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TMCNet: SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONTRACTING AND TECHNOLOGY MARKS UP LEGISLATION TO MODERNIZE THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION'S SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS

[June 12, 2009]

SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONTRACTING AND TECHNOLOGY MARKS UP LEGISLATION TO MODERNIZE THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION'S SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS

Jun 12, 2009 (Congressional Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- Contact: Angela Landers For Immediate Release Phone: (202) 226-1581 OPENING STATEMENT OF RANKING MEMBER AARON SCHOCK SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONTRACTING AND TECHNOLOGY MARKS UP LEGISLATION TO MODERNIZE THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION'S SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS (REMARKS AS PREPARED) Good morning. Thank you all for being here as we mark up legislation to reauthorize and modernize the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs. These two programs represent the kind of public-private partnership that truly has a positive impact on our nation's small businesses. In today's worsening economy, we are continually looking to our small innovative companies to create new jobs and improve our economy. Small businesses can and will be the driving force to lead our economy out of this recession and the SBIR and STTR programs can be vital to their success.


For over twenty years, the SBIR and STTR programs have provided critical funding for small companies with innovative ideas seeking to bring their products to market. In an ever changing world economy, we must ensure that these programs keep up with the global demands that small businesses face on a daily basis from large competitors at home and abroad. The legislation we have before us today goes a long way toward helping American small businesses compete globally and locally.

I am pleased to have introduced one of these bills, H.R. 2772, the "SBIR and STTR Enhancement Act." This bill makes a wide variety of changes to the SBIR and STTR programs designed to bring them into the 21st century. For example, the legislation raises the award levels to reflect the modern costs of doing business in high technology fields, award levels which have not been increased since the program's inception. The bill also improves the way small businesses and sponsoring agencies share information by creating online databases to improve information flow between agencies and participants. My legislation will also create an interagency policy committee among the participating agencies to report specific findings to the relevant Congressional committees. The creation of these committees and databases will allow for greater oversight and better management of the SBIR program.

Mr. Chairman, it is essential we make these changes to these programs so that our innovative small companies have an outlet for their ideas. I am very appreciative of you and Chairwoman Velazquez for the bipartisan manner in which this Committee business has been conducted. I look forward to working with you on these pieces of legislation and urge my colleagues to support their passage. I yield back.

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