Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 4531, the 7(a) Loan Agent Oversight Act.

First, I would like to thank Chairwoman Velazquez and Ranking Member Luetkemeyer for advancing this bill to the House floor. I would also like to thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips) for working together on this important legislation.

The 7(a) loan program is considered the flagship program of the SBA. It is an important tool for helping small firms gain access to capital. Unfortunately, the SBA's Office of Inspector General has highlighted a need for improved oversight of the 7(a) loan agents due to increased risk of fraud associated with these agents.

To ensure that Congress can properly address these issues, we must have the information necessary to determine how to mitigate these risks. Without accurate information, we cannot perform the proper oversight that is needed to safeguard and protect American taxpayer dollars.

My bill will ensure that Congress receives the data it needs to conduct proper oversight of the 7(a) loan program by requiring the SBA to develop and publish an annual portfolio risk analysis for Congress on loan agents that operate within the program. Specifically, the analysis will examine the number of fraudulent loans that are associated with the loan agents as well as the default rate of the loans associated with these agents.

At the end of the day, these are government programs that were developed to assist small businesses in gaining access to capital. Given this important mission, Congress and the SBA must conduct the appropriate level of oversight.

The information that will be provided to Congress under H.R. 4531 will be paramount as we measure the effectiveness of these programs and whether the SBA has the correct oversight requirements in place to administer such a significant program.

For that reason, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4531, the 7(a) Loan Agent Oversight Act.

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Missouri, the Republican leader of the Small Business Committee, Mr. Luetkemeyer.

Madam Speaker, I am, as all of us are, I think, deeply concerned about

the adverse impacts that the Democrats' budget reconciliation plan, as it is called, will have on our Nation's small businesses.

Today, small businesses are battling severe labor shortages, escalating energy costs, inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions, and potential mandates that are causing uncertainty and threatening small businesses' viability. That is happening today.

All Members of Congress should be focused on pro-growth policies to help empower small businesses, startups, and American entrepreneurs. We should be discussing a smart deregulatory environment that allows the smallest firms to operate independently.

Instead, our Democrat colleagues are attempting to push through completely partisan legislation with trillions of dollars in reckless spending and over $420 billion, at least, in tax hikes on Main Street job creators.

Small businesses need better and they deserve better. Approximately two-thirds of American jobs are created by small businesses, so their strength is our Nation's economic strength. President Biden continues to tell business owners, and all of us, that this bill is going to reduce inflation and create jobs.

This reconciliation bill--by the way, that is reconciliation with a ``W'' because it will do the exact opposite. It will wreck our economy, unless somehow the President and the Democrats have figured out how to defy basic economic principles, which is pretty much like trying to defy gravity.

You cannot disincentive work and create more workers. You can't flood the economy with more dollars and drive down inflation. This just isn't how it works. It is against the simple laws of cause and effect.

Presently, we have a labor crisis that is at historic levels. How do new government programs that disincentivize work support millions of small business owners who are struggling to fill open jobs?

Has anyone ever met a single small business owner who believes raising their taxes will somehow help them build back better? The answer is a resounding no.

Most of us know this firsthand. I worked in small business for years. I hold regular business townhalls and talk with small businesses every day. We hold hearings where small businesses are saying the same thing.

Higher taxes, pending mandates, expanding the IRS--that will be a welcomed addition to their day--inflation, energy costs. I just got a text from a businessperson sending me a picture of over $4 a gallon gasoline and saying--well, I won't repeat what he said. Product shortages and labor shortages are smothering and perplexing American businesses. Small business owners are literally pulling their hair out. They are working harder and getting less for it.

Small businesses are not asking us to spend billions on a civilian climate corps or more IRS agents or amnesty, but they are demanding that Congress not raise their taxes, not issue confusing mandates, and that we won't make it more difficult for them not to just prosper but to survive.

