Extending the Authority for Commitments for the Paycheck Protection Program

Floor Speech

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Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues and to express our enthusiasm for the work that lies ahead. I am so grateful to the Senator from Maryland for his leadership in bringing this important effort to the floor tonight.

Senator Cardin and Senator Shaheen have been stalwarts in the Small Business Committee. The ranking member and his talented colleague from New Hampshire have worked tirelessly to shape the PPP, or the Paycheck Protection Program, that was part of the CARES Act enacted more than 2 months ago.

It has delivered, as you heard tonight, remarkable assistance to nearly 4 million businesses, more than $500 billion--I think $526 billion in assistance--and has helped millions of businesses all over our Nation not have to close.

Today--tonight--was supposed to be last minute, the last chapter in the PPP program, but because of the unanimous consent request that was successfully negotiated by Senator Cardin, there is now 5 more weeks of running room for businesses, large and small, across our States--excuse me, businesses small and smaller, across our States--to have an opportunity to get to the SBA to apply for a loan through their lender of choice and to have another opportunity.

Why do we need this? Because the pandemic is so far from over. Despite the wishes and the rhetoric of the President and others, we all know that in our States and in other States around the country, a record number of new cases were reported several times this week--the highest number of cases so far in this pandemic. Cases are rising in dozens of States, and small businesses in our country face an uncertain future.

In my home State, Governor John Carney, who has made good but hard decisions, has stopped the opening of our economy, like several other States--Maryland, which shares the wonderful Eastern Shore beaches, and New Hampshire, which has wonderful summer and winter hospitality businesses up and down its State. This is a critical time of year for our seasonal businesses. To not have them fully opened is putting a burden and is putting a damper on exactly those hospitality businesses that took the hardest hits right at the beginning of this pandemic.

I want to take a few minutes and talk about just a couple of the small businesses I know in Delaware that have benefited from the resources made possible by this program negotiated by these great colleagues. And $1.4 billion has been delivered to Delaware businesses and nonprofits quickly, helping them to stay open or reopen, helping them to hire or retain workers. Yet, even tonight, $134 billion in this program remains unspent. Rather than shutting it down, we are going to make sure that there are windows of opportunity for small businesses in our States.

This helps a company like Zoup! in Newark, DE. Eric Ames is the owner. I was there at the opening of his first Zoup! franchise years ago. This PPP loan--a loan-to-grant program--has made it possible for him to keep functioning. Jimmy Vennard, who is the creative, innovative brewer in Newark, DE, of Autumn Arch Brewing has benefited from a PPP loan. Yvonne Gordon, whom I have known for years, who runs Orange Theory Fitness and is a minority business owner in Pike Creek, has been able to stay open and reopen because of her PPP loan. And in Dover, DE, our capital, the wonderful Green Turtle Restaurant was able to stay open because of this loan.

These aren't abstractions. These aren't statistics. These are real flesh-and-blood families and businesses that have benefited because of the PPP. As several of my colleagues have said, in the early stages of this program, not enough small businesses and not enough minority-owned businesses, because of fewer banking connections and because of the unpredictability of the rules, were able to access to the PPP. Some were denied by multiple lenders. That is why it is important that we extend this deadline tonight.

Let me also speak about what we hope will be the next phase--the Prioritized PPP Act. Extending the deadline of this first loan period for 5 weeks is good but not enough. There are other businesses that can and should get access to the lifeline of a prioritized second PPP loan.

As Senators Cardin and Shaheen have mentioned, this would focus on fewer than 100 employees and with more than 50 percent greater revenue loss. I am particularly excited about the set-aside of $25 billion or about 20 percent of the total funding for those with 10 or fewer workers.

I know that Senator Cardin and Senator Shaheen will be working hard in the weeks to come to narrow and to focus and to prioritize where we will go in the next relief bill.

With the forbearance of my colleagues, I want to talk about one other issue. In my home State of Delaware, today, June 30, was the end of the budget year--the end of our General Assembly session by constitution. All of us received a letter from the seven largest organizations representing State, county, and local governments all over our country, saying it is urgent that this next relief bill include not just another round of assistance to small businesses but critically needed assistance to State and local governments.

There are 15 million Americans who work for State and local governments: teachers, paramedics, firefighters, police officers, the folks who make our State and local governments run. And 1.6 million of them have already been laid off as State and local revenues plummet.

We have to work together to make sure this is part of the next program. We have to extend unemployment benefits. We need to ensure the American people can safely vote, and we need to expand national service opportunities. There is so much for us to do.

I look forward to more successful efforts with my colleagues and for the opportunities for us to work together to address the needs of the American people.

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