Returning Erroneous Covid Loans Addressing Illegal and Misappropriated Taxpayer Funds Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4667) to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to issue guidance and rules for lenders and the Small Business Administration on handling amounts of Paycheck Protection Loans returned by borrowers, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4667

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Returning Erroneous COVID Loans Addressing Illegal and Misappropriated Taxpayer Funds Act'' or the ``RECLAIM Taxpayer Funds Act''. SEC. 2. PAYCHECK PROTECTION LOAN RETURN GUIDANCE.

(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall issue guidance for borrowers and lenders on returning any unused amounts of PPP loans made to the borrower.

(b) Guidance Requirements.--The guidance required by subsection (a) shall include--

(1) detailed guidance for borrowers on how to return to the lender that made a PPP loan to the borrower the unused amounts of such PPP loan;

(2) detailed guidance for lenders regarding the responsibilities of lenders, including that a lender must--

(A) accept the return of any unused amounts of any PPP loan from a borrower or any other source (including law enforcement) if the lender made such PPP loan;

(B) document the reason for the return of such unused amounts, the identification number of the PPP loan, the name of the borrower of the PPP loan, and the name of the person returning such unused amounts if different than the borrower;

(C) remit such unused amounts to the Administration;

(D) make the guidance described in paragraph (1) available to borrowers described in such paragraph; and

(E) if the lender made a PPP loan, periodically certify that the lender has reported and returned to the Administration all unused amounts of PPP loans returned to the lender;

(3) detailed guidance for financial institutions holding funds from a PPP loan on the procedure for returning such funds to the Administration if the financial institution suspects the borrower may be committing fraud with respect to the PPP loan or any other issue for which the financial institution should return the funds the Administration; and

(4) detailed guidance for borrowers and lenders of PPP loans, financial institutions described in paragraph (3), and other relevant individuals and entities on complying with the requirement to report to the Office of the Inspector General for the Small Business Administration any information indicating the occurrence of fraud with respect to a PPP loan. SEC. 3. RETURNS HANDLING PROCESS.

(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall issue guidance establishing a process for the Small Business Administration to track amounts of PPP loans returned to mitigate the risk of financial loss to the Federal Government.

(b) Returns Handling Process Requirements.--The process established under subsection (a) shall require--

(1) the Administration to accept returns of unused amounts of PPP loans; and

(2) the Administrator to deposit in the general fund of the Treasury the unused amounts of PPP loans returned to the Administration. SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the Small Business Administration.

(2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the Administration of the Small Business Administration.

(3) PPP loan.--The term ``PPP loan'' means a loan made under paragraph (36) or (37) of section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)). SEC. 5. COMPLIANCE WITH CUTGO.

No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act.
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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. I rise today in full support of H.R. 4667, better known as the RECLAIM Taxpayer Funds Act, introduced by Representative Salazar of the great State of Florida. During the COVID-19 pandemic, banks and credit unions stepped up to administer the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. They were able to disburse over $800 billion to small businesses in need.

I have said that what these financial institutions did in the early days of the pandemic was a reminder of the car manufacturers in World War II. They dedicated all their efforts to help support our Nation in its time of need.

Unfortunately, as we have seen in all the pandemic lending programs, some opportunistic criminals took advantage of these aid efforts. Fraudsters were able to steal an estimated $84 billion in these PPP funds.

While the SBA OIG continues to investigate many of these cases, lenders themselves have become aware of some of those stolen dollars sitting at their institutions. However, the OIG and some of these lenders have said there isn't any clarity on what they need to do to turn over these ill-gotten funds back to the government.

This bill fixes this problem. It requires the SBA to post guidance to lenders on how to return fraudulent PPP funds. The SBA would also be required to work with the Department of Treasury to see that these funds are returned promptly to the taxpayers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill to take a commonsense step forward in returning stolen PPP funds to the taxpayers.

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Salazar).

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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, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic broke the SBA, and as a result, American taxpayers and our Nation's small businesses have had to foot the bill for the hundreds of billions of dollars in stolen funds.

I thank Representative Salazar for introducing H.R. 4667 as it creates a much-needed accountability and transparency with the SBA as we work to retrieve the taxpayer dollars wrongfully lost.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in our fight to reclaim these stolen funds and unanimously support H.R. 4667.
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