Roger Williams

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4670 provides a necessary check on the SBA as it brings much needed insight into certification activities verifying small business contractors and provides further transparency. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Stauber and Houlahan for leading this bill. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take a page out of our playbook and put politics aside to unanimously pass H.R. 4670. I also thank the Democrats I missed earlier for their participation, specifically Representatives Mfume, McGarvey, and Scholten. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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. 4670) to amend the Small Business Act to require reporting on additional information with respect to small business concerns owned and controlled by women, qualified HUBZone small business concerns, and small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. H.R. 4668 is a step in the right direction to lessening the regulatory burden placed on our Nation's small businesses. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Molinaro for his work on this crucial piece of legislation, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in creating a regulatory environment that allows Main Street America to thrive. Mr. Speaker, 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. Molinaro).

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in full support of H.R. 4668, also known as the POST IT Act, introduced by Representative Molinaro of the great State of New York. Small business owners face some of the biggest challenges in understanding how to comply with Federal regulations. Oftentimes, small businesses are hiring compliance officers, which are a drag on their bottom lines, rather than focusing on their core business model and looking for growth opportunities. This legislation would make it easier for small businesses to track the ever-changing agency guidelines on how to comply with any given regulation. The POST IT Act requires agencies to post their guidance, and all subsequent changes on how to comply, in a centralized location on the SBA's Office of the National Ombudsman's website. Businesses should not have to search through many different websites to try to find all the latest information on how to comply with any given requirement. If an agency updates a regulation or puts out more information, it should be easily accessible for any business to look up. I hope this bill is just the first step in much-needed regulation modernization efforts in the committee. We have seen far too many new requirements coming from government agencies that are hurting our Nation's job creators. As businesses continue to deal with high interest rates and elevated inflation, we should not be adding additional costs in the form of new regulations. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Molinaro for leading this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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. 4668) to amend the Small Business Act to require the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman to publish guidance documents for certain rules, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic broke the SBA, and as a result, American taxpayers and our Nation's small businesses have had to foot the bill for the hundreds of billions of dollars in stolen funds. I thank Representative Salazar for introducing H.R. 4667 as it creates a much-needed accountability and transparency with the SBA as we work to retrieve the taxpayer dollars wrongfully lost. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in our fight to reclaim these stolen funds and unanimously support H.R. 4667. Mr. Speaker, 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. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Salazar).

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in full support of H.R. 4667, better known as the RECLAIM Taxpayer Funds Act, introduced by Representative Salazar of the great State of Florida. During the COVID-19 pandemic, banks and credit unions stepped up to administer the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. They were able to disburse over $800 billion to small businesses in need. I have said that what these financial institutions did in the early days of the pandemic was a reminder of the car manufacturers in World War II. They dedicated all their efforts to help support our Nation in its time of need. Unfortunately, as we have seen in all the pandemic lending programs, some opportunistic criminals took advantage of these aid efforts. Fraudsters were able to steal an estimated $84 billion in these PPP funds. While the SBA OIG continues to investigate many of these cases, lenders themselves have become aware of some of those stolen dollars sitting at their institutions. However, the OIG and some of these lenders have said there isn't any clarity on what they need to do to turn over these ill-gotten funds back to the government. This bill fixes this problem. It requires the SBA to post guidance to lenders on how to return fraudulent PPP funds. The SBA would also be required to work with the Department of Treasury to see that these funds are returned promptly to the taxpayers. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill to take a commonsense step forward in returning stolen PPP funds to the taxpayers. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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. 4667) to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to issue guidance and rules for lenders and the Small Business Administration on handling amounts of Paycheck Protection Loans returned by borrowers, and for other purposes, as amended.

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, with an estimated $200 billion outstanding in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 EIDL and PPP loans, there has never been a more critical time for legislation like H.R. 4666. I thank Representative Bean for his work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join our committee in demanding answers to where this money is and how to rightfully return it to the American taxpayers. Mr. Speaker, 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 the great State of Florida (Mr. Bean).

