Unanimous Consent Request--Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President.

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of Dilawar Syed's nomination to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

I have a letter of support from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus that I would ask unanimous consent to have printed into the Record.

Hon. Ben Cardin, Hon. Rand Paul, U.S. Senate, Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Washington, DC.

Dear Chair Cardin and Ranking Member Paul: As members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), which is comprised of 76 members of Congress, we write to strongly endorse the swift confirmation of Dilawar Syed, who has been nominated to serve as Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). He has decades of experience in business, entrepreneurship, and public service, making him extremely well-qualified for this position.

AAPI small businesses have been especially hard hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, according to a report by the New York Federal Reserve, the Asian American community not only experienced the largest drop in entrepreneurship during the pandemic, but while other communities of color saw a rebound in entrepreneurship as the pandemic continued, that rebound had yet to happen for AAPIs. Mr. Syed has a long history working with all communities, but has particularly strong ties to the AAPI community, having served as a Commissioner on the White House Commission on AAPIs. At this pivotal moment for AAPI small businesses, having Mr. Syed's background represented at SBA is critical.

Mr. Syed, an immigrant who has embodied the values of hard work and ingenuity, has built and scaled businesses with major impacts in technology, healthcare, and business services. He has shown incredible prowess as an entrepreneur in business growth and development. For example, as President of Freshworks, a customer service software company, Mr. Syed grew the company from a few dozen customers to thousands of small and medium businesses across the U.S. During his tenure as Commissioner on the White House Commission on AAPIs, Mr. Syed actively worked to connect entrepreneurs in underserved regions to the SBA and Department of Commerce. From serving as the founding chair of the California Entrepreneurship Task Force to spearheading rapid response engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic with the state's most vulnerable small businesses to increase awareness of critical programs like the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program, Mr. Syed has consistently helped empower and uplift our nation's small businesses.

Mr. Syed's nomination has the support of more than 150 civic, government, higher education and business leaders and organizations, including endorsements from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Black Chambers, National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship, Small Business Roundtable, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Congress, and many others. Upon confirmation, Mr. Syed would become the highest-ranking Muslim American in the Biden administration to date, as well as one of the highest-ranking AAPIs.

However, we are disappointed to see the treatment Mr. Syed has received from those on the Committee that have held up his confirmation vote, based on false accusations, anti- Muslim sentiment, and efforts to hamstring Committee business unless specific conditions on unrelated matters are met. Since June 16, the Committee has made three different attempts to consider Mr. Syed's nomination, but each time certain members have challenged the proceedings or blocked them from moving forward. On two separate occasions, these members even boycotted the proceedings--denying Mr. Syed fair consideration. Targeting nominees like Mr. Syed for their faith, ethnicity, or place of birth, furthers the perpetual foreigner stereotype to which AAPIs are constantly subjected. We stand firmly against the use of these typecasting misconceptions. These tactics have been rejected by leading civil rights and faith-based organizations and have no place in our government or our nation. There is no question that Mr. Syed is uniquely well suited and highly qualified for this role, and small business owners and entrepreneurs across the country deserve this standard of leadership at SBA. Continuing to block his nomination is a disservice to these business owners and entrepreneurs.

The Deputy Administrator role has traditionally been focused on managing execution of SBA's programmatic mission and day-to-day operations, which includes bringing desperately needed relief to struggling small businesses and entrepreneurs across the nation. This position has been left vacant for over three years and continuing to do so prevents the agency from having a fully staffed senior leadership team at a time when the SBA's importance in our nation's economic recovery is at an all-time high.

Mr. Syed's impressive background both in public service and the private sector in business and entrepreneurship along with his leadership in the AAPI community will undoubtedly be assets in his role as SBA's Deputy Administrator. We are confident that Dilawar Syed is the perfect fit for this role and we urge the Committee to promptly move forward with his confirmation. Sincerely,

Judy Chu, Member of Congress, CAPAC Chair; Grace Meng, Member of Congress, CAPAC First Vice-Chair; Kaiali`i Kahele, Member of Congress, CAPAC Freshman Representative; Mazie K. Hirono, U.S. Senator; Mark Takano, Member of Congress, CAPAC Second Vice-Chair; Ami Bera, M.D., Member of Congress; Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Senator; Ted W. Lieu, Member of Congress, CAPAC Whip; Al Green, Member of Congress; Pramila Jayapal, Member of Congress; Jan Schakowsky, Member of Congress; Ro Khanna, Member of Congress; Dina Titus, Member of Congress; Barbara Lee, Member of Congress; Norma Torres, Member of Congress.

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Ms. HIRONO. In the midst of the pandemic, what is normally a very bipartisan small business committee, Republicans are blocking Mr. Syed's nomination. This is particularly egregious behavior by Republicans on the committee because Mr. Syed is exceptionally qualified to hold this position and is widely supported by business groups and communities across the country.

In fact, let me read a paragraph from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus letter that I just mentioned.

I am reading from the letter:

Mr. Syed's nomination has the support of more than 150 civic, government, higher education and business leaders and organizations, including endorsements from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Black Chambers, National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship, Small Business Roundtable, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Congress, and many others. Upon confirmation, Mr. Syed would become the highest ranking Muslim American in the Biden administration to date, as well as one of the highest ranking AAPIs.

Republicans have continued to block this nomination for months. Earlier this summer, they disputed the results of a meeting the committee had to advance the nomination. Since then, they have refused to show up for three other meetings, including one we held last week, denying the necessary quorum for a vote to be taken.

The reasons for blocking Mr. Syed's nomination have changed over time. First, they were concerned about SBA loans his company received during the pandemic, even though these loans were lawful and fully repaid before he was nominated. Then they insinuated he was somehow anti-Jewish and anti-Israel--note the groups that I read that have supported him--despite his widespread support in these communities. And now, they are concerned about lawful SBA loans to Planned Parenthood Health Centers, something that Mr. Syed certainly had no control over.

Throughout the last several months, Mr. Syed has repeatedly made himself available to address any concerns my colleagues might have about his background or qualifications, things that clearly matter in his ability to do the job.

It boggles the mind that Republicans are blocking someone who is the very picture of the American dream: an entrepreneur, a job creator who was born in Pakistan and educated in America, who understands firsthand the challenges businesses have faced during this pandemic. Mr. Syed would be an asset to SBA and the businesses they serve, our own constituents.

Every day that Republicans continue their obstruction, they are doing a disservice to these businesses who can least afford this uncertainty and turmoil in this moment.

Mr. Syed deserves fair consideration.

Republican efforts to block not just this nomination but so many others for the simple reason that they want to slow the process so that this administration can have people in place who can actually do the job to help the American people--enough is enough.

I just say to the Republicans: You know, put your votes where your mouths are. You say you support small businesses; you say you support this, that, and the other thing; and yet you will not let this administration get on with their job to do what is necessary to help small businesses, to help our communities, in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. It boggles the mind. I say: Act like the Senators you are, who were sent here to do your job, and let's get on with this nomination.

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