AMENDMENT NO. 406 Offered by Mr. Zeldin of New York
Floor Speech
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Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, my amendment No. 330, which is included in the en bloc amendment No. 2, ensures the 1,700 small businesses in my district can receive assistance through grants from the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program and through FAST, the Federal and State Technology program.
My district, the Northern Mariana Islands, is the only place in the U.S. not included in these Small Business Administration (SBA) programs, which help small businesses access the knowledge and capital needed to grow and compete successfully for federal contracting opportunities.
My bipartisan amendment would correct that by ensuring access on the same basis as their counterparts across the nation. The amendment is the text of my bill, H.R. 6021, the Northern Mariana Islands Small Business Development Act. The Small Business Committee unanimously reported the bill favorably in March.
Under my legislation, the Marianas can apply to establish a Lead SBDC, which would make available renewable funding to expand the reach and capacity of the existing SBDC service center on Saipan. With additional funding, small businesses on Saipan, Tinian and Rota will have better access to free or low-cost services such as incubator workspaces for entrepreneurs, business planning, operations, and other areas required for small business growth and success.
The amendment would also help our small businesses participate in federal research and development opportunities. The legislation does this by including the Marianas in the SBA 's FAST program which funds outreach and assistance to small businesses interested in competing for the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
I urge the adoption of my amendment, so we can be sure that all small businesses in our country can fully benefit from the SBDC and FAST programs, regardless of where in our nation they happen to operate.
The gentlelady from American Samoa, Mrs. Radewagen, is a cosponsor of the amendment.
I ask my colleagues to support the en bloc No. 2.
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