January 6, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S21 ADMINISTRATION OF OATH OF ship, vision, and tools required to meet But Congress alone cannot reverse OFFICE their needs. I would like to use this op- the increasing insularity of the Federal The VICE PRESIDENT. If the Sen- portunity to highlight what I believe contracting process; SBA must work ator-designate will now present herself are the two most critical areas where with large agencies that are driving at the desk, the Chair will administer the SBA is falling short in its support these trends in Federal contracting to the oath of office. of underserved communities. ensure that small businesses are given First, SBA must do a better job of opportunities to become prime con- The Senator-elect, KELLY LOEFFLER, providing affordable capital to entre- tractors and supply the Federal Gov- escorted by Ms. ERNST, advanced to the preneurs from underserved commu- ernment. desk of the Vice President; the oath Treasurer Carranza’s prior experience prescribed by law was administered to nities. SBA’s various loan programs provide should serve her well at the SBA. In her by the Vice President; and she sev- entrepreneurs with affordable capital nearly 30 years at UPS, where she erally subscribed to the oath in the Of- to fund their businesses. These loans began as a part-time package handler, ficial Oath Book. are especially important for under- Treasurer Carranza became the highest The VICE PRESIDENT. Congratula- served entrepreneurs, who typically ranking Latina in the history of the tions. have less wealth with which to fund a company. She also served in govern- (Applause, Senators rising.) small business and have lower rates of ment as Deputy Administrator of SBA The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. business loan approvals. under President George W. Bush, dur- BOOZMAN). The Senator from Instead of filling in the gaps in the ing which she chaired the SBA’s Office is recognized. credit markets, SBA’s highest volume of Small and Disadvantaged Business NOMINATION OF loan program, the 7(a) Program, has Utilization Council. Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise mirrored the inequities in the market. At a time when America’s small busi- today to discuss the nomination of U.S. That is something we need to address. nesses are experiencing rapid demo- Treasurer Jovita Carranza to lead the Addressing this issue is important not graphic changes and new challenges, Small Business Administration. Treas- only in Maryland, which, as I men- SBA needs bold and innovative leader- urer Carranza’s nomination comes at a tioned, has one of the most diverse ship. I am optimistic that Treasurer time of great change for American small business communities in the Carranza can be the leader and advo- small businesses. With the growing di- country, it is vital for the future cate that SBA and American small versity in America, the face of business health of America’s economy, consid- businesses need right now. I support ownership in America is naturally also ering that women and minorities are her nomination. I urge my colleagues becoming more diverse. driving growth in new business forma- to approve her nomination as the SBA I have witnessed these changes first- tion. Administrator. hand in my home State of Maryland, According to a recent American Ex- With that, I yield the floor. which currently boasts the highest press study, the overall business own- f concentration of women-owned busi- ership rate increased only 9 percent be- EXECUTIVE SESSION—Continued nesses in the country, as well as the tween 2014 and 2019. Over the same 5- highest concentration of minority- year period, the number of women- owned businesses. Maryland’s success owned businesses increased 21 per- CLOTURE MOTION has been no accident; it is as a result of cent—more than twice as fast as the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant our leaders’ decades-long commitment overall rate—and the number of minor- to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the to creating opportunities for under- ity women-owned businesses grew by 43 Senate the pending cloture motion, served entrepreneurs, which began percent. which the clerk will state. when the late Baltimore Congressman It is clear that the underserved com- The legislative clerk read as follows: Parren J. Mitchell created the first munities are driving the growth and CLOTURE MOTION Federal set-aside for minority contrac- business formation in America, and We, the undersigned Senators, in accord- tors in 1977. SBA’s loan programs must catch up to ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the It was with this understanding that I this new reality. Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby requested a seat on the Small Business Second, SBA must do all it can to in- move to bring to a close debate on the nomi- Committee when I joined this body in crease opportunity for small business nation of Jovita Carranza, of Illinois, to be 2006, and it is with this understanding Administrator of the Small Business Admin- contractors. Recent trends paint an on- istration. that I am hopeful that Treasurer erous picture of the future of small Mitch McConnell, John Boozman, Joni Carranza will provide much needed business contracting. A 2019 Bloomberg Ernst, Kevin Cramer, David Perdue, leadership at the SBA and serve as an Government report found that despite Steve Daines, Thom Tillis, Roger F. advocate for entrepreneurs—especially a steady increase in government spend- Wicker, James E. Risch, Cindy Hyde- those from underserved communities— ing in the past several years, the Fed- Smith, Lisa Murkowski, Pat Roberts, within the administration. eral contracting marketplace is becom- Richard C. Shelby, Deb Fischer, James If confirmed to lead the SBA, Treas- ing less competitive, with the number Lankford, Chuck Grassley, Mike Rounds. urer Carranza will enter an agency of contractors working on unclassified that has not had a Deputy Adminis- contracts at a 10-year low. Small busi- The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- trator since April 2018 and that has nesses are facing the brunt of this de- imous consent, the mandatory quorum been led by its General Counsel since crease, which is particularly troubling call has been waived. The question is, Is it the sense of the former Administrator Linda McMahon in Maryland, where Federal con- Senate that debate on the nomination resigned in April 2019. She will join an tracting accounted for 8 percent— of Jovita Carranza, of Illinois, to be administration that has pushed for roughly $33 billion—of our State’s GDP Administrator of the Small Business drastic cuts at the SBA in every budget in 2018. The jobs created by these com- Administration, shall be brought to a it has sent to Congress. I am grateful panies have helped thousands of fami- close? that our Appropriations Committee lies in Maryland enter the middle The yeas and nays are mandatory has consistently rejected the adminis- class. under the rule. tration’s devastating budget proposals, The Senate has taken steps to help The clerk will call the roll. and I hope that Treasurer Carranza small contractors. I am proud to share The legislative clerk called the roll. will work to ensure that the adminis- that today SBA will begin imple- Mr. THUNE. The following Senators tration’s fiscal year 2021 budget is not menting the Runway Extension Act— are necessarily absent: the Senator more of the same. legislation I introduced that will allow from Tennessee (Mr. ALEXANDER), the Minorities, women, veterans, and en- small businesses to make critical in- Senator from Utah (Mr. LEE), and the trepreneurs from other underserved vestments to grow their businesses Senator from Georgia (Mr. PERDUE). communities face specific, historical without fearing they will lose access to Further, if present and voting, the barriers to business ownership, and resources and Federal contracting op- Senator from Tennessee (Mr. ALEX- they need an SBA that has the leader- portunities. ANDER) would have voted ‘‘yea.’’

VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jan 07, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G06JA6.023 S06JAPT1 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with SENATE S22 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 6, 2020 Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the case, has looked out for corporate in- It took months of fighting alongside Senator from (Mr. BOOKER), terests and jettisoned the interests of Senator WYDEN and organized labor the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. KLO- workers. and Speaker PELOSI. We now have a BUCHAR), the Senator from Massachu- We see the consequences. Corporate provision in the labor chapter, and the setts (Mr. MARKEY), the Senator from profits soar every time. Executive com- President has finally agreed to this Vermont (Mr. SANDERS), the Senator pensation explodes upward every time. provision. He knew he wasn’t going to from New Hampshire (Mrs. SHAHEEN), Workers continue to produce more get a renegotiated NAFTA unless he and the Senator from than ever before. Even though cor- followed what we said on workers. For (Ms. WARREN) are necessarily absent. porate profits are up and executive the first time, we have a provision in The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there compensation is up, workers’ wages are the labor chapter. any other Senators in the Chamber de- flat. Often, they can’t join a union, and For instance, it says that violence siring to vote? the middle class continues to shrink. against workers is always a violation The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 86, I know what that has meant in the of the agreement. The language the nays 5, as follows: Presiding Officer’s State of Arkansas. I President gave us said: Well, the first [Rollcall Vote 1 Ex.] know what it has meant in Ohio. I time you commit violence against YEAS—86 know what it has done to my home- workers, we might fine you. The second town of Mansfield. I know what these time, we might fine you. Only if you do Baldwin Feinstein Peters Barrasso Fischer Portman trade agreements do to Dayton and it over and over is it a violation. Real- Bennet Gardner Reed Cleveland and Cincinnati and Canton ly? If there is violence against workers, Blackburn Graham Risch and Youngstown and Toledo. the people who committed that vio- Blumenthal Grassley Roberts Then-Candidate Trump said that he Blunt Hassan lence ought to pay for it. So we fixed Romney was going to renegotiate NAFTA. Well, Boozman Hawley Rosen that in this agreement. Braun Heinrich Rounds that was his promise. He did, but he We have improved some of the Brown Hirono Rubio gave us the same thing. His economic legalese that since the beginning has Burr Hoeven Sasse Cantwell Hyde-Smith policies