Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, praised a letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council supporting the bipartisan effort to comprehensively reauthorize the Small Business Act. 

“After nearly two decades, a comprehensive reauthorization of the Small Business Act is long overdue,” Rubio said. “American entrepreneurs need a Small Business Administration that is modernized for the 21st century economy to foster and aid innovative ideas and businesses. I appreciate the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council and look forward to the Small Business Committee’s continued work to reauthorize the Act.” 

The full text of the letter is below: 

Dear Chairman Rubio and Ranking Member Cardin: 

I am Christel Slaughter, Ph.D., CEO of SSA Consultants based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the Chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Council.  The vast majority of Chamber member companies are small businesses and the Small Business Council works to ensure their views are considered as part of the Chamber’s policy-making process.  

I commend your bipartisan commitment for committee action on reauthorizing SBA programs. Your commitment to mark up a comprehensive program reauthorization bill is notable and deserves to be lauded, because such an undertaking has not been accomplished in 19 years. We share your opinion that modernizing SBA’s programs would help small business.  While your hearings over the past several months have paved the way toward legislative text, we know that considerable work lies ahead and we are committed to assisting the Committee in this important effort.   

Regulatory relief that can be achieved through a strong Office of Advocacy, access to capital, strong partnerships with Small Business Development Centers and SCORE, and the ability of small businesses to compete in the federal procurement marketplace remain priorities for the Chamber and we are pleased that they are all included in the Committee’s deliberations. 

We look forward to working with you as you advance toward mark up and consideration by the full Senate.  Please do not hesitate to contact Tom Sullivan, who heads our Small Business Council, if you have any questions about this letter. 

Sincerely,