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ABA Requests Meetings With U.S. Senate & House Small Business Committee Chairs
January 11, 2007
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
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Dear Congresswoman Velazquez:
I'm writing on behalf of over 1,700 small business owners who are members
of the American Booksellers Association, the national trade association
that represents the business interests of independent booksellers nationwide.
As hardworking entrepreneurs, they were extremely heartened to hear your
thoughts as incoming chair of the House Small Business Committee for the
110th Congress regarding your priorities for 2007.
Crafting a bipartisan solution that would allow small business owners
to offer their employees affordable heath care, furthering access to capital,
and fully funding SBA programs that are crucial to meeting the needs of
small businesses are all central to the concerns of the owners of independent
bookstores, which account for 20 percent of all book sales in bricks-and-mortar
bookstores, and approximately nine percent of all book sales in the U.S.
We would very much appreciate the opportunity to meet with you or a staff
member to discuss relevant small business issues sometime early in the
Congressional session.
Many thanks in advance for your time, and we look forward to hearing
from you.
Yours sincerely,
Oren Teicher
COO, American Booksellers Association
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Topics: About ABA, News - Bookselling,
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