestern part of my State and the east Texas coast. This one-two punch devastated Louisiana lives, communities and jobs, stretching from Cameron Parish in the west to Plaquemines Parish in the east. We are now rebuilding our State and the wide variety of communities that were devastated by Rita and Katrina, areas representing a diverse mix of population, income and cultures. We hope to restore the region's uniqueness and its greatness. To do that, we need to rebuild our local economies now and far into the future. My State estimates that there were 81,000 businesses in the Katrina and Rita disaster zones. As I mentioned, a total of 18,752 of these businesses were catastrophically destroyed. However, on a wider scale, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, over 125,000 small- and medium-sized businesses in the gulf region were disrupted by Katrina and Rita. Many of these businesses have yet to resume operations and others are struggling to survive. We will never succeed without these small businesses. They will be the key to the revitalization of the gulf coast. After talking to the business leaders and small businesses in my State, there are three things that they need right now: immediate capital and their fair share of Federal recovery contracts, help in attracting more travel and tourism to the area, and tax relief, especially on some of the Gulf Opportunity--GO--Zone provisions which are set to expire. For example, under current law, the SBA cannot disburse more than $10,000 for an approved disaster loan without showing collateral. This is to limit the loss to the SBA in the event that a loan defaults. However, this disbursement amount has not been increased since 1998 and these days, $10,000 is not enough to get a business up and running or to allow a homeowner to start making repairs. The Gulf Coast Back to Business Act increases this collateral requirement for Katrina and Rita disaster loans from $10,000 to $35,000. To address the lack of access to capital for our businesses, this bill includes a provision to provide funds to Louisiana and Mississippi to help small businesses now. Not 3 months from now, but as quickly as possible. We are asking for $100 million so that businesses can have money they need for to repair, rebuild, and pay their employees until they get back up and running again. The States know what the needs of their affected businesses are and we want to provide them with this money so they can start helping businesses now. These funds would bolster existing State grant/loan programs and would help Louisiana and Mississippi reach out to more impacted businesses. Many businesses and homeowners are also coming up on the end of their standard 1-year deferment of payment on principal and interest on their SBA disaster loans. For most disasters, 1 year is more than enough time for borrowers to get back on their feet. But for disasters on the scale of Katrina and Rita, 1 year came and went, with communities just now seeing gas stations open and some homeowners are just now returning to rebuild their homes. This is a unique situation and for French Quarter businesses, where tourism is down at least 60 percent from pre-Katrina levels, to require them to start making payments on a $50,000 loan is virtually impossible if there are no customers. Homeowners, too, are experiencing widespread uncertainty and I believe this current 1-year deferment requires serious reconsideration. That is why this bill gives borrowers an additional year to get their lives in order--allow residents to begin fixing their homes and allow businesses the time for economic activity to pick back up. The Gulf Coast Back to Business Act also addresses the problem in which many of our local small businesses have been unable to obtain Federal recovery contracts. I understand that this is due to many reasons ranging from a lack of sufficient bonding to a lack of experience with contracts of these sizes and scope. That said, I know of countless local businesses with the right experience and personnel, yet they have had to settle for being a subcontractor on a contract some out-of-State company won. We appreciate out-of-State firms wanting to help our region recover, but if our local firms can do the work, they should get their fair share of these contracts. It is a no-brainer to let local firms rebuild their own communities but this has not happened on a wide scale in my State or across the impacted areas. This bill would fix that by designating the entire Katrina and Rita disaster area as a Historically Underutilized Business Zone. The expansion of this program to the devastated areas would help give our local small businesses a preference when they bid on Federal contracts. I should note that this proposal had bipartisan support in the 109th Congress and actually passed the Senate as part of the Fourth Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill. However, despite the fact that this provision had widespread, bipartisan support from the gulf coast Senate delegation, it was stripped out in conference with the House of Representatives. So for the 110th Congress, I am pleased to re- introduce this provision in the Senate and to work closely with my colleagues to get our small businesses this vital help. As I mentioned, following these disasters, about 18,000 businesses were catastrophically destroyed, many more economically impacted, and most still are struggling with the ongoing slowdown in travel and tourism to Louisiana. In terms of ongoing needs on the ground, the lack of tourism is stifling our full economic recovery, particularly the recovery of our small businesses in New Orleans. I do not think that people outside Louisiana know how vital tourism is to our economy. In 2004, tourism was the State of Louisiana's second largest industry-- employing 175,000 workers. The tourism industry also had a $9.9 billion economic impact in the State in 2004 and generated $600 million in State/local taxes. That is huge for our State and, by all indications, 2004 was a record year for tourism to the State and 2005 was on course to beat that. But then came Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the subsequent levee breaks, and tourism literally came to a grinding halt for the rest of the year. Travel and tourism picked up somewhat in 2006 but it has remained slow and has economically impacted our small businesses, many of which are dependent on the steady stream of revenue coming in from out-of-State tourists. For example, according to the New Orleans Conventions and Visitors Bureau, Mardi Gras brings in about 700,000 tourists each year. Jazz Fest, which is a world-renowned music festival in New Orleans that happens each summer, usually draws half that--350,000 tourists. These tourists not only spend their time and money in New Orleans, but oftentimes travel around South Louisiana or even visit our friends next door in