Steve Chabot

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), the Republican leader on this particular bill.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, a small business should not be disadvantaged if the men and women who they employ are called to military duty. H.R. 3661 updates the SBA's Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan program to ensure it aligns with today's military. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation. I thank Mr. Burchett and Mr. Kim for their leadership on this, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 499, the Service-Disabled Veteran Small Business Continuation Act. First, I would like to thank Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Roe of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee for their leadership and collaboration on this issue. I would also like to thank the gentleman from New York, a member of our Small Business Committee, Mr. Delgado, for his willingness to work with me and be a leader on this legislation. I, like all Members of this body, hear from many constituents on a wide range of issues. One issue that is particularly important to me and the folks in my district is to ensure that veterans and their families are treated fairly by the government that they have served so bravely. Many of our men and women in uniform come home after serving and decide to use their considerable talents to become small business owners. Unfortunately, the laws and regulations around starting a business can be difficult to navigate--almost prohibitive--when they shouldn't be. Further exacerbating the problem is when one part of the law says one thing, yet another part of the law says something entirely different. How can we expect our veterans to come home and become successful entrepreneurs when our laws are often unclear? That is why this bill, H.R. 499, is so important. While Congress has already codified in title 38 a commonsense policy allowing the surviving spouse of the service- disabled veteran small business owner to retain the company's SDVOSB status for a certain length of time, the Small Business Act has no such policy and this lack of parity creates legal uncertainty in the application of the law and confusion for veterans and their families. H.R. 499 provides clarity in the law by ensuring continuity across the government in the way we treat our veteran entrepreneurs and their families. The bill amends the Small Business Act to align with title 38, guaranteeing that the surviving spouses of service-disabled veteran small business owners can keep the valuable SDVOSB small business designation for their companies for a certain period of time, even after the veteran owner passes away. Correcting this misalignment in the law is the least we can do to provide our Nation's heroes and their families with some measure of comfort and peace of mind, especially when dealing with this type of family tragedy. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, this commonsense bill fixes an oversight by Congress to align the way the Federal Government treats the surviving spouse of a service-disabled veteran-owned small business. The bill simply aligns title 15, the Small Business Act, with title 38, ensuring continuity across the government for this important policy. This bill will provide our Nation's heroes and their families with peace of mind. I urge this bill's adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3734, the Successful Entrepreneurship for Reservists and Veterans Act or the SERV Act. Veteran-owned small businesses are some of the Nation's most innovative companies. They are nimble and move quickly as markets change directions. The resources that are available to our veteran- owned small businesses should be as effective and as efficient as the owners themselves. The SERV Act requires the SBA to outline the agency's veteran outreach plans and veteran promotion plans to Congress. Additionally, H.R. 3734, requires the Government Accountability Office to evaluate credit availability of veteran, service-disabled veteran, and reservist-owned small businesses. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Davids) for working with me in a bipartisan manner on this legislation. I also want to thank Chairwoman Velazquez for advancing this commonsense legislation that will assist veterans as they work to launch and build strong small businesses. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the SERV Act which was favorably reported out of committee by voice vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, veteran-owned small businesses deserve the resources that will prepare them for future growth. In order to improve our capital access programs for our Nation's veteran-owned businesses, we must fully understand what they are facing when seeking access to affordable and reliable capital. This bipartisan bill will provide future Congresses with a better picture of what is available to them and what is not and where we can plug the gaps for them. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in support of H.R. 1615. Before I speak on the bill, I want to thank the gentleman from Mississippi (General Kelly) and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crow)--both veterans, by the way--for their leadership on this important legislation and for their service to our country. We appreciate it greatly. So many of our Nation's heroes come home to become entrepreneurs, and many choose to continue with their service to the country by entering the Federal contracting space. Federal contracting can be a confusing minefield of red tape and bureaucracy, and it is up to us to make the process as easy as possible. Unfortunately, the process is complicated and rife with disparities. In fact, there currently exists an unnecessary duplication of small business programs at the SBA and the VA. Both operate under separate and conflicting standards. Veterans attempting to make sense of these two programs often feel overwhelmed and frustrated, sometimes to the point where they decline to join the Federal marketplace altogether. This should not be the case. We need to encourage veteran entrepreneurship by reducing barriers to entry, not creating more confusion. It is well past time that these two programs consolidate under a single agency, the SBA, and that all rules and regulations governing the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business program are unified for the benefit of our veteran entrepreneurs. H.R. 1615 takes that critical step in the right direction. Mr. Speaker, I thank both of these gentlemen for their leadership on this. I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Kelly), General Trent Kelly.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon).

