WASHINGTON - Senator John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, today called on the Small Business Administration to produce a new budget that the meets the needs of America's small businesses in tough economic times.

"Particularly in tough economic times, with businesses struggling to keep their doors open, the small business budget should be a catalyst to help get the economy moving again. Instead, the Administration has offered pro-business rhetoric to mask a budget that short changes the needs of small businesses in America, failing to provide adequate resources and access to capital."

"The proposed 50% percent cut to the SBA's flagship lending program, the 7(a) program would deny thousands of small business owners loans in the coming year, preventing the sprouting of new businesses and the growth of current ones. Cutting access to capital is the wrong choice for our economy. The Federal Reserve's lending studies over the past year show 40 percent of banks have cut back on lending to small businesses, making loans harder and more expensive to obtain -- making the President's budget choices doubly irresponsible.

"Short-changing and sometimes eliminating succesful efforts to help business owners -- Small Business Development Centers, Women's Business Centers, and Microloan Technical Assistance -- is a mistake and we will not allow a mistake to become a law."

"We will insist on a bipartisan small business budget for America that serves our nation's small business community and serves the best interests of our economy."

Senator Kerry heard from a panel of Small Business Administration representatives, as well as representatives from the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, The National Association of Development Companies, The Growth Opportunity, Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore, and the Association of Small Business Development Centers.

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