ABA Requests Meetings With U.S. Senate & House Small Business Committee Chairs

Following the Democratic Party's successes in the November mid-term elections, when it secured a majority in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the majority party has assumed leadership positions for Congressional committees. For small business owners, two key committees -- the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship and the House Small Business Committee -- have already begun to identify priorities for the 110th Congress, and committee members have introduced new legislation.

This week, ABA wrote to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez (D-N.Y.), the chairs of the Senate and House committees, respectively, requesting a meeting in the near future to discuss relevant small business issues.

"Like many other small business people nationwide, independent booksellers are facing major challenges. Adequate health care solutions for their employees, secure access to capital, and realizing new entrepreneurship opportunities are all important issues that we look forward to discussing in Washington as the new Congress begins its debates," said ABA COO Oren Teicher. Regarding a related issue, Teicher noted, "We also remain concerned over the fight to ensure tax equity on Internet sales." [Read the full text of the letter to Congresswoman Velazquez.]

Teicher told BTW that in addition to the small business-related issues, ABA would also be working with the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and other members of the Campaign for Reader Privacy to restore privacy safeguards for bookstore and library records. "This is a most important fight," said Teicher. "In the coming months, we are looking forward to working with Sen. Patrick Leahy, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a great ally to booksellers, and others in Washington who recognize that protecting Americans' First Amendment rights is a crucially important bipartisan issue." --Dan Cullen