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TESTIMONY OF SECRETARY TRUDY COXE ON BEHALF OF MASSACHUSETTS 

 GOVERNOR WILLIAM F. WELD BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT 

 PROGRAMS OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

 JULY 10, 1996 



I am here today on behalf of Governor William F. Weld to urge 

 your subcommittee's support for the Commonwealth's request to the 

 Small Business Administration for an Economic Injury Disaster 

 Declaration on behalf of fishermen in three Massachusetts counties. 

 The Governor has been given no alternative but to appeal to your 

 subcommittee because the SBA' s Associate Administrator for Disaster 

 Assistance, Bernard Kulik, in recent correspondence,- denied 

 Massachusetts' request for financial assistance in the form of 

 subsidized loans to fishermen of Essex, Bristol, and Barnstable 

 Counties . 



I would like to read the following statement from the 

 Governor: 



"I thank the Subcommittee on Government Programs, and you, Mr. 

 Chairman, for holding this hearing. We are grateful for your help 

 and leadership on an issue that others in Washington seem to be 

 ignoring. Your attention and assistance, we hope, will turn this 

 attitude of indifference around. 



We in Massachusetts continue to be disappointed by the 

 attitude of federal officials who continue to misunderstand the 

 plight of small fishing businesses in their quest for little more 

 than some financial help to get them through these hard times. 



On March 29, 1995 I requested a major disaster declaration 

 from FEMA due to the decline of the Massachusetts fisheries. That 

 request for a major disaster declaration was denied. 



I appealed to FEMA to reconsider. That appeal was denied. 



In January, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requested that 

 President Clinton review the FEMA denials. To date, we have had no 

 response . 



This past spring, Massachusetts turned to a different arm of 

 the federal government -- the Small Business Administration -- for 

 disaster assistance. This request was summarily denied by Mr. 

 Kulik, an Associate Administrator at the SBA. 



In the meantime, Mr. Chairman, the fisheries and the small 

 fishing businesses of Massachusetts are hurting. 