overall have been that, but his been included in trade agreements to Schumer Capito Inhofe renegotiated NAFTA, which he brought make it nearly impossible to success- Scott (FL) Cardin Johnson Scott (SC) to this Congress originally—the nego- fully win a case when a country vio- Carper Jones Shelby tiation that he made with Mexico and lates its labor commitments. Casey Kaine Cassidy Kennedy Sinema Canada—was another corporate trade We secured the Wyden provision, Collins King Smith agreement written for corporate inter- which amounts to, by far, the strongest Coons Lankford Stabenow Sullivan ests. ever labor enforcement in the U.S. Cornyn Leahy Again, this President betrays work- Cortez Masto Loeffler Tester trade deal. This provision that Senator Cotton Manchin Thune ers with his tax giveaways to corpora- WYDEN and I wrote and fought for is Cramer McConnell Tillis tions, to his judges who put their the first improvement to enforcing Crapo McSally Toomey thumbs on the scale, choosing corpora- labor standards in our trade agree- Cruz Menendez Udall Daines Moran Van Hollen tions over workers, choosing Wall ments since we have been negotiating Duckworth Murkowski Warner Street over consumers. them. Durbin Murphy Whitehouse Then, last year, as he has done one We know why companies closed fac- Enzi Murray Wicker betrayal of workers after another, tories in Ohio and opened them in Mex- Ernst Paul Young squeezing the middle class even more— ico. They can pay lower wages. They NAYS—5 last year, when we got the initial draft can take advantage of workers who Gillibrand Merkley Wyden of this agreement from the administra- don’t have rights. They can keep Harris Schatz tion, the renegotiated NAFTA was an- unions from organizing. American NOT VOTING—9 other betrayal. workers can’t compete with that kind Alexander Lee Sanders His first NAFTA draft was nowhere of low-wage lack of enforcement of Booker Markey Shaheen near the good deal for workers that labor laws. What happens? There is a Klobuchar Perdue Warren President Trump promised. He had fun- race to the bottom on wages. So if a The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this damentally negotiated another cor- company threatens to move to Mexico vote, the yeas are 86, the nays are 5. porate trade deal—a deal that helps and they tell their workforce ‘‘We are The motion is agreed to. corporate executives, that helps stock- going to move unless you do some wage The Senator from Ohio. holders, that betrays workers again givebacks,’’ they either move and the f and again, another trade deal just like American workers lose their jobs or that. It meant nothing for workers. It they use that as a way to put down- UNITED STATES-MEXICO-CANADA meant a sellout to drug companies. It ward pressure on wages for American TRADE AGREEMENT took us months of fighting alongside workers. Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I rise to Speaker PELOSI and Senator WYDEN I know what that has done to Mans- talk about an issue that the Senate and trade unions to improve this deal field, OH. I know what it has done to may address on the floor this week. and take the real and important steps Gallipolis, Chillicothe, Zanesville, Day- Tomorrow in the Senate Finance toward putting workers at the center ton, Huber Heights, and every other Committee, we are going to take up of our trade policies. community. The only way to stop this the renegotiated North American Free These trade policies should be writ- is by raising labor standards in every Trade Agreement. ten for workers so that they increase country we trade with and, most im- One of my proudest votes as a Mem- their income and expand the middle portantly, making sure those standards ber of the House a long time ago was to class, not written for corporations in are actually enforced. If corporations vote against the North American Free trickle-down economics. We know what are forced to pay workers a living wage Trade Agreement, to vote against happens on every tax bill that comes and treat them with dignity no matter NAFTA. I have voted no on every trade before this Congress, written by the ad- where the workers are, we take away agreement since then because every ministration and Senator MCCONNELL. the incentive for those companies to trade agreement that has come in front We know it is the same thing. Instead move jobs abroad. That is what the of this body was written by corporate of building the economy from the mid- Brown-Wyden provision does. interests for their corporate executives dle out so that the middle class grows A worker in Mexico now, under this and stockholders. They maximize prof- and America overwhelmingly prospers, agreement—the reason I am supporting its always—every one of these trade just like the tax cuts—the tax cuts for this, the first-ever trade agreement agreements—CAFTA, NAFTA, PNTR the rich that may, they tell us, trickle that I am supporting—workers in Mex- with China, which is not technically a down and help the middle class—that is ico will be able to report a company trade agreement, but it quacks like a the way this trade agreement was writ- that is violating their rights. They can duck and walks like a duck. Every one ten. That is the way these tax bills in actually call a toll-free number and re- of these trade agreements, in every this Congress were written. port violations against the workers. A

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