Ppp Extension Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1799) to amend the Small Business Act and the CARES Act to extend the covered period for the paycheck protection program, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1799

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``PPP Extension Act of 2021''. SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF COVERED PERIOD FOR PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM.

(a) In General.--Section 7(a)(36)(A)(iii) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)(A)(iii)) is amended by striking ``March 31, 2021'' and inserting ``June 30, 2021''.

(b) Funding.--Section 1102(b)(1) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136), as amended by section 323 of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (Public Law 116-260), is amended by striking ``March 31, 2021'' and inserting ``June 30, 2021''.

(c) Restriction.--From June 1, 2021, through June 30, 2021, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall not accept new lender applications for loans under paragraph (36) or (37) of section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) and shall only process such lender applications that have been submitted to the Administrator before June 1, 2021. SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

(a) In General.--The budgetary effects of this Act shall not be entered on either PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(d)).

(b) Senate Paygo Scorecards.--The budgetary effects of this Act shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained for purposes of section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress).
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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bill before us today, H.R. 1799, the PPP Extension Act of 2021.

Let me begin by saying that, throughout my tenure on the committee, we have been able to set aside our differences and work together on behalf of small businesses. I am committed to doing that again this Congress. Our small firms deserve nothing less.

I want to welcome our new ranking member, Mr. Luetkemeyer, back to the committee. I look forward to working with him this Congress to provide our Nation's entrepreneurs with meaningful assistance. I would also like to thank the ranking member for working with me in a bipartisan manner to further extend the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses that are still struggling.

Over the past year, the PPP helped millions of small business owners retain employees and meet business expenses as economic activity slowed down during the pandemic.

Seeing that value and impact, Congress, on a bipartisan basis, extended the program multiple times, including a brief extension last summer and, most recently, through March 31 under the Economic Aid Act.

We heard last week that some participating lenders have begun to wind down their PPP operations in advance of this deadline, limiting the relief options available to entrepreneurs at a time when many still need help.

I understand why this is. Lenders want to be able to focus their efforts on processing existing applications and work through thousands of holds, which remain outstanding on these applications.

But I must stress that far too many small businesses, especially the smallest of the small, remain in desperate need for relief. This is simply not the time to let this valuable program expire, especially as thousands of timely loan applications are still sitting in SBA's queue.

That is why I am pleased the bill before us today takes into account the arguments we have heard from all sides, both the lending community and the small business owners in communities like mine, who are still searching for help.

Specifically, today's bill extends the application deadline to May 31, giving employers an additional 2 months to apply for PPP loans. It gives the SBA an additional 30 days to review, process, and approve loan applications submitted by the May 31 deadline.

This approach is supported by a coalition of over 90 groups, representing virtually all sides of the small business economy, including local chambers of commerce, retail and other businessowner associations, and the lending community.

I would like to reiterate my thanks to Mr. Luetkemeyer and his team for their cooperation on securing this important achievement for America's small businesses. I also want to thank two first-term Congresswomen on our committee, Ms. Bourdeaux and Mrs. Kim of California, for leading the way at the committee level on these discussions and for introducing this important bill.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Bourdeaux).

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, with over 95 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered as of last week, the country is finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Entrepreneurs are feeling more hopeful that if they can just get through the rest of 2021, that 2022 can be a year of growth for them.

But, put simply, the small business economy is not there yet, and many of the smaller firms continue to report a need for economic relief.

Today's 2-month extension of the PPP application deadline, from March 31 to May 31, will help small firms access much-needed relief to meet their expenses and put them in a position to fully reopen as soon as it is safe to do so. The additional 30-day period will give the SBA the flexibility it needs to process and approve the loans submitted by the new May 31 deadline.

Once again, I thank Ms. Bourdeaux of Georgia and Mrs. Kim of California for their leadership on this important issue.

I also thank the ranking member, Mr. Luetkemeyer, for his unwavering commitment to our Nation's 30 million small businesses and his bipartisan cooperation on this bill. I look forward to working with him on legislation that will provide a retroactive fix for Schedule C borrowers and also allow farmers and ranchers to use gross income to maximize PPP assistance.

Madam Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

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