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, it is vitally important to reduce the red tape and bureaucracy our Nation's heroes endure just to try to contract with the Federal Government. There currently exists an unnecessary duplication of programs at the SBA and the VA which operate under separate and conflicting standards. This bill is a step in the right direction to eliminate some of that red tape for our Nation's veterans. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 777, the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2019. Madam Speaker, I want to thank our colleagues, Carolyn Maloney and Debbie Lesko and others, for their leadership on this important legislation to reauthorize the DNA Backlog Elimination grant program for another 5 years. Madam Speaker, there are over 400,000 victims of sexual assault in this country each and every year. That equates to approximately one sexual assault per minute. Debbie Smith was one of those victims; and although she underwent forensic examination, her kit went unanalyzed for over 5 years. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that no other victim ever has to wait that long for justice again. DNA analysis is an invaluable tool in identifying and convicting criminal suspects. The increased use of DNA evidence in criminal prosecutions has led to an increase in the collection and processing of DNA kits, which has led to a substantial backlog in the processing of DNA evidence, really, all across the country. Fortunately, last year, after a 7-year effort, my home State of Ohio was able to clear its backlog of nearly 14,000 of these kits, but many other States haven't been so successful. In March, the GAO estimated that the number of backlog requests for crime scene evidence nearly doubled to nearly 170,000. Unfortunately, at the end of September, the funding authorization for this program expired. While the legislation offered by Congresswoman Maloney is an important step in the right direction, this body really should have already considered the Senate-passed reauthorization so as to get it to the President's desk. Continued funding will ensure that law enforcement nationwide will have the resources they need to process DNA evidence, prosecute, and punish those who commit these heinous acts of violence. Again, I thank Congresswoman Maloney and Congresswoman Lesko for their leadership on this, and I urge its passage.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4406, the Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of 2019. Mr. Speaker, before I speak on the bill, I would like to thank Chairwoman Velazquez for working with us in such a bipartisan manner. It is surely refreshing in this age of intense partisanship to work together the way that we do, and have for many years now, to improve the programs offered by the SBA. So I want to thank the chairwoman again for her leadership on the committee. The Small Business Development Center program, or SBDC, is the largest of the SBA's entrepreneurial development programs, with locations in all 50 States and also in all four territories. In fiscal year 2019, more than 250,000 clients received low-cost training, and nearly 200,000 clients received no-cost business consulting. H.R. 4406, this bill, includes several updates based on feedback from H.R. 1702, the Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act of last year, 2018, which passed the House in May of 2018. Over 99 percent of all businesses in our Nation are small, and those businesses employ nearly 60 million Americans. The U.S. economy depends on the success of small businesses. Providing support to entrepreneurs and small business owners must be a priority for this Congress. SBDCs offer that support. They offer minimal or no-cost business counseling and training to would-be entrepreneurs and existing small business owners, alike. The support offered at these centers ranges from creating the business plans to commercial promotion and branding and navigating the international trade market. The importance of the assistance offered SBDCs cannot really be overstated. It is not just the single entrepreneur who benefits; our Nation benefits as well. For every Federal dollar appropriated in the SBDC program, $43.50 in new capital is generated. The legislation we are considering today will only serve to increase the positive impact of SBDCs to our entrepreneurs and national economy. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Golden) and the gentlewoman from American Samoa (Mrs. Radewagen) for their hard work on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. We have no further Members to speak on the bill, and I will be very brief. The SBDC program positively affects hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs each year and offers a significant return on investment for American taxpayers. Mr. Speaker, this is a good, bipartisan bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4405, the Women's Business Centers Improvements Act of 2019. I commend and thank the two lead sponsors of this legislation, Ms. Davids of Kansas and Mr. Hagedorn of Minnesota, for their leadership. This makes key updates to the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership and the Women's Business Center program, or WBC. The WBC program funds more than 100 nonprofit organizations that provide training, counseling, and technical assistance specifically tailored to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs. Many WBCs offer training at night or in multiple languages to ensure that women entrepreneurs have the tools and support they need when creating or sustaining a business. Last year, WBCs trained over 114,000 clients and advised over 26,000 individuals. This training and counseling contributed to the creation of more than 17,000 new small businesses in the United States. The Women's Business Center program has a profound impact not only in our local communities, but also on our Nation's economy overall. H.R. 4405, the Women's Business Centers Improvements Act of 2019, builds on H.R. 1680, the Women's Business Centers Improvements Act of 2018, which passed the House back in May of 2018. This bill raises the initial 5-year grant amount and indexes it for inflation. This minor increase provides new and existing women's business centers with the support they need to provide an effective course curriculum to small business clients. Additionally, H.R. 4405 requires the SBA to establish a WBC accreditation program. This program, similar to the successful Small Business Development Center accreditation program, will ensure programmatic consistency among WBC locations and guarantee that each center is providing women entrepreneurs with effective training opportunities. These updates will ensure that the funds supporting the WBC program are used efficiently to foster economic growth. Mr. Speaker, it is a good bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it. I, again, want to commend the two leaders on this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Hagedorn), the principal sponsor on the legislation on the Republican side.