Snowe Urges SBA to Implement Disaster Preparedness Plan and Congress to Pass Disaster Legislation

                WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) called on the Small Business Administration (SBA) to fully implement its plan to prepare for and respond to potential disasters.   As Ranking Member of the Committee, Snowe also urged Congress to pass the “Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act of 2007” (S. 163) that the panel approved on March 29.

            “As we learned all too well in the aftermath of the devastating 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, it is imperative that government programs on the front lines are fully prepared when called upon to aid disaster victims,” said Senator Snowe.  “Admittedly, the SBA’s Disaster Loan program faced monumental challenges in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but to the detriment of all concerned, the agency made too many costly mistakes, leaving disaster victims waiting months for loans to be processed or their money to be disbursed.  There is absolutely no excuse for the lack of urgency shown by the SBA to victims of the Gulf Coast disasters.  The SBA’s recently released ‘Disaster Recovery Plan’ is a step in the right direction toward correcting the problem and I hope it will enable the agency to avoid making the same egregious errors in the future.”

            Since the 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes, the Small Business Committee has worked to craft bipartisan disaster legislation to help the SBA respond effectively and swiftly to future disasters.  A product of consensus and compromise among Senators Snowe, Kerry (D-MA), Landrieu (D-LA), and Vitter (R-LA), as well as other members of the committee, the “Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act of 2007” would provide the SBA with more resources to aid the victims of future catastrophes.  Unfortunately, this bipartisan bill, which our Committee unanimously approved, has been stalled in the full Senate.

            “The failure to pass our bill simply makes no sense,” said Senator Snowe.  “Disaster legislation is a highly consequential matter we ought to be able to coalesce around.  Let’s remember we’re still very much in the early part of a hurricane season where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects above normal activity, predicting 13 to 17 named storms, with seven to 10 becoming hurricanes, of which three to five could reach category 3 strength or higher.  I am concerned that if we don’t pass this bill, we will find ourselves back here talking about the same problems after the next catastrophic disaster.”

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