Jim Talent

Mr. TALENT

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to include the following statement in the record to accompany H.R. 5663, the New Markets Venture Capital Program Act of 2000, as enacted by the Conference Report to accompany H.R. 4577. This legislation was originally Title IX of H.R. 5545, as enacted through the conference report accompanying H.R. 2614. Unfortunately, H.R. 2614 did not gain approval in the Senate. However, we were able to save the provisions of H.R. 5545 in H.R. 5663 and H.R. 5667, which were enacted as part of the Conference Report for H.R. 4577, the Consolidated Appropriations Act. The summary I am inserting is almost identical to the language of the conference report filed with H.R. 5545. The bill language has not changed and neither has the intent of the House and Senate Small Business Committees concerning the New Markets Venture Capital Program Act of 2000. I submit this statement as a Joint Statement of the House Managers in order to provide assistance to the Small Business Administration in implementing this law. The purpose of H.R. 5663 the ``New Markets Venture Capital Program Act of 2000,'' is to promote economic development, wealth and job opportunities in low income (LI) areas by encouraging venture capital investments and offering technical assistance to small enterprises. The central goal of the legislation is to fulfill the unmet equity investment needs of small enterprises primarily located in LI areas. The bill creates a developmental venture capital program by amending the Small Business Investment Act to authorize the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to enter into participation agreements with 10 to 20 New Markets Venture Capital (NMVC) companies in a public/private partnership. It further authorizes SBA to guarantee debentures of NMVC companies to enable them to make venture capital investments in smaller enterprises in LI areas. And it authorizes SBA to make grants to NMVC companies, and to other entities, for the purpose of providing technical assistance to smaller enterprises that are financed, or expected to be financed, by such companies. The Act will also enhance the ability of existing Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) to invest in LI areas. It allows them to have access to the leverage capital authorized under the program, without entering into a participation agreement with SBA to act as an NMVC company. Finally, the Act enhances the ability of existing Specialized Small Business Investment Companies (SSBICs) to invest in LI areas. It allows them to have access to the operational assistance grant funds authorized under the program, also without entering into a participation agreement with SBA to act as an NMVC company. Despite our unprecedented economic prosperity, there remain places in America that have yet to reap the benefits of this prosperity. Although many Americans enjoy strong income and wage growth, millions in underserved areas still do not have access to jobs or entrepreneurial opportunities. For example, between 1997 and 1998, the median income for the nation's households rose 3.5 percent in real terms. Yet 12.7 percent of Americans (34.5 million people) still live below the poverty level. These 34.5 million people live in the inner cities and rural areas of America, where jobs are scarce and there is little to attract would-be small business investors. The overall poverty rate for the U.S. in 1998 was 12.7 percent, but the poverty rate among both African American and Latino populations was 26 percent--double the national average. In rural communities, poverty remains a persistent problem. Job growth is well below the national average, with unemployment hovering at or above 14%. Additionally, the unemployment levels in many urban communities range from 7.5% for African Americans to 6.4% for Hispanics. Both are nearly double the national average. It is not enough to merely create jobs in these pockets of poverty. Rather, we must create a small business backbone, an economic infrastructure to enable these communities to develop their full potential and participate fully in the economic mainstream. H.R. 5663 uses SBA resources targeted to corporations and small businesses that want to do business in the untapped markets of our underserved communities. It is a wise investment in the hopes of millions of families who are not sharing in the American Dream. There is a pressing need for this legislation. There are virtually no institutional sources of equity capital in distressed communities. The national venture capital industry for community development comprises only 25 firms managing approximately $157 million. Only 14 of those are capitalized at $5 million or more--the absolute minimum for economic viability. H.R. 5663 will tap unrealized resources in our nation, thus benefiting our economy as a whole. It will increase the attractiveness of investment in places with high unemployment and too few businesses. The more the business community

Mr. TALENT

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, the following is a summary and explanation to accompany H.R. 5667, the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000. It is essentially the same document as that in the Conference Report to accompany H.R. 2614 (Rpt. 106-1004). Unfortunately, H.R. 2614 was never passed by the Senate. However, we were fortunate enough to achieve some compromise and many of the provisions of H.R. 2614 are included with H.R. 4577. The conferees met to discuss H.R. 2614 which had passed the House, and after Senate amendment, had been returned to the House. The House objected to the Senate amendment and the Senate then requested a conference. The original purpose of H.R. 2614 was solely to make corrections to the Small Business Administration's Certified Development Company loan program. The conferees agreed to include the provisions of several other bills (e.g. H.R. 2615, H.R. 2392, H.R. 3843, H.R. 3845) affecting the Small Business Administration and its programs in order to facilitate the work of both Houses. The provisions of H.R. 5545 are essentially what is included in H.R. 5667 and certain other sections of the American Community Renewal Act provisions also included in this legislation. The summary of H.R. 5667 follows:

