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SMALL BUSINESSES IN COVID-19
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stevens) for 5 minutes.
Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the small business. I rise today in support of the hardworking man and woman who has bootstrapped an enterprise, a barbershop, a gym, a manufacturing firm that isn't often represented by a large lobbying firm that is able to knock on the doors of the Halls of Congress and demand what they need. These people deserve to be heard.
The pandemic resulted in the permanent closure of roughly 200,000 U.S. establishments above historical levels during the first year alone.
Individual companies, the small ones, account for about two-thirds or roughly 130,000 of the extra closures. The gym across the street from my house, an independent enterprise run by a cancer survivor, closing today. The Milford House Bar & Grill, where people celebrated anniversaries and graduations, closed.
We hear you. Your voice and what you do and the hard work that you represent matters in this body.
A May 2021 Federal Reserve report found 35 percent of service-based businesses that closed during the pandemic were still closed. The report also estimated that just 3 percent are likely to reopen.
What does this mean? Poor neighborhoods getting poorer. Less jobs. Open storefronts. A blight toward economic development.
Absolutely this body acted when we needed to: PPP, $800 billion; $14 billion in grants and forgivable loans at the local level. In Michigan we acted quickly. We have seen tough times.
Our manufacturers, the small ones, were the first to put up their hands: How can I source the protective personal equipment? I have got it in my back pocket. I am ready to act.
And yet we are getting whacked by a chip crisis. We don't have what we need to meet the demand, and people are suffering as a result. It is not just the billions of dollars, a loss of profit at the top. It is the jobs. It is the single moms who want to get back to work. And yet they are at $15 an hour, and no one is watching their kid for under
$16.
Here in this Congress, we have been working to reorganize the tapestry of this country so people can succeed, individual hardworking Americans can succeed.
They are not following every line of our debate, but they are counting on us. Invest in daycare, give us paid family leave, support the small business.
That is what this week is all about, Madam Speaker. That is what compels me to come to work every single day, and we are not going to stop until the job is done.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 171
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