Washington, D.C.— Today, House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) issued the following statement after President Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress:
“For over a year, our nation’s entrepreneurs have suffered through a once-in-a-lifetime crisis. The pandemic closed more small businesses in 2020 than any other year on record and left countless other entrepreneurs’ livelihoods on the brink of destruction. But through it all, small business owners have shown unrelenting resiliency as they navigated operating during the pandemic while keeping their employees and customers safe. That’s why I invited Amanda Cohen, chef, and owner at Dirt Candy on the Lower East Side, to be my virtual guest for this address. Small business owners like Amanda have supported our communities throughout this crisis, and I’ve been proud to help them by fighting for billions of dollars in emergency relief.
“When the President took office, he laid out a clear vision for driving recovery and helping entrepreneurs rebound from COVID. President Biden has delivered on his promises to American small business owners. During his first 100 days in office, he has provided billions of dollars’ worth of additional aid through the American Rescue Plan, made administrative changes to prioritize underserved small businesses when accessing relief, and signed bills into law to strengthen core SBA programs.
“As Chairwoman of this committee, I’ve been proud to work with the President on these initiatives that have helped keep millions of small firms afloat. But as he said in his speech, we have to do more than build back; we have to build back better. There is much more work to do, and I look forward to building on the progress of the Biden Administration’s first 100 days as we continue to make investments that will drive an equitable recovery for our nation’s small businesses. Thanks to frontline health workers and our nation’s vaccine campaign, we’ve made substantial progress in our fight against this virus. Tonight, President Biden’s speech offered more hope to America’s small business owners working toward recovery.”