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, first, I say I am anxious for this to happen. I think we are going to show America that we have some bipartisan legislation that we can pass from both sides of the aisle. I am thankful that we have some good legislation, and we will see that that may happen, too. I rise today in support of H.R. 4666 introduced by my friend from Florida (Mr. Bean). For any small business owner, once a problem is identified, they need to get periodic updates until the problem is fixed. The Small Business Administration's pandemic lending programs should be held to the same standard. The PPP and the EIDL Fraud Report Act of 2023 requires the Inspector General of the SBA to submit quarterly reports to Congress that keep Congress updated on the ongoing fraud investigations in the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans. It is estimated that $200 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 EIDL and PPP loans were disbursed by the SBA. This massive loss of taxpayer dollars is unacceptable. The American people need to know what the status is of recouping these stolen funds as the SBA's Office of the Inspector General works through their investigations. The report will provide Congress the most recent vital information on the number of both new fraud cases opened, the type of fraud suspected, and the number of investigations resolved to date. Tracking the progress of the OIG's actions will be vital for Congress as we look to piece together the complete picture of how much fraud truly flowed through the SBA and how many of these funds were able to be recovered on the back end. This information will be vital to evaluate the role the SBA should play in future emergencies. I urge full support from my colleagues on this commonsense bill, and I reserve 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 November 13, 2023. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 643 and NAY on Roll Call No. 645.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Chair, I rise today in full support of my amendment to H.R. 4664. Congress alone has the ability to authorize new programs. Unfortunately, this past year we saw the SBA get around this basic fact and effectively made a pilot program permanent through the rulemaking process. This is unacceptable, and this amendment makes it clear that the agency must respect the rule of law and not skirt congressional authority. This amendment would prevent the SBA from creating any new lending programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the SBA took an outsized role in the economy. Unfortunately, the after-action reports show the SBA's track record was awful, horrible. SBA's inspector general estimates that between $200 billion and $600 billion of American taxpayer dollars from pandemic lending was lost to fraud. Think about how large that number is. The entire FSGG bill we are debating today has a top line appropriation number of $25 billion. This agency alone had almost 10 times this amount of fraud flow through the agency. Where did it go? Well, we know it went to people who phonied up their Social Security numbers. We know it went to people who said they were somebody when they weren't. We also know it went to foreign nationals. Now, in the private sector, where I come from, something with such a poor track record would be shut down, not given additional responsibilities. This amendment would stop any additional attempts for the SBA to simply decide they can take on more lending activities. In the Committee on Small Business we have worked to hold the SBA accountable for its shortcomings and to increase transparency. With many rule changes imposed by the SBA just this year, my amendment is a commonsense approach that continues to build on the committee's mission to restore and preserve the integrity of the agency. Mr. Chair, the SBA should focus on their core mission, which is helping entrepreneurs, Main Street America, capitalism, and what this economy is all about. Let's get them back on that mission to where we can get our economy going and small business can rely on what the SBA says and does. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Chair, I have a hard time relating this bill to Ukraine and Putin, which we just heard. Risk reward is a great thing. Taking a risk and getting a reward is what made America great. We find ourselves trying to fight for that all the time. The SBA is needed for Main Street America. It is needed for small business, but it needs to be fluid. It needs to be capitalized properly. The SBA has misplaced $200 billion, as the auditor has said. We need to find that. The SBA doesn't need to be getting bigger right now. It actually needs to be getting smaller. Let's get this $200 billion and put it back in the economy so Main Street America can take advantage of it. That is why this bill is important. In closing, Mr. Chair, I think this bill is important. I think it is going to actually help the SBA. It needs to be passed. The SBA is a great agency when it is cooking on all cylinders, but it is not doing that right now. Let's get them back in line. Let's get them to a size that they can compete with and help Main Street America and get our economy going again. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in full support of Congressman Bean's amendment to H.R. 4664. Mr. Bean's approach is noncontroversial in ensuring government agencies do not overstep their authority. Serving on both the Committee on Small Business and Education and the Workforce, Congressman Bean is a passionate voice for our job-creators in Congress. I am grateful to serve with him. Mr. Chairman, I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, for the first time in their 63- year history, I am proud to say that after defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in game 5, the Texas Rangers are World Series champions. I have the great honor to represent the Rangers in Texas' 25th Congressional District. I am tremendously proud of this team who not only won their first World Series but won a record-setting 11 straight postseason road games. Needless to say, this is a historic moment for Texas and Arlington. It could not have been done without manager Bruce Bochy; series MVP Corey Seager; all of the players and staff who left everything on the field; and especially team owners Ray Davis and Neil Leibman; and general manager Chris Young. Most importantly, I thank all the fans, the best in the Nation, who showed up to every game decked out in their Ranger red, their Ranger white, and their Ranger blue to cheer and support the Texas Rangers. I am proud to say the Rangers went and took it. Again, I congratulate the staff and players. May they enjoy the well- deserved celebrations. I look forward to opening day in 2024. Go Rangers and look fastball. In God we trust.