Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I want to join Chairman Cardin in calling attention to the unacceptable obstruction by our Republican colleagues who are doing nothing other than playing political games with the confirmation process.

Dilawar Syed is an outstanding and highly qualified nominee to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration. Mr. Syed brings decades of experience as a business leader and entrepreneur in a number of fields. He is a dedicated public servant who helped guide President Obama's support of Asian-American small business owners in the wake of the great recession, and he has served as the founding chair of the California Entrepreneurship Task Force.

He has earned support from business groups and on both sides of the aisle. Notably, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce enthusiastically announced their support for his nomination, citing his very impressive background.

In June of this year, two of our Republican colleagues joined the Democratic members of the Small Business Committee and voted to send Mr. Syed's nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. But, today, Republicans are refusing to allow the Senate to vote on his nomination. In so doing, they are also obstructing the work of the SBA itself--work that has never been more critical.

As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote back in April, ``It is essential for SBA's senior leadership team to be in place to deliver on the agency's COVID-19 small business emergency relief responsibilities.'' Again, critical.

Mr. Syed is ready to serve with dedication and skill as the SBA pursues its mission of supporting economic growth for entrepreneurs and working families. He is also ready to make history as the highest ranking Muslim official in any Presidential administration, and our Nation's hard-working small business owners urgently need his leadership.

My Republican colleagues who are playing these political games to obstruct this nomination are also blocking resources needed by their own constituents.

Let's end this, and I urge the Senate to swiftly confirm Mr. Syed.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source