Continental Divide Trail Completion Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

There are at least 40 States and two territories with ongoing disaster declarations for drought. The Small Business Administration is currently serving the millions of small businesses and residents in those States to provide relief against economic loss.

The SBA has also provided almost $1 billion in wildfire disaster relief since 2016.

The amendment I am offering, along with my colleague, Congressman Garret Graves of Louisiana, would permanently set the unsecured credit threshold for SBA's disaster loans at $25,000. Doing so gives the millions of borrowers affected by any natural disaster, including wildfires and droughts, the peace of mind during a stressful and traumatic time.

In 2015, Congress enacted the RISE Act, legislation I championed that temporarily raised the collateral threshold on SBA disaster loans to make it easier for victims to obtain capital to rebuild their homes and businesses. Unfortunately, that provision is scheduled to expire in November unless it is extended or made permanent.

My amendment will make the provision permanent, allowing disaster victims to continue to receive a $25,000 loan, rather than just $14,000, without requiring them to provide collateral within 5 days of closing.

A recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office found that disaster loans with collateral performed comparably to those without collateral. Given this finding, it makes sense to help victims of disaster to rebuild quickly, particularly when they have lost everything to hurricane, flood, or fire.

As we continue to experience stronger and more frequent disasters, it is imperative that Congress enact policies to help communities get back on their feet and maximize support when they need it most.

Finally, this amendment is supported by the Small Business Administration. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana, for his support of this effort and his overall support of SBA's disaster loan program.

I thank Chairmen Grijalva and McGovern for working with me on this amendment.

I am proud to leave the Small Businesses Committee's bipartisan work to make disaster loans more affordable and accessible for disaster victims, while also addressing fraud in the SBA's pandemic relief programs.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time
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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Chair, as the designee of Chair Grijalva, I move that the Committee do now rise.

The motion was agreed to.

Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Ms. Lee of California) having assumed the chair, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5118) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to prioritize the completion of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon. General Leave

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ. 5118.

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