It is time for the Democrats to halt this reckless tax-and-spend spree that does nothing but exacerbate the numerous crises facing Americans today. Reconciliation is a bad bill, it has been an even worse process, and it is truly an insult to small businesses who are counting on us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the COPS Counseling Act and thank my friend from Maryland, Mr. Trone for leading this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, Every day police officers protect our communities with the uncommon character that's common in police departments. The men and women in blue proudly protect and serve, braving challenging circumstances and running toward danger to keep us safe. Both they and their families feel this stress. I know this firsthand as my father is a retire NYPD Detective.

As well, in the course of duty, police officers face dangerous and sometimes traumatic situations. Oftentimes, only a police officer can truly understand the stress their fellow officers are dealing with.

Peer counseling has proven to be an effective method for officers to cope with this stress, in fact 73 percent of officers say it's the most helpful mental health resource available to them. The COPS Counseling Act ensures more officers can access this important resource and protects officers' privacy, eliminating the stigma of seeking help. Police officers do a dangerous and necessary job to protect our communities. The COPS Counseling Act helps police officers help keep each other safe so they can keep us all safe. I urge a yes vote.

Madam Speaker, I was in a grocery store on Sunday and nearly a dozen of my constituents stopped me and were very upset about product shortages and price increases.

According to the data, eggs are up 12 percent, bacon is up 20 percent, chicken is up 8 percent, gasoline is up 40 to 50 percent, hamburger and beef are running short. I can assure you, Madam Speaker, while these data points paint a picture, price increases are just simply much higher, and my constituents are feeling the effects in their family budgets.

An older gentleman with a half-full shopping cart that rang up for $111 glanced up at me and said: This is ridiculous. There are people filling their gas tanks now--before it was $50, now it is $80, $90, $100 to fill up a pickup truck because, Madam Speaker, the President and Members of this House--in fact, the leadership of this House--has decided to attack domestic energy production, which is clearly driving prices up through the roof.

With winter around the corner, it will cost 30 percent more to heat an average person's home. Yet, the Democrats are trying to implement a home heating tax--that is a wonderful idea--in the so-called Build Back Better bill that will drive energy bills even higher.

Madam Speaker, how is this helpful? How is it helpful to raise costs to tax our domestic energy while making it more competitive for Russia and Saudi Arabia and all the other places in the world to sell us their energy, so-called cheaper, when meanwhile a barrel of oil is over $80 a barrel. It makes no sense.

And the thing is this, the American people get this. The American people know it. They are paying the price for it. Members here will pay the price at the polls because this bill called Build Back Better is a disaster, Madam Speaker.

This is seventh grade economics. There is too much demand created by Big Government policies and not enough supply, not enough workers because we are providing far too much incentive for them not to work. Why would they, if they are making more not working? We are not doing anything to help our U.S. productivity to fulfill the demand that is being created by these Big Government policies.

All the while, foreign imports are pouring in and creating a bottleneck at our ports that we all see because we don't have the capacity, number one, to build in the USA to fulfill the demand; but number two, to unload the cargo ships and distribute the goods and then put them in trucks and ship them around the country.

So even the Treasury Secretary is warning Americans that inflation will be here throughout the next year, even though the President and others have said: Oh, no, this is just a passing problem. Nobody has to worry about it.

So what is the plan moving forward for the majority in this House, for the Democrats? They want to prime the demand side of the equation with a multi-trillion dollar spending bill

known as Build Back Better, and we are hearing all these wonderful things about it.

Well, the problem is that all those wonderful things cost far too much and are completely unaffordable and aren't being paid for by the Members of this House; they are being paid for by my constituents who are going to be worse off because of it, and they also know that.

And not to mention, Madam Speaker, what about all the fraud? We don't hear much about that. Did you realize there was $87 billion in fraud due to the unemployment compensation that was just sprawled out to whoever asked with absolutely no work requirements at all, and none exist in this bill either.

We will be building back--not better--we will be building back in a manner that will be hurtful to my constituents and to my State and to our country.

