Roger Williams

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. 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. 7103) to amend the Small Business Act to require Federal agencies to testify and report on scores received under the scorecard program for evaluating Federal agency compliance with small business contracting goals, to testify for failure to meet Governmentwide contracting goals, and for other purposes.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation that will ensure small businesses have access to one of the largest customers in the world, the Federal Government. I thank Congressmen Stauber and McGarvey for working on this legislation that will help our government meet its contracting objectives. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time 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 thank Congressmen LaLota and Thanedar for this bill. Interpreting the Federal contracting language should not be a barrier that small businesses need to overcome in order to compete for a government contract. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I hear what the ranking member is saying. It is a great week for small business and the National Small Business Week we have ahead of us. This is another example of what this committee is doing, Mr. Speaker, on bipartisan legislation that we are getting out to help America. We can get it done in Washington, D.C. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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 urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation that will provide more opportunities for our Nation's job creators to access capital. I once again thank Representatives Meuser and Scholten for bringing this solution to the table, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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 myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in full support of H.R. 7985, the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Reporting Act of 2024, introduced by Representatives McGarvey and Molinaro. This legislation will require the SBA to issue a report to Congress on the challenges individuals with disabilities face when starting a business. Further, it will require the SBA to look at resources across the Federal Government that assist individuals with disabilities. The Government Accountability Office estimates that there are nearly 50 programs across nine Federal agencies that support employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. However, Federal agencies often fail to coordinate or collaborate on such programs to ensure that their efforts are not duplicated and are working as efficiently as possible. The Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Reporting Act of 2024 will require the SBA to look at this fragmented system and do its part to consolidate and streamline those efforts. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives McGarvey and Molinaro for their leadership on this important issue and for introducing this bill. I urge a ``yes'' vote on the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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. Speaker, we have held hearings this year that have highlighted the great work of disabled entrepreneurs across the country. I thank Representatives McGarvey and Molinaro again for offering this solution to ensure the government is working efficiently to offer these individuals the resources that are already available. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, due to a personal family matter, I was unable to be in D.C. and vote on April 15, 2024. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 123.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, due to a personal family matter, I was unable to be in D.C. to vote on March 12, 2024. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Yea'' on Roll Call No. 84, and ``Yea'' on Roll Call No. 85.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 2799, the Expanding Access to Capital Act. This commonsense legislation is critical for long-term, sustainable economic growth by strengthening our public markets, helping small businesses and entrepreneurs, and increasing opportunity for all investors. The Biden administration has continuously increased obligations and regulations, which in turn have increased compliance costs for public companies and businesses. H.R. 2799 would reduce compliance burdens and allow for companies and markets to thrive. This important legislation would also benefit small businesses by reducing regulatory barriers to ensure small business and entrepreneurs have access to the capital they need to support their operations and communities. I thank Chairman McHenry for including language from my legislation that expands benefits currently reserved for emerging growth companies to other public companies. The EGC on-ramp has been a key tool in funding growth and will make public markets more attractive to help small issuers and level the playing field. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, the Expanding Access to Capital Act, to help strengthen public markets. In God we trust.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

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 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 such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota).

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7102) to establish an Office of Native American Affairs within the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 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 urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation brought to us by Congresswoman Davids and Congressman Crane, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5426) to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to provide a link to resources for submitting reports on suspected fraud relating to certain COVID-19 loans.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

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