Mississippi. So in this respect, New Orleans is the gateway to tourism elsewhere in Louisiana and the rest of the gulf coast. For this reason, I believe it is important to not only spur travel/tourism to New Orleans but also to the rest of Louisiana and Mississippi as our smaller communities in these areas depend on tourism for their economic well-being. Take Natchez, MS, for example. This historic town is full of beautiful antebellum homes and had a thriving business district pre- Katrina. It suffered minimal damage during the storm but now is struggling to get the word out that it is open for business. New Orleans is in much the same situation. Many parts of New Orleans, such as the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans East, do indeed have damaged houses and vacant businesses--as seen on television. But there are also parts of these communities which are slowly recovering and many parts of New Orleans, particularly the historic French Quarter, which survived Katrina are relatively unscathed. Despite that they are open and desperately need the revenue, businesses in the French Quarter are struggling to attract visitors. With this mind, the Help Our States through Tourism Act, or HOST Act, which I am introducing as part of this legislative package, will provide significant assets to help our tourism sectors recover. In particular, this bill provides a total of $175 million for tourism marketing for the States of Louisiana and Mississippi. This pool of money would not only be used for the promotion of the States, but also to help communities rebuild their tourism and cultural assets, such as arts and music, which makes them a unique attraction for visitors. The $175 million is also a wise investment for the Federal Government and not without precedent. In 2004, for every dollar spent on tourism in Mississippi, the State generated $12 in revenue. Louisiana was even better, generating $14 for every dollar spent on tourism that year. Also, when we talk about small business recovery, nothing helps our impacted small businesses more than having tourists return and spend money in these communities. In effect it works just as good as a grant but also helps the airline industry, our local restaurants and hotels, as well as the small businesses themselves. Furthermore, following September 11, Lower Manhattan was able to use supplemental Community Development Block Grant--CDBG--funds for tourism marketing. The State of Louisiana also recently used $28.5 million of supplemental CDBG funds for the ``Come Fall in Love With Louisiana All Over Again'' campaign. Given that Katrina and Rita were the first and third most- costliest disasters in U.S. history, as well as the unprecedented media coverage on the destruction, these funds are badly needed to spread the word that our impacted communities are ready for our friends from around the country, and the world, to return and enjoy our unique culture, cuisine, and entertainment. This bill also authorizes the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide Economic Injury Disaster Loans to tourism-dependent businesses in Mississippi and Louisiana that can demonstrate direct economic impacts from the post-Katrina and Rita tourism/travel slowdown. In talking to Federal agencies as well as our local small businesses, it is clear to me that no one believed that the economic impact would continue this long. Businesses also expected Federal/State assistance much sooner so many were left in a position of lacking revenue but waiting, and waiting, for the promised recovery funds to get into their hands. It has slowly come in the past year but now many businesses who waited months for Federal financial assistance, are now struggling to stay in business with little/no customer base. These Economic Injury Disaster Loans would help our tourism-dependent businesses stay afloat since the economic injury, as well as the tourism slowdown, has lasted much longer than most experts expected. The HOST Act also would establish a $2.5 million fund in the Federal Treasury for Government agencies to hold conventions, workshops, and other events in the Katrina/Rita Disaster Area. Federal workers, like other convention visitors, bring in valuable revenue to our communities and pre-Katrina, New Orleans was one of the top convention destinations in the country. Post-Katrina, Federal agencies are already conducting activities and holding events in the disaster areas, but this fund would be separate of the normal administrative funds normally used for these purposes. Since this would be a separate pool of money that agencies could access, it would encourage more Federal agencies to hold their big conventions/events in the gulf coast. In the scheme of the billions allocated for recovery in the gulf coast, $2.5 million is not a large sum of money, but for Federal agencies looking to hold large events, it would serve as incentive to choose New Orleans or Mobile or Natchez for their next event. This amount of money is also not large enough to severely impact other destinations such as Las Vegas or San Francisco, but would be just enough funds to, hopefully, steer a couple of large conventions in our direction. I am also pleased to introduce the Work, Hope, and Opportunity for the Disaster Area Today Act of 2007 to help small businesses in the hardest hit areas of the Gulf Opportunity--GO--Zone as they work to succeed in a very challenging environment. We have made great progress in rebuilding our communities and our local economies in the gulf coast. The Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005 has produced needed investment in housing and provided businesses with important tax incentives to invest in new plant and equipment as part of their rebuilding. The Federal Government has made funding available to rebuild our levees. At the end of the last Congress, we passed the Domenici-Landrieu Outer Continental Shelf Revenue sharing bill that Louisiana will use to restore our wetlands as an additional barrier of hurricane protection. However, we still face many challenges that are making it difficult for our small businesses. In Louisiana, as I mentioned, tourism--one of our most important industries--is down. We have had 22 percent fewer visitors and those that are visiting are spending 35 percent less money than before the storm. The city of New Orleans has lost more than half of its population. On top of this, labor costs and insurance premiums have skyrocketed, making it more expensive for businesses to keep paying the workers they have. The combination of these various factors have hit our small businesses hard. They used the tax benefits of the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act to invest and rebuild, and they are open for business. But they are losing money because of downturn in tourism and they cannot afford to do that for much longer. I am hopeful that the HOST Act will