By Sen. Kay Hagan

Bennett Aerospace, in my home state, is an example of how the more than 27 million U.S. small businesses struggle with excessive bureaucracy. Bennett, owned by a woman who is a veteran, specializes in innovative technologies for medical diagnostics, nano-scale materials applications and laser-based sensing systems. The company came to my office for help after submitting a certification application with the Small Business Administration. They had spent countless hours on this application, filing 1,700 pages of paperwork. But after four months, they still hadn't received accreditation.

My office was able to work with Bennett - and the SBA - to resolve their application successfully. But the small company faces the same mountain of paperwork each time they apply for a government contract.

Next week, is National Small Business Week. These companies drive innovation, economic recovery and job creation in our country. Since July 2009, when the economic recovery officially began, small employers have added 2.6 million jobs. They have produced three-fourths of the economy's new jobs in the last decade.

We in Congress need to do everything possible to encourage and cultivate small businesses, so that they can expand and create jobs. Far too often, however, U.S. small businesses are impeded by government paperwork and bureaucratic red tape.

Unfortunately, there may be hundreds of thousands of small businesses that don't clear the paperwork hurdles or find the success that Bennett Aerospace did.

This is why I am introducing the Small Business Common Application Act to support our small businesses. It aims to lift the hurdles in their way by reducing paperwork burdens and helping them cut through government red tape.

The Small Business "common app" would function much like the one that students complete to apply to multiple colleges and universities simultaneously. It would ensure that small businesses across the country can concentrate on growing and creating jobs - not wasting time, filling out mountains of repetitive paperwork.

This legislation would allow them to apply for research and development grants and government contracts through multiple federal agencies with a single application.

For small businesses struggling after natural disasters that seek federal assistance to get back on their feet, this bill could eliminate the need to file, and re-file, the same information in different forms with multiple government agencies. In the wake of deadly tornados, hurricanes or violent storms, small businesses should not have to worry about fighting bureaucratic hurdles to get the help they need.

Small businesses shouldn't have to be responsive to the whims of the federal bureaucracy. The federal government needs to be responsive to the needs of our small businesses. That is why I am committed to taking proactive steps - like this act - that will keep our economy moving in the right direction.

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) is a member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Follow her on Twitter (@SenatorHagan) and Facebook (facebook.com/SenatorHagan) for updates on the Small Business Common Application Act.