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Source: Congress.gov
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The committee will now come to order. A quorum is present. And without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a new chair here for a minute. There you go. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any time. Before we get into the main business today, I want to ask unanimous consent to waive Mr. Jimmy Patronus from the great state of Florida onto the committee. He will serve as a member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations, the Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Change, and the Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development. Without objection, so moved. As required by the House rules, a copy of the legislative measures have been made available to members and the public at least 24 hours in advance. And pursuant to Committee Rule 13 and House Rule 11, all votes will be rolled at the end of the meeting. And like last markup, we will use electronic voting. Without objection, the committee will vote electronically in accordance with the committee rules and regulations developed by the Committee on Rules and House Administration. I now recognize myself for opening remarks. Here on this committee, we stand up for hardworking entrepreneurs and small business owners. We understand that it is our job to put forward meaningful policy solutions that encourage growth and make it easier, not harder, for small businesses to grow and to thrive. In today's markup, We will consider seven bills that address the needs of small business owners across the country. These bills take steps to restore accountability and trust in the Small Business Administration. We have a job on this committee to be a voice for Main Street here in Washington. Under the Biden-Harris administration, small businesses endured an unprecedented regulatory assault. Those policies continually undermine the SBA's mission and its core functions. The bills in this markup Correct those wrongs and support the Trump administration's policies to ensure that the federal government puts American entrepreneurs first again. Last, Congress's committee fought job-killing regulatory burdens that shackled small businesses. We even heard from small business owners that they were told by government officials that the goal was to drive small businesses out of business.
To add insult to injury, the Biden administration removed SBA lending standards to put American tax dollars at risk, by approving loans for borrowers who were not able to repay them. For four years, the Biden-Harris SBA moved the agency and its employees further away from its mission of serving Main Street America. The SBA began unprecedented activity like electioneering and approving loans for illegal immigrants. and the Trump administration have heard small business loud and clear, their guardrails must be put up. And what is what Administrator Loeffler has done in just a few months as SBA Administrator. Today's bills work to ensure that no future administration will be able to end this kind of assault on small businesses. Those common sense bills are another step forward in unleashing small business from the government burdens to bring about the golden age of Main Street. As chairman, I'm committed to funding or defining legislative solutions to help small businesses grow and thrive. I'd like to thank our members for bringing these bills forward for consideration in today's markup. And I'm incredibly proud to see our committee generating sound, responsive legislation to support Main Street America. With that, I yield to my friend and my distinguished ranking member from New York, Miss Velasquez.
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Unknown (SPEAKER_12)
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to welcome Mr. Patronis to the committee and we look forward to working with you throughout this Congress. But Mr. Chairman, before I make my statement, I just have to put into the record the fact that there hasn't been presented any shred of evidence that undocumented immigrants have been given any loans. And if there exists any evidence, please bring it forward. And the first thing that you need to do is to get the administrator to come before this committee and testify about the many issues that we need to tackle within the Small Business Administration. Let me begin by saying that the timing and content of this markup is ill-conceived. We are in the midst of reconciliation, and a vast majority of our members cannot attend due to conflicts. It doesn't make sense to move controversial bills without giving all members a fair opportunity to participate and offer amendments. Aside from the member conflicts, these bills, which put major organizational changes into stature, haven't been vetted and no oversight has been conducted. Committee Democrats sent five letters to Administrator Loeffler on some of these issues and they have all gone unanswered. We need the information and the Administrator should be here testifying on the mass firings, program cuts, relocation of district and regional offices, and new changes
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