Congressman Landry's Opening Statement at Small Business Hearing

Press Release

House Small Business Committee Member Jeff Landry (R, LA-03) issued the following opening statement at today's full committee hearing on The State of Small Business Access to Capital and Credit -- The View from Secretary Geithner:

"Thank you, Chairman Graves, for holding this hearing on a topic critical to small businesses across the country and critical to reviving our struggling economy.

I would also like to thank Secretary Geithner for coming before this Committee to answer tough but fair questions. I know you have a very busy schedule, so I am glad you are willing to give some time today to bring attention to our nation's biggest job creators -- small businesses.

The fact is our small businesses are hurting. As a former small business owner, I have been following for years the issues and policies that have lead to today's financial crisis.

However, I am new in Congress. I ran for Congress because I realized that if I were 24 years old again and wanted to start a business, I could not access the lending to do so today.

This Administration's policies have left small businesses without the ability to access capital, forcing upon them a crushing level of uncertainty and preventing them from growing and hiring.

Something has to be done immediately to allow local banks to take a more active role in business development and job growth in our communities. That something is a common-sense reform of our financial institutions' regulatory policies.

This common sense was lacking when Congress and the President enacted the Dodd-Frank law. And this common sense recognizes the heart of our country's economic engine is not Wall Street but Main Street, where business owners can achieve the American Dream and where the world can look to as the hotbed of job creation and prosperity.

As we focus today on small business lending, let us realize that allowing small businesses to access capital will improve our economy. I think commitment to small business development stretches beyond this Committee throughout Congress, across aisles, and across Chambers.

I look forward to today's testimony. And I look forward to working together on policies needed for small business owners to prosper and thrive."

Source