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In closing, although a little less than 40 percent of all firms in the United States are women owned, that number has increased by 114 percent over the last 10 years. With women-owned firms growing more than 2.5 times faster than other businesses, it is important to recognize women entrepreneurs as a driving force in today's economy. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4407, the SCORE for Small Business Act of 2019. This legislation will allow the SCORE program to continue to offer business mentoring and training to thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners each year. The SCORE program currently includes over 11,000 volunteer mentors with expertise across 62 industries that collectively provide more than a million hours of business counseling each year. When an entrepreneur seeks a SCORE mentor, they are purposefully paired with a business professional with knowledge in a specific field or experience facing specific challenges. This process ensures that the goals of the entrepreneur are met by the volunteer mentor. In addition to SCORE's mentorship services, the program also offers in-person business training classes at its 350 chapter locations nationwide. Entrepreneurs can also utilize the extensive online training opportunities and free business tools available on SCORE's national website. Over the last 50 years, SCORE has become the Federal Government's largest business mentoring program with over 800 locations nationally and over 11,000 volunteers. Last year, SCORE mentors provided personalized guidance to nearly 140,000 clients. More than 400,000 clients attended online and local SCORE workshops. This legislation will allow SCORE to continue to provide these important services. H.R. 4407, the SCORE for Small Business Act of 2019, adds strict safeguards to core provisions of the SCORE bill passed last year in May. This legislation, offered by the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Kevin Hern) and the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Craig), also establishes strict new compliance and oversight requirements to protect taxpayer dollars and sets new outcome-based performance goals to ensure the program meets the SBA's standards and congressional intent. These provisions will significantly increase congressional oversight of the program and provide future Congresses with additional information about the health of the program. I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Kevin Hern) and the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Craig) for their leadership on this and also for their very thoughtful approach to the passage of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Kevin Hern), who is the lead Republican sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The simple improvements in this bill will allow the SCORE program to continue its mission helping entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses. With the vast majority of all businesses in the United States classified as small, it is vital that these business owners have access to effective entrepreneurial resources. H.R. 4407 would ensure that, regardless of location, a small business owner can access SCORE mentoring and training. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4387. This bipartisan legislation codifies the SBA's Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Since 2014, the SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation has run a yearly competition to identify the Nation's best small business accelerators and incubators. The competition has proven successful over the past 5 years, and I expect that will continue to be successful during the authorization period. The accelerators that win these awards represent a broad set of industries and sectors, from manufacturing to tech startups, to farming with a diversified range of demographic groups. The winners are selected through a two-tier review panel process and are evaluated by experts in entrepreneurship, investing, and business plans, both inside and outside Federal Government. The expert judges review applications and pitch videos submitted by the finalists. I am proud to say that three Cincinnati organizations have won an award prize since the initiative's inception: The Brandery, First Batch, and Mortar. These award dollars have been reinvested in small business clients in Cincinnati communities. As an authorized program rather than an SBA Administrator initiative, the competition will now be subject to greater congressional oversight. I want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Espaillat) and my fellow Ohioan, Mr. Balderson, for their leadership on this bill. Their hard work on this bill has been informed by oversight findings, program feedback, and agency transparency. Mr. Speaker, this legislation has my full support. I urge its adoption, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. The Growth Accelerator Fund Competition at the SBA draws attention and funding to parts of the country where there are gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This bipartisan bill, while congressionally authorizing an already successful program, will provide for increased reporting and better metrics to gauge program outcomes and will provide budding entrepreneurs with greater resources to build our communities. This bill is a product of our bipartisan work at the Small Business Committee, and I want to thank all of our members, both Democratic and Republican, for their excellent work on this legislative package, as well as our chairwoman, Ms. Velazquez, and her staff for working with our staff in a very cooperative, bipartisan way. It would be great if the rest of the House worked as well as this committee does. I think it is the best committee in Congress. I am on Judiciary and Foreign Affairs, too, so they may not like that, but this is a really bipartisan committee, and it is a real joy to be on it. Mr. Speaker, I urge this bill's adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank for opening their newest warehouse location in Lower Price Hill. Since they opened their doors in 2015, these wonderful people have been a lifeline for women and children in the greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky area. Over the span of 4 years, they have donated over a million diapers that have, without doubt, changed the quality of life for so many infants. Last month alone, Sweet Cheeks distributed over 135,000 diapers through 43 community partners. They also delivered health aid kits to women and schoolgirls who otherwise couldn't afford them. This tremendous organization gives back so much to our community and, most importantly, gives so many women and children in my district a sense of dignity. