Ranking Member Chabot's Floor Speech on Restarting Paycheck Protection Program

Statement

Today, House Committee on Small Business Steve Chabot (R-OH) spoke on the House floor in support of targeted support for America's small business owners through his bill, H.R. 8265.

Remarks as prepared for delivery:
I thank the gentleman/gentlelady for yielding.

Mr./Madam Speaker, it has now been 46days since the Paycheck Protection Program, also known as PPP, shutdown.

This means that small businesses have been prevented from applying for CARES Act funding through the PPP for over a month and half.

This means that small business jobs continue to be in jeopardy through no fault of their own. This is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker.

This is unacceptable because small businesses play an outsized role in our economy. They employ nearly half of all workers in the nation. Think about that -- nearly one out of every two workers in the country are employed by a small business.

Not only do they represent millions of workers, but they are also the nation's job creators. They create approximately two out of every three new jobs in America.

Beyond statistics, they are the heartbeat of America's Main Street. They are the corner store, the neighborhood coffee shop, the restaurant in the village. They are the fabric of commerce in my state of Ohio to Florida to Texas and across the entire nation. Their workers clock in early and retire after the sun sets. Simply put, they are America's businesses.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 continues to challenge their very existence.

Now is the time to act and we have an option before us. If we defeat today's previous question, we can move directly to my legislation to reopen the Paycheck Protection Program.

H.R. 8265 would provide targeted assistance to small businesses that truly require the federal government's help. The legislation gives small businesses the ability to receive a second PPP if they can demonstrate a revenue reduction. Additionally, it adds more flexibility in how PPP dollars can be spent and still be eligible for loan forgiveness.

The nation's small businesses are still struggling. We need to work quickly to provide a path forward for many of them.

Just as small businesses meet and exceed the expectations of their customers, let's meet the need of small businesses across the country.

Let's defeat the previous question and restart the Paycheck Protection Program. The country's economy is depending upon America's small businesses. I yield back.
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