address many of these needs but additional assistance is needed. The Work, Hope, and Opportunity for the Disaster Area Today Act is a package of short-term tax breaks that will help put money in the hands of small businesses immediately, as well as extend tax breaks that already exist in the GO Zone. The main tax provision is a wage tax cut for employers. Small employers in the most heavily hit areas of the GO Zone--defined as those parishes and counties that experienced 60 percent or higher housing damage--will be eligible for a tax credit in the amount of FICA taxes they paid on up to $15,000 in salary per employee. This would lower employer tax burdens immediately, leaving them more money in hand as an offset to the losses that they are experiencing. My bill also contains a bonus business meals and entertainment deduction to encourage business travel to the GO Zone. Under current law, businesses can only deduct up to 50 percent of meals and entertainment expenses. The Work, Hope, and Opportunity Act would allow a full deduction for these expenses if they are incurred in the areas of the GO Zone that need it the most. This will bring more conventions, meetings and conferences to the Gulf. We must also extend some of the expiring provisions in the GO Zone Act. For example, my legislation will extend the special small business Section 179 expensing that is available in the gulf coast. Small businesses in the rest of the country can deduct up to $112,000 in 2007 of the cost of investments they make in their businesses such as computers and software, or new equipment and machinery. GO Zone small businesses can deduct an additional $100,000 for these investments. This special GO Zone benefit, however, will expire at the end of this year. The Work, Hope, and Opportunity bill will extend this much needed assistance until 2010. It will also extend the availability of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for Katrina employees and the special 15-year depreciation schedule for restaurants, retail, and other leasehold property for the GO Zone. In introducing this comprehensive legislative package today, I am hopeful that it sends the signal to gulf coast residents and businesses that Congress has not forgotten about them. Congress made great strides during the 109th Congress to help disaster victims, but that does not mean we should just write off recurring problems to the responsibility of States or disaster victims themselves. There are still ongoing needs in the gulf coast and I believe the 110th Congress should address these needs. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to provide substantive and lasting solutions for our small businesses. I urge my colleagues to support these important pieces of legislation and ask unanimous consent that the text of the three bills be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today in honor of World Wetlands Day proc1aiming February 2 America's Wetlands Day. February 2, 1971 was the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Each year since 1971, leaders from all parts of the world have used this day to raise public awareness of the value and benefits of wetlands--not only as ecological gems, but as economic boons, incubators of biodiversity, and a sportsman's paradise. The signing in 1971 of the Convention on Wetlands provided a framework for national action and international cooperation toward the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. Wetlands can be found in every country and are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. Those of us from Louisiana have a rather unique perspective on the subject of wetlands. You see, Louisiana's coast is really America's Wetland. It is not a beach, but a vast landscape of estuaries, rivers, freshwater marsh, forested floodplains, and vernal pools. The landscape that extends along Louisiana's coast is one of the largest and most productive expanses of coastal wetlands in North America. It is the seventh largest delta on earth, where the Mississippi River drains two-thirds of the United States. It is also one of the most productive environments in America--``working wetlands'' as they are known to Louisianians--producing more seafood than any other State in the lower 48. It's the nursery ground for the Gulf of Mexico and habitat for one of the greatest flyways in the world for millions of waterfowl and migratory songbirds. Even more importantly, Louisiana's coastal wetlands provide storm protection for ports that carry nearly 500 million tons of waterborne commerce annually--the largest port system in the world by tonnage. That accounts for 21 percent of all waterborne commerce in the United States each year. In fact, four of the top ten largest ports in the United States are located in Louisiana. These wetlands also offer protection from storm surge for two million people and a unique culture. Louisiana's low-lying coastal communities are home to more than 2 million people--nearly half the State's population. Even as those communities recover from the back-to-back 2005 hurricanes, they remain threatened and compromised as the land they occupy erodes from beneath their feet. Tragically, Louisiana's wetlands are eroding at a devastating rate: approximately 24 square miles per year disappear--that is the equivalent of approximately one football field lost every 38 minutes. Within the next 50 years--even with current restoration efforts taken into account--those wetlands are expected to recede an additional 500 square miles. The U.S. Geological Survey recently found that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita alone transformed 217 square miles of marsh to open water. Tragically, these eroding wetlands are Nature's levee system--they diminish a hurricane's destructive power by reducing storm surge and absorbing wave energy. Scientists have estimated for every 2.4 square miles of wetlands, storm surges are lowered by about one foot. Some studies suggest that only one square mile of wetlands may achieve this. Because these wetlands are nurseries for many species of fish and shellfish, their loss has a profound impact on the $1 billion dollar per year fishing industry supported by Louisiana's fragile coastal environment. The costs associated with Louisiana's coastal wetland loss are not only Louisiana's to bear--they are the entire Nation's. For instance: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita impacted more than 26,000 businesses, destroyed 275,000 homes, and caused more than $44.7 billion in insured losses. Today, more than 40 percent of the Nation's oil and nearly a quarter of the Nation's natural gas is produced in or transported through Louisiana. More than 20 percent of the nation's imported oil is delivered to and processed in Louisiana. Louisiana is second only to Texas in the number of oil refineries on its soi1--with 17 refineries, most of which are located