WASHINGTON - United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair, Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., as well as Small Business Committee members, Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., spoke on the Senate floor today to discuss several small business job proposals. These proposals have passed the Committee by a large bipartisan margin, are low in cost and would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. The Senators urged that the proposals be included in the next Senate jobs bill. The Senators made the following comments:

Landrieu on Senate floor

"Small businesses have borne the greatest burden in this economy, and they are the businesses that have the greatest potential to improve it," Senator Landrieu said. "By making simple, inexpensive and commonsense changes to help small businesses, we can turn pink slips into pay checks for American workers. I look forward to working with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to ensure the proposals I have outlined today - better access to credit, counseling, contracting and export programs - make it into the third jobs bill."

If you are having trouble viewing the video of the floor speech from the link above, please click here.

To read the Senator's statement as prepared, click here.

Cardin on Floor

“Too much of the focus over the last couple of years has been on helping large companies and large banks. We need to focus on small companies in order to create new job opportunities for Americans,” said Senator Cardin. “Problem number one for small businesses is credit. Small companies can’t get traditional credit. Many large banks have just closed out giving loans to small companies. I think we should look at how we can use some of the TARP funds to have the SBA make direct loans to small businesses, certainly as a backup, if the private-sector lenders are not going to show enough interest in helping our small businesses.”

If you are having trouble viewing the video of the floor speech from the link above, please click here.

shaheen floor

“I believe strongly that there is huge potential for smaller companies to tap new markets to grow their businesses and create jobs through exporting. We need to make the SBA a more valuable resource for small businesses looking to export their goods and services, and the Small Business Export Enhancement and International Trade Act of 2009 does just that," Senator Shaheen said.

If you are having trouble viewing the video of the floor speech from the link above, please click here.