Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendments to H.R. North American Wetlands Conservation Extension Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. CHABOT. I thank the gentleman for yielding, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP as many of us refer to it, has been shut down now for over 50 days. That is nearly 2 months that small businesses have been unable to access approximately $137 billion that still remains in the program that was supposed to go for their relief.
Small businesses and their workers need our help. Small businesses employ nearly half of the workers in this Nation, one out of two. Think of that. One out of every two people employed in this Nation works for one of America's small businesses. Not only do they represent millions of workers, but they also are the Nation's job creators. They create approximately two out of every three new jobs in America.
Of course, these aren't just statistics. One example of an outstanding small business owner is Lacie Sims. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Lacie's business, the Village Family Restaurant, in Waynesville, Ohio, back in my district.
Lacie spoke with me about how she used the Paycheck Protection Program to keep her 25 workers employed so that they could continue to serve the community and, most importantly, continue to support their families. Lacie went on to tell me about how she quickly adapted her business to accommodate pickup, delivery, and safe indoor dining.
Like Lacie, many small business owners have adapted and persevered through the pandemic. Unfortunately, COVID-19 continues to challenge their very existence.
Now is the time for us to act, and we have an option before us here today. If we defeat today's previous question, we can move directly to my legislation to reopen the Paycheck Protection Program, the PPP program. H.R. 8265 would provide targeted assistance to small businesses that truly need the Federal Government's help.
This legislation gives small businesses the opportunity to receive a second PPP if they can demonstrate a significant revenue reduction or a first-round loan if they didn't get one the first time. Additionally, it adds more flexibility in how the PPP dollars can be spent and still be eligible for loan forgiveness.
Many small businesses are still struggling across this country. We need to act now to help these small businesses, the people that they employ, and the families that they, in turn, support.
Let's defeat the previous question and restart the Paycheck Protection Program. The Nation's economy is at stake. We still have $137 billion sitting there that was intended to go to these small businesses. We don't have to allocate any more funding. The funding is there.
Now, my Democratic colleagues have said that they are for small business. This is the time not just to talk the talk but to walk the walk. You get two opportunities, Madam Speaker, you can vote against this previous question or you can sign the discharge petition. Either one of them gives us another vote.
Let's save these small businesses.
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