Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1033, I call up the bill (H.R. 3807) to amend the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to increase appropriations to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. 3807.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3807, the Relief for Restaurants and other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act of 2022.

This bill will provide $42 billion to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and allocate $13 billion to launch a new industry- neutral relief program for the small businesses most impacted by the pandemic.

Last year, Congress created the RRF under the American Rescue Plan to provide targeted relief to struggling small restaurants. The program delivered emergency aid to over 100,000 employers in communities across the country. This grant was a critical lifeline and allowed businesses to keep their lights on and continue to pay their employees.

Despite the program's success, approximately 177,000 small businesses are still awaiting relief. While these companies are dispersed throughout the country, they are united by a common message: Small firms are still hurting, and they are counting on Congress for more support.

That is why we must act to replenish the RRF and deliver long-awaited aid to hundreds of thousands of restaurants across the country.

H.R. 3807 also takes the crucial step of creating a new $13 billion hard-hit industries award program, which will extend aid to businesses with the greatest revenue losses that were ineligible or unable to access relief through other means. Rather than picking winners and losers, this industry-neutral program makes hard-hit companies the priority.

These programs are offset by utilizing recovered money from fraud cases in the pandemic relief programs. Congress will take the money that was fraudulently obtained and put it in the hands of small businesses that need it the most.

The SBA OIG, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, and the Department of Justice are all working aggressively to investigate and prosecute instances of fraud and abuse, and this bill provides them with much-needed support. By allocating $30 million to oversight funding, today's legislation ensures these offices have the resources needed to pursue bad actors and reclaim money Congress intended to help small businesses.

Small employers and entrepreneurs are the backbone of our communities and economies, and they cannot be ignored. Without today's legislation, our local communities risk losing these critical job creators. We simply cannot ignore them in their time of need.

Members on both sides of the aisle have come together numerous times throughout the pandemic to pass legislation to support small firms. Today gives us the opportunity to do that once more.

I urge my colleagues to meet this moment and pass this bill so that these businesses can stop treading water and start looking to the future.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Chu), a senior member of the Small Business Committee.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans), a member of the Small Business Committee.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining on our side.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa).

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