Mr. TALENT

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker, the conference before us enacts by reference H.R. 5667, the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000. That bill will reauthorize the SBA for 3 years, and continue and improve a number of important small business programs. It contains the provisions of H.R. 2392, which reauthorizes and improves the Small Business Innovation and Research Program, or the SBIR program. I know many Members in the House will be pleased that we are getting that done on the last day. The bill also contains provisions of a number of pieces of legislation which overwhelmingly passed this House and which reauthorize and improve the 7(a) program, the 504 program, and the SBIC program. We made a lot of progress in strengthening those programs in the 4 years of my chairmanship, and I believe strongly in all of them. I urge my colleagues to support them in the conference report. Mr. Speaker, the bill also contains another measure which many people, including the President, have called the most significant anti- poverty legislation in the last 30 years, the American Community Renewal Act. Provisions in the bill will offer hope and opportunity to thousands of Americans who are living in economically underserved and blighted communities in our Nation. It will provide them and their communities tools, proven tools that are working in neighborhoods around the country already to fight the neglect, remove the scourge of drug abuse, and lift the pall of poverty that darkens the lives of so many of our fellow Americans. The American Community Renewal Act will provide tax incentives to build businesses in these communities. In these communities, there will be a zero percent capital gains tax. It will require HUD to cooperate with neighborhood development groups so people can build homes and we can improve home ownership, provide assistance to fight the problems of drug abuse, allowing faith-based groups to participate in Federal drug and alcohol programs, and it will assist people in savings, allowing them to put up money from their earned income tax credit, with the government matching it. It will give these communities things many of the rest of us take for granted: safe streets, a vital economy, and good schools, and things like hope and dignity. Mr. Speaker, for several years my colleagues, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watts), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), and our former colleague, Mr. Flake, and I have struggled to build this legislation in a bipartisan fashion. I am greatly pleased that on the final day and in the final hour of this Congress, we are succeeding. I am glad not just for us, but for those in the communities we visited around the country who will be helped by that legislation. Mr. Speaker, this is my last speech and my last vote as a Member of this body. I am privileged to be able to cast it on behalf of this compromise measure, and in particular, on behalf of the American Community Renewal Act and its provisions. I urge all my friends and colleagues in the House to support the bill.

Mr. TALENT

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, today I honor the May 16, 2000, birth of Dylan George Mohan. Dylan was born at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC, at 8:56 p.m. He is the son of Kristin Young and Matthew Mohan. Dylan is the first grandson of his grandparent George and Phyllis Young and grandparents Jim and Mary Mohan. Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join me in congratulating this new family and to wish Dylan much joy and happiness in the years to come.

Mr. TALENT

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, we have two more on this side; and I understand we are closing, so perhaps the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) could go with a couple of speakers.

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 652, I call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 2614) to amend the Small Business Investment Act to make improvements to the certified development company program, and for other purposes.

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Archer), the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago I had a call from the leadership staff asking if I had a problem with using this legislation as a vehicle for passing a number of things that I understood we had substantial bipartisan support for in the House. I said no. I thought if it would facilitate the passage of legislation that meant really good things for a whole lot of American people that we ought to try to do it. And we have a conference report and on the surface of it it has a lot of things that I think a lot of people in this House like. It has a minimum wage increase. It has small business tax relief, which I can testify has very strong support in the House and is very necessary in the small business community. It has the repeal of provisions which have prevented installment sales of businesses. It has an increase in the meals deduction, an increase in the deductibility of health insurance premiums for the self-employed. It has the Portman- Cardin pension reforms. It has Medicare give-backs. And most important for my perspective, Mr. Speaker, it has the community renewal new markets bill, which we had a press conference with the White House several months ago and all of us agreed, Republicans, Democrats, the President, the leadership of the House said it was the most significant anti-poverty legislation to pass this body in a generation. I thought when I had a chance to handle this bill, and I flew back today to do it, that it would be a time of joy and a time of shared celebration. I understand that the President has serious objections and may well veto this bill, and my heart is sad at that because it just seems to me there is so much good in here for the American people that we all ought to support it. I would hope he would find a way to sign it; and if we have some problems, work that out in some other format or some other way because I am just concerned if we do not do it now, we will not have a chance to do these things for the American people. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to say to the gentleman, and he knows how much I respect him and how I have worked with him on these anti-poverty provisions, and I am certain that there are hurt feelings on both sides. I just would hope that we could somehow overcome this and get these important things done that real people and, in particular, vulnerable people depend on. I am just convinced that, if a veto comes down, we are not going to have another chance; and we will have blown this up on what the people will see as an inside internecine kind of squabble.

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert), the Speaker of the House.

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds to say that my understanding is that major provider associations, including the hospitals and the home health agencies, support this bill. It is not surprising, considering it adds $28 billion back into Medicare. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery).

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn).

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw). (Mr. SHAW asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner).

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watts).

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute for three points. Number one, there is no Census language in the bill, so Members should know the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) was incorrect in her statement. Second, as much as I respect the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), I am not going to allow the bill to be slandered in that way. This bill contains provisions which will ensure health care for small business people that we have been fighting for on a bipartisan basis for years. It contains provisions which will ensure pensions for small business people and their employers that we have been fighting for. It includes the best piece of antipoverty legislation this Congress has passed in a generation. Mr. Speaker, I stood next to the President of the United States at the White House and we talked about the importance of this. It means jobs and homeownership and community policing for poor people. I will tell my colleagues, I am leaving here, Mr. Speaker, so maybe it does not matter to me and it does not matter to other people. I do not care who is consulted. I do not care whether the protocols of the Committee on Ways and Means were respected. This bill means real things to real vulnerable people, and we ought to pass it and the President ought to sign it.

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis). (Mr. BILIRAKIS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman).

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas). (Mr. THOMAS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is referring to the foreign sales provision of the bill, and that is the administration's provision. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley).

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller).

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson).

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, the majority leader is going to close on our behalf.

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) for her many kindnesses and her powerful advocacy of her views and the graciousness in the times we have served together on the Committee on Small Business. I want to thank the gentlewoman. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield the remaining time to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), the majority leader.

Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and includes extraneous material on H.R. 2614.