Nydia Velázquez

Ms. VELAZQUEZ

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, our national cybersecurity infrastructure is only as strong as our weakest links. America's small companies need the same cybersecurity protections as Fortune 500 businesses and the Federal Government but often lack the resources. This bill would go a long way in assisting small businesses with their cybersecurity needs. The training and resources provided by SBDCs will offer crucial resources for small businesses to plan and implement cybersecurity protections and minimize the damage of cyber incidents. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4515, the Small Business Development Center Cyber Training Act. This legislation will enable Small Business Development Centers, SBDCs, to better assist small businesses with their cybersecurity needs. Small businesses often lack the resources, training, or technical knowledge to prevent a cyberattack before it happens. In the past year alone, 47 percent of small businesses experienced a cyberattack, and out of those, 44 percent experienced more than one. A cyberattack can cripple a small business, and the repercussions can be felt across the supply chain. In fact, the cost of a single breach can cost upwards of $200,000 or more. During hearings over the years, my committee has heard heartbreaking stories of how just one cyberattack forced companies to close their doors permanently. Today's legislation takes action to provide much-needed resources to any small company, whether it is our local pizza shop or an independent Uber driver, to educate and protect themselves from growing cybercrime. Because SBDCs have a proven record of understanding the needs of small businesses, H.R. 4515 would establish a cyber counseling certification program in SBDCs to provide specific, free-of-charge cyber training for small entities. The cyber training provided by the nationwide network of SBDCs will offer crucial resources for small employers to plan and implement cybersecurity protections and combat cyberattacks. I thank my colleagues, Mr. Andrew Garbarino from New York, Mr. Steve Chabot from Ohio, and Mr. Dwight Evans and Ms. Chrissy Houlahan from Pennsylvania, for their work on this bill. I am confident that the bipartisan work of the Small Business Committee will better fortify our Nation's cyber infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan).

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4515) to amend the Small Business Act to require cyber certification for small business development center counselors, and for other purposes.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3462 adds new layers of Congressional oversight to regularly assess SBA's IT and cybersecurity systems and controls, and it will go a long way to increase transparency in the event of another IT or cyber incident. Congress and the American people need to know that the SBA's systems are fully operational and capable of handling the next surge. This bill takes a step towards rebuilding the trust and confidence in the SBA's IT infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their work, I urge Members to vote ``yes'' on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crow).