Madam Speaker, the holidays are around the corner. Demand always increases in the holidays. So the situation is going to get further exacerbated, without a doubt. You don't need an economist to know that demand is going to continue to go up, supply will be minimal, inflation will rise due to the Build Back Better, which means there will be less workers. This is going to be the most expensive Christmas anyone can remember.

Madam Speaker, it is my honor to formally acknowledge the ordination of Carol Coon, who was ordained a minister in the River of Life Fellowship Church.

Carol has been a devout Christian all her life and has lived her life in a manner focused always on glorifying God. Her ordination is the fulfillment of a long-held dream and consummates her lifelong journey of faith in God. As the Member of Congress for Pennsylvania's Ninth District as well as Carol's nephew

and Godson, it is my honor to congratulate her on her ordination and let her know how proud her family, church, and community are of her wonderful accomplishment.

In addition to wishing her well and praying for her in her ministry, I also know that many people will benefit spiritually from Carol's ministry.

May God continue to bless Carol, her family, and her church.

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend Mr. Johnson very much, our conference vice chair, for putting this together today.

Madam Speaker, as we all know, we have the latest crisis under the Biden administration, known as the supply chain bottlenecks, particularly at our U.S. ports. We have thousands of ships waiting to be unloaded with goods that the consumers of the U.S. have purchased.

Now, some of this could be said to have been COVID related due to the manufacturing delays and disruptions in the U.S. and worldwide. But that was the reason for shortfalls last year. This situation has been very much exacerbated by the policies of the Biden administration.

You see, in Q4 of 2020, we had a 4 percent GDP growth, which is pretty good, and it was followed by 6 percent in Q1 of 2021, which is very good. Then came along the so-called rescue plan, which every economist worth anything said was three times too high in taxpayer dollars. They continued enhanced unemployment supplement under this plan; spent trillions of taxpayer dollars; extended 100 percent health insurance through COBRA, a further disincentive to work; and sent stimulus checks of $5,600 to families of four.

There is something in all of the sciences, Madam Speaker, known as the law of cause and effect, and the effects of these actions have included disincentives to work, rampant inflation, heavy consumer spending, but nobody to make the goods and provide the services.

So since the production in the U.S. is down, all of these products are now coming from Asia as the thousands of containers waiting off our coast prove. So the blunders and mistakes being made have caused overdemand, weak production, and less trucks on the road.

Some in this House call this the economy of the future, the modern monetary theory. My constituents call it Big Government socialism versus free market capitalism or just simply economic madness.

But wait. We are not finished. Or they are not finished. Progressives in this House that, let's be honest, run this House and the White House, are holding a transportation and infrastructure bill hostage while doubling down--no, tripling down--no, 3.5 trillion down on all of the effects of this liberal economic policy. So we will continue with the disincentives to work; we will continue spending us into oblivion; and we will add to it taxes on small businesses and families and all who purchase goods while inflation increases, making American business less competitive worldwide.

This is why $3.5 trillion in a reconciliation plan must be stopped, and the American people need to contact their Members because they are not giving us a seat at the table to negotiate or discuss this disastrous plan.

Madam Speaker, I thank my very good friend, the gentleman, Mr. Hern, of the great State of Oklahoma for yielding some time to me this evening.

Madam Speaker, last year, we collectively spent $5.6 trillion of the American taxpayer money for COVID relief and recovery and to create a vaccine, all the while enormously increasing our debt, but we were in a serious pandemic, a serious crisis.

Despite the effectiveness of this relief, the improving GDP and productivity taking place in our economy, the Biden administration and the Democrat Caucus passed the so-called rescue bill that was about three times more expensive than anyone thought needed. This and other erroneous policies set the stage for the havoc infecting our economy today.

We have a serious workforce shortage, hyperinflation--high demand and low supply--strong consumer purchasing but no ``Made in the USA'' goods to fulfill that demand. This is the primary cause of the supply chain bottleneck at our ports. Add to it this administration's not-so-subtle attack on domestic energy production, and you have shortages and inflation not seen since the 1970s.

