PETALUMA, Calif., August 21, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- In a letter to U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, Bush-appointed Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Clay Johnson III stated, "We are proud of the accomplishments this Administration has made to increase opportunities for small business."

Lloyd Chapman, president of the American Small Business League, issued the following list of Bush Administration accomplishments for the small businesses of America:

1. In a recent government report, 2,500 large businesses were found to have received contracts set aside for small firms and the SBA Inspector General has identified this as "one of the biggest problems facing the SBA and the entire federal government today."
2. The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce was forced to sue the Bush Administration to implement the 5% women-owned procurement goal that was implemented by Congress more than six years ago.
3. The Bush Administration has cut the SBA budget and staffing for six years straight, to the point where an SBA spokesperson stated that it can "no longer perform its mission".
4. Funds intended for small businesses harmed by 9/11 were dispersed to businesses such as a Virgin Islands perfume shop, a Country-western radio station, and a dog-grooming salon.
5. SBA's response to Hurricane Katrina was disastrous, forcing thousands of local small businesses into bankruptcy and allowing the majority of clean-up contracts to go to giant contractors like Halliburton without competition.
6. 13 federal investigations have uncovered the wholesale diversion of billions in small business contracts to large firms such as Boeing, Lockheed, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, and Office Depot.
7. The Bush-appointed Civil Rights Commission issued a report that finds the government is doing too much business with minority-owned firms.
8. The Bush Administration has failed to meet its minority-contracting goal for six years, in spite of the fact that the number of minority-owned firms has increased significantly.
9. The slight increase in the 8(a) small business program is due to a 50% increase in contracts awarded to giant Alaska Native Corporations, a contracting program documented to be fraught with fraud, abuse, and a significant lack of oversight.
10. The government has also fallen short in its procurement goal for service-disabled veterans, and was recently called out for eliminating the Veterans Small Business Contracting Office.

"In addition to the above, the Bush Administration has consistently refused to make public the names of the firms that were awarded $79.6 billion in small business contracts in 2005," stated Chapman. "Since this is all part of Bush's political agenda, I'm quite sure that he is proud it. But I hope that he understands that the 23 million small businesses in America are not proud of it. They're not proud that he's misleading the public, lying to Congress, and fabricating small business numbers.

"You can always tell the difference about what someone says and how they really feel by watching what they do. President Bush has done everything within his power to eliminate programs for small, women-owned, minority-owned, and service disabled veteran-owned businesses. For that he should be ashamed, and not proud."

About the ASBL
The American Small Business League was formed to promote and advocate policies that provide the greatest opportunity for small businesses - the 98% of U.S. companies with less than 100 employees. The ASBL is founded on the principle that small businesses, the backbone of a vital American economy, should receive the fair treatment promised by the Small Business Act of 1953. Representing small businesses in all fields and industries throughout the United States, the ASBL monitors existing policies and proposed policy changes by the Small Business Administration and other federal agencies that affect its members.

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