in the coastal zone. The erosion of Louisiana's coastal wetlands--America's Wetlands-- endangers the U.S. energy supply and it endangers the Nation's critical infrastructure in the Gulf Coast: Refineries and petrochemical facilities that drive U.S. economic growth are at risk of being flooded, damaged and shut down, as we saw during the 2005 hurricanes. That is why I am submitting a Sense of the Senate resolution that will acknowledge February 2, as World Wetlands Day and express that it is the sense of the Senate that we must raise awareness of the Nation's imperiled wetlands--in Louisiana and throughout the country. We need to raise awareness of these critical issues and we need to work locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally to confront this problem head on. The good news is that scientists know how to restore the wetlands and they have been very successful in reinforcing barrier islands that protect these ecological gems. What has heretofore been lacking is not the will, but the resources with which to undertake this critical challenge. The passage of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act changed that and certified America's commitment to providing long-term, sustainable funding to address this problem. Today, we have the will; we have the way; let's get to work and preserve America's wetlands.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the time be charged postcloture.

Ms. LANDRIEU. I yield back the remainder of the time. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for joining me this morning to deliver some delicious, piping hot, and very spicy red beans and rice that he and I cooked through the night to deliver to our colleagues, Senator Obama and Senator Durbin. I would like to personally congratulate the Bears on their victory and say it was a hard-fought victory during a great game of icy and cold conditions, but our Saints stood up under the tremendous pressure of their defensive line. As Senator Vitter said, the final score doesn't reflect the battle that was actually played that day on that field. But we congratulate the Bears on their victory and look forward to watching them in the Super Bowl this Sunday. But to the Saints, I have to say again, as I have said several times on this Senate floor, thank you for being so reflective of and mirroring the spirit of the people from Louisiana, from New Orleans, from the region, and from south Louisiana who have struggled, and like you, have been fighting back to bring our cities and our communities, large and small, urban and rural, back from the brink, in many cases, of utter destruction. The Saints have shown us the way, having experienced themselves as players and family members the loss of their homes, the loss of their places of worship, the loss of the schools where their children attended but, like so many hundreds of thousands of citizens, have literally marched their way back to victory. So we are very grateful for their inspiration and their encouragement, every member of the team. But to the Bears, led by Rex Grossman, who proved himself to be a Super Bowl quarterback, to, again, their extraordinary defense on the field, we congratulate them. Senator Vitter and I love pizza. We were looking forward to that Chicago pizza, but we ended up, because of what happened, having to deliver our local favorite, red beans and rice, to Senator Durbin and Senator Obama. But our congratulations to them and to the people of Chicago and to the citizens of Illinois who, I know, will be pulling for their team. I also want to say we will be looking forward to seeing Peyton Manning on the field. He is a wonderful quarterback from a great family in New Orleans that has also helped us and inspired us a great deal.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, today there are 91,555 members of the National Guard and our Reserve armed forces serving bravely in Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other part of the world our country calls them to serve. The President is sending an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq in one final push to bring stability to that country. Regardless of what we think about this plan, Americans stand by our troops. They have the best equipment and training for their mission and we would never deny them the support they need. But back at home, there is still a great deal that we can do to support our guard and reserves families. When guardsmen and reservists are deployed they leave their families, their jobs, and their communities behind, causing tremendous stress on the home front and in the workplace. Families often lose the main bread winner when a citizen soldier gets deployed. They may have trouble paying bills, the rent, the mortgage, or buying medicine for their children. The reason these families cannot make ends meet is because for Guardsmen and Reservists military pay is often less than civilian pay. We call that the ``pay gap.'' According to the most recent Status Forces Survey of Reserve Components, 51 percent of our citizen soldiers take a pay cut when they get deployed and 11 percent of them lose more than $2,500 per month. To help provide relief from the pay gap for our Guard and Reserve, I am pleased to introduce, along with Senators Durbin, Graham and Kerry, the Helping Our Patriotic Employers at Helping our Military Employees Act of 2007. I call the bill by its nickname: HOPE at HOME. Our guard and reserve families have enough to worry about when a loved one gets called away, the least we can do is relieve some of their financial worry by encouraging employers to make up the pay gap. Let me describe for my colleagues how this legislation works. HOPE at HOME will give a 50 percent tax credit to the thousands of employers around the country who have taken the patriotic step of continuing to pay the salary of their guard and reservists employees who have been called to active duty. There are literally thousands of employers out there who already take this noble step--they do it voluntarily, selflessly and at great sacrifice. The HOPE at HOME Act honors that sacrifice. HOPE at HOME will also give companies that cannot afford to make up the pay-gap an incentive to do so. One survey found that only 173 of the Fortune 500 companies make up the pay gap. If the wealthiest companies cannot afford to help their active duty employees, imagine how difficult this is for smaller companies. HOPE at HOME will allow companies large and small to do the patriotic thing and reward those employees who are serving to keep us all free. HOPE at HOME will also give small patriotic employers additional tax relief if they need to hire a worker to temporarily replace the active duty Guardsmen or Reservist. In addition, the bill clarifies the tax treatment of any pay-gap payments to make income tax filing easier for our Guard and Reservists. I mentioned that thousands of