Roger Williams

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. 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 bill.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3511) to amend the Small Business Act to require training on increasing contract awards to small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, and for other purposes.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that this is the first of eight bills from the Committee on Small Business that we will be considering today. That goes to show that the Committee on Small Business is a committee that gets things done, and I hope our Senate counterparts follow our lead to get these bills to the President's desk. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3511, the Service- Disabled Veteran Opportunities in Small Business Act, which is sponsored by my good friend, Representative LaLota, from the great State of New York. H.R. 3511 builds on this Congress' dedication to America's veterans. Our country asks a lot from our brave servicemen and -women. Therefore, we must support them when they return to civilian life and ensure that they have a fair shot to succeed back home. That is why this bill is critical to ensuring that our veterans are supported as entrepreneurs. The Federal Government is the largest consumer in the world, and each year, these agencies have a goal to spend a portion of their contracts with small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. In last year's NDAA, Congress raised the spending goal to 5 percent of all contracting dollars. Unfortunately, not every Federal agency has met its commitment to the men and women who bravely served our country. H.R. 3511 would remedy this by requiring the Small Business Administration to help failing agencies improve their inclusion of service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. Our veterans deserve to have every chance to succeed in the Federal contracting space. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support H.R. 3511, and I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation that Mr. McGarvey and Mr. LaLota did a great job on, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota).

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

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota).

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation from Ranking Member Velazquez and Congressman LaLota. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7105, the WOSB Certification and Opportunity Expansion Act, sponsored by the Committee on Small Business' Ranking Member Velazquez. One of the Committee on Small Business' top priorities is combating fraud and abuse within the government's contracting programs. Small business participation in Federal contracting ensures a strong and resilient industrial base. Congress sets a governmentwide goal to spend at least 5 percent of its procurement dollars with women-owned small businesses. However, since this goal contains self-certified firms, it is hard to tell the accuracy of the data. This bill would remove self-certified firms from this governmentwide goal. This will add accountability measures to make sure the businesses competing for these contracting dollars are not misrepresenting themselves. I was proud to work with the ranking member on this important piece of legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to vote for H.R. 7105 and ensure that certified women small business owners are not unfairly shut out of the Federal marketplace by fraudsters. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5265, the Small Business Administration Rural Performance Report Act, sponsored by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford). It should come as no surprise that rural entrepreneurs face unique challenges. In extending assistance to these entrepreneurs, the Department of Agriculture and the Small Business Administration offer a variety of programs to help them start and grow their businesses. Unfortunately, government agencies often act in a silo and become ineffective in their outreach. That is why the Trump administration created a partnership between the USDA and the SBA to better tailor their outreach and services to rural entrepreneurs. After our committee marked up this bill, we were happy to see the SBA announce that they are going to work to renew another agreement with the Department of Agriculture. While this progress should not go unnoticed, this bill goes further to require a report to track the effectiveness of this agreement and the SBA's Office of Rural Affairs. If we are going to be spending taxpayer dollars to help accomplish a goal, there must be performance metrics to see where the ROI is for the taxpayers and the businesses they are helping. Mr. Speaker, it is vital that Congress knows just how impactful these efforts are so we can ensure our rural entrepreneurs are not left behind. I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 5265, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5265) to amend the Small Business Act to require a report on the performance of the Office of Rural Affairs, to require a report on the memorandum of understanding between the Small Business Administration and the Department of Agriculture entered into on April 4, 2018, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford).

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation brought to us by Mr. Pappas, Mr. Golden, and Mr. Alford. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6591, the Encouraging Success Act, sponsored by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ellzey), my good friend. The 8(a) program allows certain small businesses to compete for valuable contracting opportunities. However, SBA regulations threaten to remove the participating firms if the owner reaches certain financial thresholds. While these thresholds are necessary to ensure that only true small businesses are utilizing this program, it can force some small business owners to make a tough decision: proactively stop expanding their business so they can stay in the program or grow outside the limits set by the SBA and get kicked out of the program. I spoke with a female veteran in my district who was facing this exact issue. The bill doesn't solve all the issues in this program, but it requires the SBA to reassess the 8(a) asset threshold cap every 4 years, ensuring it is in line with market realities. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 6591, the Encouraging Success Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation from Congressmen Ellzey and Thanedar, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6591) to amend section 8(a) of the Small Business Act to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to regularly reassess the asset and net worth thresholds for qualifying as an economically disadvantaged individual, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. 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 bill.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Van Duyne).

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5426, a bill to require the SBA's administrator to place a visible link on their website to report COVID fraud. Last summer, the SBA's Inspector General testified to our committee that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the SBA distributed more than $200 billion in potentially fraudulent loans. The committee was also told that in order to work through all these cases, it will take more than 100 years of work. That is simply not a realistic feat, and they need all the help they can get from the American people. Reporting fraud in the SBA should be easy for everyday Americans to do. Our committee now has a direct fraud reporting link on our website, and the SBA should do the same. When our committee was researching the need for this bill, we found that the only link to report COVID fraud redirected users to a different website that was in Spanish. Even after we figured out how to correct the language, it was unclear how to actually report the fraud. This bill will ensure that reporting fraud is simply one click away. It should be a top priority of this body to recoup as many of these taxpayer dollars as possible and in the most timely and efficient manner possible. H.R. 5426 is a commonsense bill that will help individuals easily report suspected fraudulent activity and help the SBA and the OIG prioritize which potentially fraudulent loans to investigate. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7128, The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024, sponsored by Representative Maloy from the great State of Utah. The WOSB Integrity Act removes self-certification of size from this contracting program that is reserved for women-owned small businesses. It is vital that there are programs to help small business owners access Federal contracting opportunities. That is where the Small Business Administration's women-owned small business program, also known as WOSB, comes in. This program allows women entrepreneurs to compete for unique contracting opportunities. Unfortunately, the Federal Government currently does not independently verify that these businesses are truly small businesses. Firms can simply self-certify themselves as small businesses, potentially leading to misrepresentation and fraud to obtain contracting opportunities. It is vital that women-owned entrepreneurs who participate in the WOSB do not have to worry that their competitors misrepresent themselves as a small business. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 7128, The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am ready to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4669) to provide for Department of Energy, National Laboratories, and Small Business Administration joint research and development activities, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. 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 bill.