During a press briefing on Monday, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) spoke about the effect of President Trump’s tariff policy on small businesses.
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00:00Questions on this subject? Yes, ma'am.
00:02Senator Jenny Ernst and Kelly Lockhart, the Small Business Administration, are pushing legislation right now that would max out small business loans and double them from $5 million to $10 million.
00:12Is this a vital solution to make more capital available?
00:15Well, the bottom line is, ask these people, they don't want to incur more debt.
00:19No, no, no.
00:20I didn't have to ask them.
00:23It just, that's more debt.
00:24One of the things small business people struggle with is the debt they have to repay.
00:28They don't need more.
00:29Tell Senator Ernst, go to support our bill.
00:32That's what they want.
00:34Yes?
00:35Is it an option to use Senate procedural rules to make this privileged resolution bring to the floor?
00:39Well, we explore every way we can look to get legislation to the floor, and we will explore this one, too.
00:46Yes?
00:47Senator Martin, do you have, what have you been hearing from your Republican colleagues and counterparts on this bill?
00:53Well, again, we have SBIR, we have STTR, they're a great congress, and we're going to try to work with them to save them.
01:08But that's not who these people are.
01:10These are people who don't want to have to deal with the small business industries.
01:15They just want to be left alone, so that they can run their businesses that they created by themselves.
01:21That's where, that's who most small businesses are in our country.
01:25So, what we're hoping from the Republicans is that they'll listen to small businesses who, if they needed it, they would go to the SBA.
01:35But, that's not what they're asking, all they're saying is, exempt us from the tariffs, and we'll go back to work for the country.
01:43We'll avoid being, we'll continue to increase the productivity.
01:46So, we're not hearing that from the Republicans.
01:49So, even the proposal that you just heard isn't relevant to their lives, okay?
01:53They just want to be left alone on Main Street, USA, all across the country.
01:59And I'll say one thing.
02:00I don't know what we're hearing from our Republicans, but I'll tell you this, our Republicans are hearing from small businesses across the country.
02:09Because they're really hurting.
02:10These people are just such fine people, the backbone of America.
02:14And they're hurting.
02:15For no good reason.
02:17We have to help them.
02:18Thank you, everybody.
02:19The tariffs have already cost small businesses like these $26 billion since this Liberation Day started.
02:26And it can't continue indefinitely.
02:29They don't have that much.