Rural Small Business Resilience Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. PAPPAS. Madam Speaker, I thank the ranking member and Chairman Williams for bringing this piece of legislation to the floor.

I rise in support of bipartisan legislation that works to support our rural small businesses and entrepreneurs. In my State of New Hampshire, small businesses are our big business, and we must advance legislation that meets their needs and supports the economies of our local communities.

I introduced this bill alongside Representative Bean, as well as Representatives Golden and Mann, and I am grateful for their leadership on this issue.

This bipartisan bill would require the SBA to develop specific outreach policies and procedures for rural communities and ensure that rural small businesses have full access to SBA disaster assistance.

It would specifically tailor outreach and marketing plans for the SBA's disaster loan program to address challenges rural communities face in accessing disaster relief. Rural small businesses face unique challenges, and we must ensure that we are taking every step possible to see that they have access to the full spectrum of resources and support, especially with regard to disaster preparedness and relief.

As we continue to see extreme weather events impacting our communities, this legislation couldn't be more important.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill on the floor today.

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