employers make up the pay-gap for their employees. There is one employer, however, and it happens to be the Nation's largest, that does not make up the pay gap: Uncle Sam. The Federal Government, which should set the bar for patriotism in our country, does not do its part to help our citizen soldiers. We cannot ask the private sector to do more than they are doing if the Federal government is not willing to step up and do its part for our military men and women. Today our Nation relies on the Guard and Reserve to meet our armed forces needs more than at any other time in our history. At times in the war on terror, 40 percent of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were citizen soldiers, if not more. Many of them performed multiple tours of duty or found their duties extended. All of the experts tell us that our need for our Guard and Reserve troops will only get greater. During the Cold War, end strength of the U.S. military force never dropped below 2.0 million personnel and peaked at over 3.5 million during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. From 1989 to 1999, end strength dropped steadily from 2.1 million to 1.4 million, where it has remained. Our ground forces are stretched thin and the number of deployments has increased by over 300 percent. The Guard and Reserve have made it possible to meet these challenges. We still find ourselves stretched thin, but without the Guard and Reserve we would never be able to meet our obligation as guardians of freedom in the World. But this over-reliance on the Guard and Reserve is starting to have a toll on our ability to recruit and retain these men and women. The top reasons for leaving the Guard and Reserve, according to the Status of Forces Survey of Reserve Components, are family stress, the number and lengths of deployments, income loss, and conflict with civilian employment. HOPE at HOME recognizes that a soldier who is worrying about how his or her family is paying the bills is not focusing on the mission at hand. A soldier who is worrying about whether the family is paying the rent, is not going to reenlist. And every time one of our soldiers leaves, our nation loses the experience and service of a highly trained, capable professional. We need to make every effort to keep our citizen soldiers in service to their country. HOPE at HOME is a first step to addressing our military's larger recruitment and retention issues. During the Cold War we built our strength on having the biggest, best equipped standing army in the World. Now our military gathers its strength from a large reserve of qualified men and women in the Guard and Reserve who are ready to fight at a moment's call. We will lose that strength if we do not give our guardsmen and Reservists and their families HOPE at HOME. I hope my colleagues will join me in giving our Guard and Reserve HOPE at HOME Act.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, today there are 91,555 members of the National Guard and our Reserve armed forces serving bravely in Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other part of the world our country calls them to serve. The President is sending an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq in one final push to bring stability to that country. Regardless of what we think about this plan, Americans stand by our troops. They have the best equipment and training for their mission and we would never deny them the support they need. But back at home, there is still a great deal that we can do to support our guard and reserves families. When guardsmen and reservists are deployed they leave their families, their jobs, and their communities behind, causing tremendous stress on the home front and in the workplace. Families often lose the main bread winner when a citizen soldier gets deployed. They may have trouble paying bills, the rent, the mortgage, or buying medicine for their children. The reason these families cannot make ends meet is because for Guardsmen and Reservists military pay is often less than civilian pay. We call that the ``pay gap.'' According to the most recent Status Forces Survey of Reserve Components, 51 percent of our citizen soldiers take a pay cut when they get deployed and 11 percent of them lose more than $2,500 per month. To help provide relief from the pay gap for our Guard and Reserve, I am pleased to introduce, along with Senators Durbin, Graham and Kerry, the Helping Our Patriotic Employers at Helping our Military Employees Act of 2007. I call the bill by its nickname: HOPE at HOME. Our guard and reserve families have enough to worry about when a loved one gets called away, the least we can do is relieve some of their financial worry by encouraging employers to make up the pay gap. Let me describe for my colleagues how this legislation works. HOPE at HOME will give a 50 percent tax credit to the thousands of employers around the country who have taken the patriotic step of continuing to pay the salary of their guard and reservists employees who have been called to active duty. There are literally thousands of employers out there who already take this noble step--they do it voluntarily, selflessly and at great sacrifice. The HOPE at HOME Act honors that sacrifice. HOPE at HOME will also give companies that cannot afford to make up the pay-gap an incentive to do so. One survey found that only 173 of the Fortune 500 companies make up the pay gap. If the wealthiest companies cannot afford to help their active duty employees, imagine how difficult this is for smaller companies. HOPE at HOME will allow companies large and small to do the patriotic thing and reward those employees who are serving to keep us all free. HOPE at HOME will also give small patriotic employers additional tax relief if they need to hire a worker to temporarily replace the active duty Guardsmen or Reservist. In addition, the bill clarifies the tax treatment of any pay-gap payments to make income tax filing easier for our Guard and Reservists. I mentioned that thousands of employers make up the pay-gap for their employees. There is one employer, however, and it happens to be the Nation's largest, that does not make up the pay gap: Uncle Sam. The Federal Government, which should set the bar for patriotism in our country, does not do its part to help our citizen soldiers. We cannot ask the private sector to do more than they are doing if the Federal government is not willing to step up and do its part for our military men and women. Today our Nation relies on the Guard and Reserve to meet our armed forces needs more than at any other time in our history. At times in the war on terror, 40 percent of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were citizen soldiers, if not more. Many of them performed multiple tours of duty or found their duties extended. All of the experts tell us that our need for our Guard and Reserve troops will only get