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3462) to require an annual report on the cybersecurity of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3462, the SBA Cyber Awareness Act. This bill directs the SBA to issue reports that assess its cybersecurity infrastructure and report cyber threats, breaches, and attacks. For more than 25 years, the SBA's Office of Inspector General has listed IT security as one of the most serious management and performance challenges facing the agency. These vulnerabilities were further exposed during the rollout of the SBA's COVID-19 relief programs. The unprecedented demand for the SBA's relief programs inundated SBA's legacy systems leading to back-end system crashes, portals operating slowly, and a glitch that led to a data breach of applicants' personal information. SBA failed to make any public announcement about the data breach, and it took weeks for the agency to send paper notifications to affected individuals. The SBA has taken the necessary steps to recover from these incidents, but we want a notification system in place before the next cybersecurity breach. This bill sets new reporting requirements to ensure congressional and public awareness of cyber incidents at the SBA. I would like to thank my colleagues, Mr. Jason Crow from Colorado and Mrs. Young Kim from California, for introducing this bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill before us today, H.R. 4256, the Investing in Main Street Act of 2021. Since 1958, the Small Business Investment Company program, also known as the SBIC program, has been an integral part of SBA's mission to provide small businesses with capital and create jobs. It achieves this purpose by partnering private and public investments in early-stage startup businesses. In fact, in 2020, the SBIC program provided almost $5 billion in financing for 1,063 small businesses and helped sustain almost 92,000 jobs. This program gives America's small, high-growth companies an opportunity to fund and grow their innovative ideas and create jobs. Just look at companies like Apple, Tesla, or FedEx. Each has achieved what we all hope for every small business, extraordinary growth and success. And each of them received early-stage financing from SBICs. One of the strengths of this program is the hands-off approach SBA takes with respect to individual investments, giving fund managers the flexibility to invest in almost any business or sector they choose as it fits their fund's investment strategy. This freedom, combined with decades of sound investment strategy, has led to its success. The SBIC program has helped increase the flow of patient capital to small, high-growth companies, but we can do more to ensure the program continues to meet demand. Ms. Chu and Mr. Garbarino's bill will strengthen and grow the SBIC program by allowing banks and Federal savings associations to invest up to 15 percent of their capital and surplus into SBICs. This increase in capital, which comes at no cost to the taxpayer, offers entrepreneurs the financing necessary to grow their businesses and continue to innovate. I applaud Ms. Chu and Mr. Garbarino for identifying this issue and finding a sensible solution. I ask all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. As the small business economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, entrepreneurs will need as many options for affordable capital as possible. The SBIC program fills the gap between the availability of venture and private equity capital and the needs of small businesses in startup and growth situations. For decades, this program has channeled patient capital to leading- edge, high-growth companies. Some of our Nation's most successful corporations received early-stage funding from SBICs. Without it, they would not be the companies they are today. The bill we are considering today will lead to additional investment by SBICs, which will, in turn, lead to strong economic growth in our local communities. The Investing in Main Street Act has bipartisan support, and it is endorsed by the Small Business Investor Alliance. I want to applaud Ms. Chu and Mr. Garbarino for their bipartisan work on this SBIC program. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill before us today, H.R. 4531, the 7(a) Loan Agent Oversight Act, companion legislation to H.R. 4481, the Small Business 7(a) Loan Agent Transparency Act. While H.R. 4481 would establish a registration system for 7(a) loan agents, this bill requires SBA to submit a report to Congress assessing and analyzing the performance of 7(a) loans generated through loan agent activity. This analysis will include SBA's purchase rate for loans generated through loan agent activity, the aggregate dollar value of referral fees paid to agents either by borrowers or lenders, and the interest rates associated with these loans. The report will also include an analysis--without naming individual agents--of the risk created by individual agents responsible for generating at least 1 percent of the 7(a) portfolio. SBA's Office of Inspector General has repeatedly identified the increased risks to the 7(a) loan portfolio created by loan agents as the top agency management challenge and recommended the agency develop a system to register loan agents and monitor their performance. The IG's findings about loan agent activity are particularly troubling. In one instance a loan agent fraudulently originated $90 million in 7(a) loans and received compensation from at least 19 different lenders. Today's bills on 7(a) loan agent registration and oversight will go a long way in providing transparency and are long overdue. Once again, I want to sincerely thank Mr. Phillips and Mr. Meuser for identifying this issue and collaborating on a sensible solution. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4531) to amend the Small Business Act to require a report on 7(a) agents, and for other purposes.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4481) to amend the Small Business Act to establish requirements for 7(a) agents, and for other purposes.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill before us today, H.R. 4481, the Small Business 7(a) Loan Agent Transparency Act. This bill would establish a registration system for 7(a) loan agents that assigns each a unique identifier and collects data to help SBA track and evaluate loan performance for loans generated through agent activity. Our committee has consistently heard from agency watchdogs about the increased risk associated with loans originated through loan agents. In October 2021, SBA's Office of Inspector General identified increased risk introduced by loan agents as one of the agency's top management and performance challenges facing the agency this fiscal year. H.R. 4481 addresses the IG's finding by establishing a registry and including loan agents as entities against which SBA's Office of Credit Risk Management may issue formal or informal enforcement actions. Earlier this Congress, our committee approved this bipartisan bill on a unanimous basis, and I am proud to support it again today. I applaud my colleagues, Mr. Phillips and Mr. Meuser, for identifying this issue and working together on a commonsense solution. I ask all of my colleagues to support this bill.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. As the small business economy continues its recovery, we have an opportunity to optimize SBA's flagship capital access program. Today's legislation improves SBA's ability to oversee the loan agents in the 7(a) program and empowers the agency to hold noncompliant agents accountable. Currently SBA's Office of Credit Risk Management conducts loan agent oversight as part of its periodic lender reviews, not directly through the agents themselves. The registry established under this bill will improve SBA's ability to conduct more targeted oversight over the 7(a) loan agents. I applaud the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser) for their bipartisan work to improve the 7(a) program. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill before us today, H.R. 3469, the Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Act of 2021. But before I begin, let me say how proud I am of the committee's work on behalf of small businesses. I am pleased that we have worked together on these bills that we are taking up today because small businesses deserve nothing less. I would also like to thank Ranking Member Luetkemeyer for his bipartisan leadership on our effort today and the work of our Small Business Committee members who continuously strive to make critical changes in policy for entrepreneurs. This week is National Veterans Small Business Week, and I would like to take a moment to honor and salute the contributions veterans have made to American small businesses and in our country. The Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Act of 2021 is timely because it would make vital improvements to SBA's Boots to Business Program, as well as offer certainty to transitioning servicemembers by authorizing the program for 5 years. Since its inception in 2011, SBA's Boots to Business Program has been a vital resource for transitioning servicemembers and their spouses looking to launch and grow their small businesses. Boots to Business offers a 2-day, in-person entrepreneurial education and training program as part of the Department of Defense's Transition Assistance Program. This valuable program is delivered throughout the country by Veterans Business Outreach Centers. Each year, more than 200,000 servicemembers make the transition from military to civilian life, and transition assistance is a critical component to ensure that our veterans have meaningful employment opportunities. Veterans are uniquely positioned to succeed in starting and growing their own small businesses. The leadership skills, organizational abilities, and tenacity they developed through their time in the military lend themselves perfectly to the rigors of entrepreneurship. According to the SBA, veterans are 45 percent more likely to be self- employed than nonveterans, with 1 in 10 veterans owning a small business and, in return, employing 5.8 million individuals. I want to thank Mr. Schneider and Mr. Williams for their work to provide meaningful entrepreneurship assistance to veterans. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.