Conference Report on H.R. 1540, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the conference report on H.R. 1540.

Included in this bill is a long-term reauthorization of the Small Business Innovative Research program. This program sets aside Federal research and development dollars for small businesses that have cutting-edge ideas and promising research that the government needs. The SBIR program fosters innovation while giving a boost to our Nation's best job creators.

Today, I am pleased to say that the House and Senate have come together on a compromise that will give certainty to our small businesses and make important reforms to the program. I want to thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for including this bipartisan deal in the National Defense Authorization Act conference report, and I would also like to thank the ranking member of the Small Business Committee, Ms. Velázquez, for her very important contributions to this debate, as well as the chairman and ranking member of the Science Committee, Mr. Hall and Ms. Johnson, who have also been partners in this effort. And, of course, all of the staff on the various committees who have worked very hard on this. They deserve a lot of credit for their hard work.

I encourage my colleagues to support the conference report and the thousands of small businesses and jobs that benefit from the SBIR program.

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