greater. During the Cold War, end strength of the U.S. military force never dropped below 2.0 million personnel and peaked at over 3.5 million during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. From 1989 to 1999, end strength dropped steadily from 2.1 million to 1.4 million, where it has remained. Our ground forces are stretched thin and the number of deployments has increased by over 300 percent. The Guard and Reserve have made it possible to meet these challenges. We still find ourselves stretched thin, but without the Guard and Reserve we would never be able to meet our obligation as guardians of freedom in the World. But this over-reliance on the Guard and Reserve is starting to have a toll on our ability to recruit and retain these men and women. The top reasons for leaving the Guard and Reserve, according to the Status of Forces Survey of Reserve Components, are family stress, the number and lengths of deployments, income loss, and conflict with civilian employment. HOPE at HOME recognizes that a soldier who is worrying about how his or her family is paying the bills is not focusing on the mission at hand. A soldier who is worrying about whether the family is paying the rent, is not going to reenlist. And every time one of our soldiers leaves, our nation loses the experience and service of a highly trained, capable professional. We need to make every effort to keep our citizen soldiers in service to their country. HOPE at HOME is a first step to addressing our military's larger recruitment and retention issues. During the Cold War we built our strength on having the biggest, best equipped standing army in the World. Now our military gathers its strength from a large reserve of qualified men and women in the Guard and Reserve who are ready to fight at a moment's call. We will lose that strength if we do not give our guardsmen and Reservists and their families HOPE at HOME. I hope my colleagues will join me in giving our Guard and Reserve HOPE at HOME Act.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce the Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research Clearing House, SEARCH, Act of 2007, a bill that will establish a national database consisting of historic records of servitude and emancipation in the United States to assist African Americans in researching their genealogy. Additionally, Congressman Elijah Cummings is reintroducing a companion to this bill on the House side because we both believe in its importance. It is a very human instinct for people to want to understand who they are from the lenses of who are their ancestors and where are they from. This is the very reason I stand before you today to reintroduce this piece of very important legislation. Unfortunately, African Americans who attempt to trace their genealogy encounter huge hurdles in reclaiming the usual documentary history that allows most Americans to piece together their heritage. W.E.B. Dubois once said that, ``There is in this world no such force as the force of a person determined to rise, for the human soul cannot be permanently chained.'' The Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research ClearingHouse, SEARCH, Act of 2007 gives African Americans the tools they need to rise above the unique challenges and hardships they face in order to trace their genealogy. The SEARCH Act establishes a national database within the National Archives and Records Administration, NARA, housing various documents that would assist those in search of a history that, because of slavery, is almost impossible to find in the most ordinary registers and census records. Traditionally, someone researching their genealogy would try looking up wills and land deeds; however, enslaved African Americans were prohibited from owning property. In fact, African Americans, must frequently rely on the records of slave owners--most of which are in private hands--in hope that they had kept records containing birth and death information. Even if records do exist, many African Americans in the past did not have formal last names, thus compounding the difficulty of tracing their lives. The omission of surnames also precludes use of the most popular and major source of genealogical research, the United States Census. Furthermore, letters, diaries, and other first-person records used by most genealogical researchers are scarcely available for slaves, owing to the fact that they could not legally learn to read or write. Even after the Emancipation Proclamation was given in 1865, we would think that African Americans could begin using traditional genealogical records like voter registrations and school records. However, African Americans did not immediately begin to participate in many of the privileges of citizenship, including voting and attending school. Discrimination meant that African Americans were barred from sitting on juries or owning businesses. Segregation meant segregated neighborhoods, schools, churches, clubs, and fraternal organizations, and thus segregated societies maintained segregated records. For example, some telephone directories in South Carolina did not include African Americans in the regular alphabetical listing, but rather at the end of the book. An African American must maneuver these distinctive nuances in order to conduct proper genealogical research. In my own State of Louisiana, descendants of the 9th Cavalry Regiment and 25th Infantry Regiment, known as the Buffalo Soldiers, would have to know to look in the index of United States Colored Troops since there is no mention of them in the index of State Military Regiments. Abraham Lincoln said, ``a man who cares nothing about his past can care little about his future.'' By providing $5 million for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to establish and maintain a national database, the SEARCH Act has the potential to significantly reduce the time and painstaking efforts of those African Americans who truly care about their American past to contribute to the American future. This bill also seeks to authorize $5 million for States, colleges, and universities to preserve, catalogue, and index records locally. In a democracy, records matter. The mission of NARA is to ensure that anyone can have access to the records that matter to them. The SEARCH Act of 2007 seeks to fulfill that mission by helping African Americans navigate genealogical research sources and negotiate the unique challenges that confront them in this process. No longer should any American have to wait to learn information, which in itself can offer such freedom. I don't believe there is a more appropriate time than now to pass this piece of legislation, on the day before we honor the legacy of a man who spent his life as an advocate of freedom, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King once said, ``Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.'' Mr. President, this piece of legislation does matter and I ask my colleagues to join me in passing the SEARCH Act of 2007.