Report on Fraud Relating to Certain Covid-19 Loans

Floor Speech

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4666) to require the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration to submit a quarterly report on fraud relating to certain COVID-19 loans, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4666

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. REPORT ON FRAUD RELATING TO CERTAIN COVID-19 LOANS.

(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 3 months thereafter, the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration shall submit to the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the number of borrowers engaged in fraud with respect to a covered loan.

(b) Elements.--The report required under subsection (a) shall include, with respect to the period covered by such report--

(1) the number and total dollar amount of all covered loans made;

(2) the number of new cases of fraud and suspected fraud;

(3) the number of fraud cases resolved; and

(4) the types of fraud cases described in paragraphs (2) and (3).

(c) Covered Loan Defined.--In this section, the term ``covered loan'' means--

(1) a loan made under paragraphs (36) or (37) of section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)); or

(2) a loan made under section 7(b) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) in response to COVID-19 during the covered period (as defined in section 1110(a) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9009)).

(d) Termination.--This Act and the requirements of this Act shall terminate on the date that is two years after the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE WITH CUTGO.

No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act.

Mr. Speaker, first, I say I am anxious for this to happen. I think we are going to show America that we have some bipartisan legislation that we can pass from both sides of the aisle. I am thankful that we have some good legislation, and we will see that that may happen, too.

I rise today in support of H.R. 4666 introduced by my friend from Florida (Mr. Bean). For any small business owner, once a problem is identified, they need to get periodic updates until the problem is fixed. The Small Business Administration's pandemic lending programs should be held to the same standard.

The PPP and the EIDL Fraud Report Act of 2023 requires the Inspector General of the SBA to submit quarterly reports to Congress that keep Congress updated on the ongoing fraud investigations in the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

It is estimated that $200 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 EIDL and PPP loans were disbursed by the SBA. This massive loss of taxpayer dollars is unacceptable. The American people need to know what the status is of recouping these stolen funds as the SBA's Office of the Inspector General works through their investigations.

The report will provide Congress the most recent vital information on the number of both new fraud cases opened, the type of fraud suspected, and the number of investigations resolved to date.

Tracking the progress of the OIG's actions will be vital for Congress as we look to piece together the complete picture of how much fraud truly flowed through the SBA and how many of these funds were able to be recovered on the back end. This information will be vital to evaluate the role the SBA should play in future emergencies.
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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, with an estimated $200 billion outstanding in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 EIDL and PPP loans, there has never been a more critical time for legislation like H.R. 4666.

I thank Representative Bean for his work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join our committee in demanding answers to where this money is and how to rightfully return it to the American taxpayers.
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