Washington, D.C.— Today, House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) released the following statement in response to a new Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Management Alert raising concerns regarding the potential for fraud and abuse in the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program: “I am troubled by yesterday’s SBA OIG r... Read More »
I am pleased to be holding this important hearing today to learn more about the Small Business Administration’s information technology (IT) systems, IT modernization efforts, and cyber security strategy. SBA has counted on its technology systems to implement the programs that help entrepreneurs launch and grow their small business. And millions of small businesses have relied on them over the past... Read More »
Washington, D.C.— Today, the House Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations, under Chairwoman Judy Chu (D-CA), held a hybrid hearing focused on long-standing technological issues at the Small Business Administration (SBA). Though the SBA has made strides in improving their IT over the past decade, the influx of activity from small business owners attempting to acce... Read More »
Washington, D.C.— Under the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by the House this evening, small businesses will be granted greater opportunities to participate in the federal procurement marketplace. Several bipartisan measures authored by Committee members were included in the final bill. Preserving Small Business Contracting Opportunities (Led by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA... Read More »
“Secretary Mnuchin, Administrator Carranza, welcome to the Small Business Committee, and thank you for being here. Let me start by saying I want to give a sincere thank you to all the staff at both your agencies who have worked tirelessly over the last few months responding to this crisis. “I am deeply appreciative of all their work, which helped support millions of American jobs in a moment of u... Read More »
Washington, D.C.— Today, the House Small Business Committee under Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) examined additional bold legislative solutions to help small businesses recover in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The virtual hearing covered relief efforts put in place during the Great Recession to aid small businesses, current programs implemented since the start of the crisis, and ideas for... Read More »
Since February, the outbreak of COVID-19 has taken a significant toll on the entire U.S. economy. This crisis has hit America’s small businesses especially hard. Three-out-of-four small businesses have been experiencing a decrease in revenue since March. And an estimated 7.5 million small businesses are at risk of permanent closure as a result of this crisis. As members of this Committee and as le... Read More »
Washington, D.C.— Today, House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) announced several Committee hearings throughout July: Wednesday, July 15 – 1 P.M.: Remote Hearing: Long-Lasting Solutions for a Small Business Recovery Thursday, July 16 – 1 P.M.: Remote Hearing: Putting America Back to Work: The Role of Workforce Development and Small Business Rehiring (Subcommittee on In... Read More »
Washington, D.C.— Today, the House Small Business Committee Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access heard testimony from small business owners and experts about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on small business supply chains. Since the onset of the pandemic, many small business supply chains have been disrupted, exposing long-standing vulnerabilities in the way that firms acquir... Read More »
Good morning and thank you all for being here. I’d like to especially thank the witnesses for taking time out of their busy schedule to be with us this morning. I also want to thank the Small Business Committee staff for their diligent work during this unique time. It is no secret that small businesses are reeling from the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic which brought entire sectors of the U.S. econo... Read More »
Washington, D.C.— Today, the House Small Business Committee under Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) heard testimony from the head of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Disaster Assistance (ODA). ODA has been responsible for the administration of COVID-19 relief loans through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. “Throughout the process, SBA showed a lack of understa... Read More »
Washington, D.C.— Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation approved already in the Senate to extend the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) authority to approve Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans through August 8, 2020. “As the Trump Administration’s piecemeal response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to jeopardize public health and economic recovery, small businesses w... Read More »
We are meeting today to conduct an important oversight hearing on SBA’s implementation of the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, or as some call it, the EIDL (pronounced IDLE) program, which was activated on March 12, making it the first economic relief program to assist small businesses adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. I’d like to thank Mr. James Rivera, the Associate Administr... Read More »
Washington, D.C.—House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) released the following statement in response to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, which found that the Trump Administration’s mishandling of small business relief aid puts taxpayer funding in jeopardy. “As our nation continues to reel from the suffering and economic damage inflicted by this Admi... Read More »
The Defense Production Act, or DPA, was enacted seventy years ago – after the outbreak of the Korean War – in an effort to spur industrial production to meet wartime needs. At that time, the nation was ill-prepared for another war following World War II. To bolster our country’s defense infrastructure, the President requested authorities to mobilize our domestic industry to increase production of ... Read More »