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce the Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research Clearing House, SEARCH, Act of 2007, a bill that will establish a national database consisting of historic records of servitude and emancipation in the United States to assist African Americans in researching their genealogy. Additionally, Congressman Elijah Cummings is reintroducing a companion to this bill on the House side because we both believe in its importance. It is a very human instinct for people to want to understand who they are from the lenses of who are their ancestors and where are they from. This is the very reason I stand before you today to reintroduce this piece of very important legislation. Unfortunately, African Americans who attempt to trace their genealogy encounter huge hurdles in reclaiming the usual documentary history that allows most Americans to piece together their heritage. W.E.B. Dubois once said that, ``There is in this world no such force as the force of a person determined to rise, for the human soul cannot be permanently chained.'' The Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research ClearingHouse, SEARCH, Act of 2007 gives African Americans the tools they need to rise above the unique challenges and hardships they face in order to trace their genealogy. The SEARCH Act establishes a national database within the National Archives and Records Administration, NARA, housing various documents that would assist those in search of a history that, because of slavery, is almost impossible to find in the most ordinary registers and census records. Traditionally, someone researching their genealogy would try looking up wills and land deeds; however, enslaved African Americans were prohibited from owning property. In fact, African Americans, must frequently rely on the records of slave owners--most of which are in private hands--in hope that they had kept records containing birth and death information. Even if records do exist, many African Americans in the past did not have formal last names, thus compounding the difficulty of tracing their lives. The omission of surnames also precludes use of the most popular and major source of genealogical research, the United States Census. Furthermore, letters, diaries, and other first-person records used by most genealogical researchers are scarcely available for slaves, owing to the fact that they could not legally learn to read or write. Even after the Emancipation Proclamation was given in 1865, we would think that African Americans could begin using traditional genealogical records like voter registrations and school records. However, African Americans did not immediately begin to participate in many of the privileges of citizenship, including voting and attending school. Discrimination meant that African Americans were barred from sitting on juries or owning businesses. Segregation meant segregated neighborhoods, schools, churches, clubs, and fraternal organizations, and thus segregated societies maintained segregated records. For example, some telephone directories in South Carolina did not include African Americans in the regular alphabetical listing, but rather at the end of the book. An African American must maneuver these distinctive nuances in order to conduct proper genealogical research. In my own State of Louisiana, descendants of the 9th Cavalry Regiment and 25th Infantry Regiment, known as the Buffalo Soldiers, would have to know to look in the index of United States Colored Troops since there is no mention of them in the index of State Military Regiments. Abraham Lincoln said, ``a man who cares nothing about his past can care little about his future.'' By providing $5 million for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to establish and maintain a national database, the SEARCH Act has the potential to significantly reduce the time and painstaking efforts of those African Americans who truly care about their American past to contribute to the American future. This bill also seeks to authorize $5 million for States, colleges, and universities to preserve, catalogue, and index records locally. In a democracy, records matter. The mission of NARA is to ensure that anyone can have access to the records that matter to them. The SEARCH Act of 2007 seeks to fulfill that mission by helping African Americans navigate genealogical research sources and negotiate the unique challenges that confront them in this process. No longer should any American have to wait to learn information, which in itself can offer such freedom. I don't believe there is a more appropriate time than now to pass this piece of legislation, on the day before we honor the legacy of a man who spent his life as an advocate of freedom, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King once said, ``Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.'' Mr. President, this piece of legislation does matter and I ask my colleagues to join me in passing the SEARCH Act of 2007.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the Disaster Loan Fairness Act of 2007. This legislation strikes provisions contained in the Community Disaster Loan Act of 2005 and the Emergency Supplemental spending bill for hurricane relief, which prohibited forgiveness of Special Community Disaster Loans authorized in those measures. Section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act requires forgiveness of a loan if an independent audit determines that its recipient cannot sustain its repayment obligations after a 3-year grace period. The statute recognizes the very real possibility that hard-hit communities may need to be excused from repayment. For the first time in the history of the program though, forgiveness was specifically prohibited by the Community Disaster Loan Act of 2005. These were the strictest terms ever required. Clamping down in the wake of the worst disaster in history did not make sense at the time, and it does not make sense now. In the last Congress, I introduced S. 1872, which eliminated this provision governing the first round of loans authorized in October of 2005. Louisiana applicants received about $739 million in this first round. This bill accomplishes that same objective, and also strikes forgiveness restrictions attached to a second round of loans authorized in June of 2006, through which Louisianans received about $261 million in Orleans, St. Bernard, and St. Tammany Parishes. These recipients in the second round included sheriffs, fire districts, levee districts, school boards, sewage and water boards, port harbor and terminal authorities, regional transit authorities and parish governments. Essential operational expenditures must be made to facilitate recovery in the wake of a disaster, including services like police, fire