Sba Fraud Enforcement Extension 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. 4495) to extend the statute of limitations for fraud under certain pandemic programs, and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4495

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 ``SBA Fraud Enforcement Extension Act''. SEC. 2. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS.

(a) Shuttered Venue Operators.--Section 324 of division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9009a) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``(g) Statute of Limitations.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any criminal prosecution or civil enforcement action for a violation of, or conspiracy to violate, section 371, 641, 1001, 1028A, 1029, 1341, 1343, 1349, 1956, or 1957 of title 18, United States Code, or section 3729 or 3802 of title 31, United States Code, with respect to any grant for shuttered venue operators under this section shall be filed not later than 10 years after the date of the violation or conspiracy.''.

(b) Restaurant Revitalization.--Section 5003 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (15 U.S.C. 9009c) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``(d) Statute of Limitations.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any criminal prosecution or civil enforcement action for a violation of, or conspiracy to violate, section 371, 641, 1001, 1028A, 1029, 1341, 1343, 1349, 1956, or 1957 of title 18, United States Code, or section 3729 or 3802 of title 31, United States Code, with respect to any restaurant revitalization grant under this section shall be filed not later than 10 years after the date of the violation or conspiracy.''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4495, the SBA Fraud Enforcement Extension Act, a companion piece of legislation to S. 1199, introduced by Senator Ernst.

H.R. 4495 is bipartisan legislation introduced by the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Downing) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Conaway).

For 4 years, the Biden administration's SBA failed to address over $200 billion in COVID-19 era fraud. H.R. 4495 extends the soon-to- expire statute of limitations for two pandemic-era relief programs: The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The statute of limitations for these programs is set to expire this December.

These two programs combined provided over $44 billion in grants and funding for small businesses during the pandemic. Unfortunately, fraudsters stole COVID relief funds from small businesses across the country. These fraudsters hope that the statute of limitations for their crimes will pass, allowing them to skirt justice.

As Congress, we cannot let this happen. American taxpayer dollars should be protected at all costs.

In the 117th Congress, we took similar action to extend the statute of limitations under the Paycheck Protection Program and the COVID EIDL program. Today, we have the chance to close this final loophole so that fraudsters do not get away with defrauding American taxpayers and entrepreneurs.

This legislation sends a clear message that the era of taking advantage of the American taxpayer is simply over.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4495, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation. We cannot let fraudsters get away with American taxpayer dollars.

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