The Patriot Loan Act of 2006

THE PATRIOT LOAN ACT OF 2006 -- (Senate - May 26, 2006)

Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I rise to comment on legislation introduced yesterday, S. 3122, the Patriot Loan Act of 2006. It is called the Patriot Loan Act for that is who the legislation is intended to benefit, patriot citizen-soldiers who are called from their employment at America's small businesses to serve our country in uniform. I am proud to join with Senator OLYMPIA SNOWE, who serves as the chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, as an original cosponsor of this important bill.

All of us in the Senate come from States affected by the mobilization of our Guard and Reserve personnel. In my home State, the Idaho National Guard's 116th Brigade Combat Team turned last fall from its 18-month deployment to Iraq. I visited members of the 116th while they were in Iraq and discovered that a good number of them left jobs at small businesses across Idaho. I also held a hearing in Idaho last August regarding the reemployment rights of returning Guard and Reserve members, with particular focus on how those rights would impact members of the 116th. At that hearing it was emphasized that, while legal rights to reemployment are critical, they do little good for those who have no employer, or no small business, to return to. I resolved then to find some way to assist small businesses to cope with the financial hardships of frequent and lengthy mobilizations of its employees or owners during the war on terrorism. I believe S. 3122 will provide some of that needed assistance.

The legislation would enhance the U.S. Small Business Administration's Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or ``MREIDL,'' Program. That program provides loan assistance to small businesses to help them meet ordinary and necessary operating expenses after essential employees are called to active duty in their roles as citizen soldiers.

S. 3122 would raise the maximum military reservist loan amount from $1.5 million to $2 million. It would also allow the Small Business Administration's administrator, by direct loan or through banks, to offer unsecure loans of up to $25,000, an increase from the current $5,000 loan limit: So that there are no processing delays, S. 3122 would require the SBA administrator to give these loan applications priority, and would require that loan applicants be adequately assisted during the application process by utilizing existing support networks, such as Small Business Development Centers.

Finally, S. 3122 would ensure proactive outreach about the MREIDL Program for Guard and Reserve members by requiring SBA and the Department of Defense to develop a joint Web site and printed materials with information about the program, and it would require a joint SBA and DD feasibility study on other methods of possible assistance.

Just as the Guard and Reserve are serving us now, we must do what we can to ensure that their sacrifices do not place them in financial harm's way on their return home. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I, again, thank Senator SNOWE for her leadership in introducing it.

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