Hardships of Small Business Owners Continue During the Pandemic

Floor Speech

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Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. Speaker, it has been 2 years, image that, since the beginning of the pandemic. Two years marked by hardship that none of us had ever known and hope we never know again. As the world continues to adapt to the challenge, it is my belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Yet, as we continue to push toward that optimism, we are reminded every single day that the pandemic is not over. It is not over for us; it is not over for the nurses and doctors who tend to our sick; it is not over for our frontline workers, for teachers, for police, for families, for anyone.

I am here today to speak for a group of Americans who are too often ignored in our pandemic discourse, our Nation's entrepreneurs and small business owners, the bedrock of our economy, particularly those who work in public-facing enterprises, like restaurant owners, gym owners, hospitality owners in the live-events industry. Those whose livelihoods depend on public gathering in person, whether it is to break bread, to work up a sweat, or to enjoy booths that you might see in the Minnesota State Fair, as my friend and colleague, Angie Craig, would agree is America's finest.

In 2020 and early last year, both parties worked together to pass pandemic aid to help keep the lights on at those businesses. It was an aid that was effective in saving countless jobs, and while not perfect, of course, it did save our country from economic disaster. Unfortunately, for those public-facing industries, that aid has not been enough, not with the rise of the delta variant and then omicron, and potentially future variants that we might face in the future.

Last week, I held a roundtable in Minnesota to hear from entrepreneurs representing those industries in my district. Some had a quarter million dollars in debt, others had lost a quarter million dollars in revenue. Some had taken out government-subsidized emergency loans from the programs that we in Congress created, but others were left out entirely. They told me that between the pandemic and the supply chain and inflation costs that the pandemic has wrought, that those old relief programs are simply not enough. They need help, and they need it now. It is our job and it is not done yet.

The cost of congressional inaction is real. Small business owners across America are dipping into their personal savings and taking on significant debt. In Minnesota alone, almost 60 percent of restaurants have taken on debt during the pandemic, with an average of over half a million dollars per restaurant. Even in the best of times it is a tough industry, but particularly difficult right now.

We all know what will happen if we don't pass relief soon: many of those restaurants will close and many of their staff will be unemployed. Too many small business owners are simply running out of hope.

That is where we come in. I am encouraged by comments made by the President and lawmakers in both parties that there is an appetite to solve the problem and provide relief. In fact, I secured a commitment from Speaker Pelosi not long ago that a targeted relief package would get a vote on the House floor, which is an important step. We are not at the finish line, my friends, and I implore that we, together, work on such a package.

Small businesses like restaurants, hospitality, gyms, and live events companies, they make up the social, cultural, and the economic fabric of our communities and our entire country. We must fight to ensure that they can keep their doors open.

Mr. Speaker, we must meet the challenge of the moment with urgency and refill the RRF and include hard-hit industries in a future relief package. We must get the job done so that others can keep theirs.

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