Covid-19 Eidl Fraud Statute of Limitations Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. TENNEY. Madam Speaker, since the onset of the pandemic, Congress has passed several COVID-19 relief bills totaling an unprecedented $5.3 trillion. While some of this spending was unwise, other programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program, provided much-needed relief to employers and businesses devastated by the pandemic.

One particular area of concern is the COVID-19 Economic Industry Disaster Loan program, otherwise known as EIDL. This program, unlike other relief programs, was direct lending by the SBA, the Small Business Administration. This means the agency did not partner with our local banks and credit unions and, instead, approved and administered these loans directly.

Since the COVID-19 EIDL funding passed, we have learned of countless cases of fraud, waste, and abuse. The Federal Government is simply not set up to be a direct lender.

This is one reason I introduced the House version of the Transparency in COVID-19 Expenditures Act, which would require an audit of all Federal COVID-19 relief spending. There is obviously room for improvement in providing additional oversight and returning fraudulently awarded funds back to the taxpayers.

In response, Ranking Member Luetkemeyer has done great work introducing the COVID-19 Economic Industry Disaster Loans Fraud Statute of Limitations Act of 2022 that will help fix part of the shortcomings by expanding the statute of limitations for EIDL loans and fraud from 6 to 10 years, the same as bank fraud. This will give officials a greater window to track down fraudulent activity and hold bad actors accountable.

No one should be wrongly profiting from the need to distribute aid during this pandemic. The American taxpayers deserve better, and I applaud the ranking member's efforts on this. I urge all my colleagues to support this.

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