protection, transit and sanitation. One of the great ironies of the Community Disaster Loan Program is the fact that it exists largely to supplement shortcomings in the Stafford Act. Between 1970 and 1974, the program was administered as a grant program before the Stafford Act converted it to a loan program. FEMA will not reimburse emergency responders for their straight-time salaries, and a large portion of these loans were needed for payroll expenses to essential employees. This bill does not necessarily forgive all loans made to hurricane- affected communities. Communities must apply for cancellation, and forgiveness is only permitted when an independent review of a city's fiscal health finds justification to cancel the debt. Even then, communities must still repay loan funds used for capital improvements, debt servicing, assessments, intragovernmental services, cost-sharing and otherwise reimbursable activities. It is also important to remember that the size of the loans has been limited to a proportion of the community's operating budget since these programs were first authorized. The majority of disaster loans have been repaid, and the program is used only by areas that have suffered a major disaster. In 29 years, the program has only received 64 applications associated with 21 disasters. Compared to 1,104 disasters declared in total, that is a very small proportion. There were no loans issued under this authority for 6 years prior to FY 2005. These figures indicate that this program has not been abused by jurisdictions that could do without the funds. Program administrators and independent auditors have found cause to cancel 93 percent of loan funding distributed to hard-hit areas over the years, but this represents the inevitable fact that disasters can be catastrophic, and areas requiring significant help are less likely to be whole again after only 3 years. The City of New Orleans was forced to lay off 3,000 people--over 80 percent of its workforce. Let us act now to ensure that other cities are not forced to follow, by giving a break to disaster loan recipients who prove unable to repay their debt. They will still have 3 years to try, and some may succeed, but we must adjust to the reality of the situation. It is time we relieve Gulf Coast communities of the burdens they were forced to shoulder in order to keep police cars, fire trucks and sanitation trucks rolling, reopen schools and bring cities back to life by getting things working. I ask unanimous consent the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Ms. LANDRIEU

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the Disaster Loan Fairness Act of 2007. This legislation strikes provisions contained in the Community Disaster Loan Act of 2005 and the Emergency Supplemental spending bill for hurricane relief, which prohibited forgiveness of Special Community Disaster Loans authorized in those measures. Section 417 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act requires forgiveness of a loan if an independent audit determines that its recipient cannot sustain its repayment obligations after a 3-year grace period. The statute recognizes the very real possibility that hard-hit communities may need to be excused from repayment. For the first time in the history of the program though, forgiveness was specifically prohibited by the Community Disaster Loan Act of 2005. These were the strictest terms ever required. Clamping down in the wake of the worst disaster in history did not make sense at the time, and it does not make sense now. In the last Congress, I introduced S. 1872, which eliminated this provision governing the first round of loans authorized in October of 2005. Louisiana applicants received about $739 million in this first round. This bill accomplishes that same objective, and also strikes forgiveness restrictions attached to a second round of loans authorized in June of 2006, through which Louisianans received about $261 million in Orleans, St. Bernard, and St. Tammany Parishes. These recipients in the second round included sheriffs, fire districts, levee districts, school boards, sewage and water boards, port harbor and terminal authorities, regional transit authorities and parish governments. Essential operational expenditures must be made to facilitate recovery in the wake of a disaster, including services like police, fire protection, transit and sanitation. One of the great ironies of the Community Disaster Loan Program is the fact that it exists largely to supplement shortcomings in the Stafford Act. Between 1970 and 1974, the program was administered as a grant program before the Stafford Act converted it to a loan program. FEMA will not reimburse emergency responders for their straight-time salaries, and a large portion of these loans were needed for payroll expenses to essential employees. This bill does not necessarily forgive all loans made to hurricane- affected communities. Communities must apply for cancellation, and forgiveness is only permitted when an independent review of a city's fiscal health finds justification to cancel the debt. Even then, communities must still repay loan funds used for capital improvements, debt servicing, assessments, intragovernmental services, cost-sharing and otherwise reimbursable activities. It is also important to remember that the size of the loans has been limited to a proportion of the community's operating budget since these programs were first authorized. The majority of disaster loans have been repaid, and the program is used only by areas that have suffered a major disaster. In 29 years, the program has only received 64 applications associated with 21 disasters. Compared to 1,104 disasters declared in total, that is a very small proportion. There were no loans issued under this authority for 6 years prior to FY 2005. These figures indicate that this program has not been abused by jurisdictions that could do without the funds. Program administrators and independent auditors have found cause to cancel 93 percent of loan funding distributed to hard-hit areas over the years, but this represents the inevitable fact that disasters can be catastrophic, and areas requiring significant help are less likely to be whole again after only 3 years. The City of New Orleans was forced to lay off 3,000 people--over 80 percent of its workforce. Let us act now to ensure that other cities are not forced to follow, by giving a break to disaster loan recipients who prove unable to repay their debt. They will still have 3 years to try, and some may succeed, but we must adjust to the reality of the situation. It is time we relieve Gulf Coast communities of the burdens they were forced to shoulder in order to keep police cars, fire trucks and sanitation trucks rolling, reopen schools and bring cities back to life by getting things working. I ask unanimous consent the text of the bill be printed in the Record.