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank on their newest warehouse location in Lower Price Hill and sincerely thank them for all they do for women and children in the greater Cincinnati area.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul) for yielding, and I rise today in support of H.R. 2229, the First Responders Passport Act, legislation I introduced along with Congressman Boyle to exempt first responders operating on behalf of the U.S. Government from passport fees. This legislation is especially timely as we just witnessed Hurricane Dorian's destruction in the Bahamas. Currently, USAID contracts with first responders to deploy them abroad for natural disasters, like Hurricane Dorian. For example, every 5 years, USAID awards contracts to local fire departments that have highly trained, internationally certified urban search and rescue teams, allowing USAID to have these specialists on call. A team of these first responders deployed to the Bahamas as part of our recent relief efforts there. To arrive at disaster zones in time, these teams are required to be able to deploy the day a disaster strikes. Consequently, they must maintain an active passport while they are under contract. Unfortunately, volunteers or other members of these teams that are not deployed by a local or State government have to do so at their own expense, even though they could potentially be traveling on government business. My legislation allows the Secretary of State to waive passport fees for them and other similarly situated individuals. Brave first responders sacrifice time away from their families to go to disaster zones on behalf of the U.S. Government and represent our Nation to people who have lost everything. As part of an official U.S. response, the Federal Government ought to cover the first responders' costs. That is why I am pleased that we have been able to work in a bipartisan manner, Democrats and Republicans working together to bring this legislation to the House floor, and I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I now turn to the BURMA Act, legislation that Chairman Engel and I introduced to sanction the Burmese military for its gross human rights violations against the Rohingya. This legislation has already passed the House twice as part of this year's and last year's NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act. I am pleased that we can consider it by itself today. Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago, the Burmese military drove over 700,000 Rohingya, many of them children, out of Rakhine State and into Bangladesh. This brutal, systematic, premeditated campaign inflicted unspeakable horrors on the Rohingya, including barbaric killings, gang rapes, and the burning of hundreds and hundreds of villages. As a clearer picture emerged over time, the mounting evidence led the House to pass legislation that I authored to call these atrocities what they were--genocide. It is extremely frustrating that, after 2 years, the Burmese military has faced very few consequences for these crimes. That is why we must pass the BURMA Act today. It would provide needed tools to ensure greater accountability on the Burmese military for these atrocities. Lastly, I would like to address any concern that if we, the United States, stand up for human rights in Asia, dictators will go scurrying, go running to China. This entirely misses the point. Our competition with China is over whose values will shape the world. If we have to look the other way on genocide, China has already won. It is well past time that the BURMA Act became law, either this version or the version that this House passed under the NDAA. Either version is very good. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support them, and we hope that it is done in a very timely manner. I support passage of this legislation.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to thank and congratulate Cincinnati State Technical and Community College for 50 years of service to the greater Cincinnati community. I have been privileged to visit Cincinnati State many times, most recently the Evendale campus to see firsthand the opportunities they provide to so many students. With four campuses, small class sizes, and over 100 associate degree programs, Cincinnati State is truly an excellent college. Perhaps most notably, Cincinnati State plays a critical role in developing our region's workforce. Through extensive co-op programs and relationships with the University of Cincinnati and 600 industry partners, Cincinnati State paves many career paths, especially for nontraditional students. Finally, I thank Dr. Monica Posey for her dedication to making Cincinnati State an even greater asset to our community. Congratulations to Cincinnati State on its 50th anniversary. We look forward to many more.

Mr. CHABOT

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, as the Representative of Cincinnati, Ohio, I rise this morning to recognize an Ohioan who was a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Prior to that, he was a naval aviator, a test pilot, and, later, an astronaut. Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago, the words he spoke now reside in history: ``That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'' Everyone on Earth at that time remembers where he or she was when Neil Armstrong took that step. His contributions to space exploration did not end on the surface of the Moon. Neil Armstrong was also on the team that investigated the Apollo 13 accident, and he was vice chairman of the commission that investigated the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Ohioan Neil Armstrong is a true American hero, and his extraordinary service to our country--to all of humankind, really--will be forever remembered.