Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Chair, I rise today in full support of my amendment to H.R. 4664.

Congress alone has the ability to authorize new programs. Unfortunately, this past year we saw the SBA get around this basic fact and effectively made a pilot program permanent through the rulemaking process. This is unacceptable, and this amendment makes it clear that the agency must respect the rule of law and not skirt congressional authority.

This amendment would prevent the SBA from creating any new lending programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the SBA took an outsized role in the economy. Unfortunately, the after-action reports show the SBA's track record was awful, horrible. SBA's inspector general estimates that between $200 billion and $600 billion of American taxpayer dollars from pandemic lending was lost to fraud.

Think about how large that number is. The entire FSGG bill we are debating today has a top line appropriation number of $25 billion. This agency alone had almost 10 times this amount of fraud flow through the agency.

Where did it go? Well, we know it went to people who phonied up their Social Security numbers. We know it went to people who said they were somebody when they weren't. We also know it went to foreign nationals.

Now, in the private sector, where I come from, something with such a poor track record would be shut down, not given additional responsibilities. This amendment would stop any additional attempts for the SBA to simply decide they can take on more lending activities.

In the Committee on Small Business we have worked to hold the SBA accountable for its shortcomings and to increase transparency. With many rule changes imposed by the SBA just this year, my amendment is a commonsense approach that continues to build on the committee's mission to restore and preserve the integrity of the agency.

Mr. Chair, the SBA should focus on their core mission, which is helping entrepreneurs, Main Street America, capitalism, and what this economy is all about. Let's get them back on that mission to where we can get our economy going and small business can rely on what the SBA says and does.

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Chair, I have a hard time relating this bill to Ukraine and Putin, which we just heard. Risk reward is a great thing. Taking a risk and getting a reward is what made America great. We find ourselves trying to fight for that all the time.

The SBA is needed for Main Street America. It is needed for small business, but it needs to be fluid. It needs to be capitalized properly. The SBA has misplaced $200 billion, as the auditor has said. We need to find that. The SBA doesn't need to be getting bigger right now. It actually needs to be getting smaller. Let's get this $200 billion and put it back in the economy so Main Street America can take advantage of it. That is why this bill is important.

In closing, Mr. Chair, I think this bill is important. I think it is going to actually help the SBA. It needs to be passed. The SBA is a great agency when it is cooking on all cylinders, but it is not doing that right now. Let's get them back in line. Let's get them to a size that they can compete with and help Main Street America and get our economy going again.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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