Worse, it is not the high-earners or the well-off who are suffering from the Biden administration's decisions, it is middle income, working families and small businesses that are feeling the brunt of these ill- conceived ideas.

Madam Speaker, small businesses in Pennsylvania are breathless with anxiety and concern. Literally, every day I have a phone call with breathless constituents. They are rattled. Every one of them has a ``Help Wanted'' sign hanging on their door, offering $20 an hour plus while the cost of everything goes up daily.

What is the Biden administration's and the progressives in this House answer?

Let's spend $3.5 trillion on programs that create more demand but do nothing to increase productivity and the supply of American-made goods, and then somehow calling it ``Building Back Better.''

I would think it would be called breaking backs better because that is what it is doing--breaking the backs of hardworking Americans.

Madam Speaker, this defines the Biden administration and the Democratic Caucus' economic strategy: Big taxes, big spending, big government.

My constituents and I call it economic madness. We must defeat--not reduce, but defeat--this economy-wrecking conciliation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for exposing that facts are very stubborn things.

Mr. Speaker, what am I missing here? The Democrat leadership just lectured us on how critical it is for all of us to vote for their huge debt ceiling increase as an obligation, as our duty.

Yet Democrat leadership, we are showing, has voted against debt ceilings many times. I have quotes here from their commentary. It would create uncertainty in the overall economy, leading to job-destroying credit downgrades, et cetera, et cetera.

Mr. Speaker, this is hypocrisy, and my constituents and the American people are very tired of it.

As well, to say that this debt ceiling is for past bills is false. Let's then set the debt ceiling at a responsible level, not at the level which just happens to accommodate the $5 trillion-plus planned reconciliation tax-and-spend bill they are working on.

Asking us to raise a credit card limit trillions and have no say at all in how it is spent, Mr. Speaker, that is irresponsible, and I won't be part of it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, the $1.2 trillion Transportation and Infrastructure bill is 100 percent coupled, linked, dependent upon the $3.5 trillion partisan reconciliation bill.

As our colleagues in the Democratic Party continue to remind us and affirm, investing in our Nation's transportation and infrastructure is a core function of government, and this bill is something I and many other Republicans and Members have tried hard to support.

Unfortunately, the Democrat leadership has made it patently clear that to pass this infrastructure bill, we must pass a completely partisan $5 trillion budget reconciliation bill with the largest tax hike and government expansion in the history of our Nation. That I cannot support.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Madam Speaker, though I agree with Mr. Mfume that we need to find ways to incentivize and encourage agencies to contract with small businesses, very much so, I do not believe this is the correct approach.

This amendment, unfortunately, does not actually incentivize more contract with small businesses in a meaningful way. There are many underlying factors affecting the small business goaling numbers that must be addressed first before we raising the goals. We need more effective solutions to increasing contracting with small businesses.

First, the amendment does not address the concern of small businesses leaving the Federal marketplace at a very rapid rate. In fact, the amendment only incentivizes more dollars go to small businesses, which can easily be achieved by awarding huge contracts to a handful of mature small businesses, which can arguably be viewed as flouting the purpose of the goals themselves. It does nothing to incentivize agencies to contract with a greater number of small businesses, which is critical to maintaining a healthy and competitive industrial base.

Second, the Small Business Committee has taken several actions over the years to understand and address the problems of agencies overreporting their small business goals. This issue is still a work in progress. Some of these dollars purported to have gone to small businesses may have gone to large businesses, perhaps legally, likely legally. However, agencies are permitted to report all dollars as going to small businesses when this may not truly be the case.

Similarly, issues with double counting of the goals continue to exist. Raising the goals won't do enough--won't really do anything to increase the transparency or accuracy as currently reported. We need to know whether the government is truly meeting its goals before we can consider raising them.

Third, it may be simply be too premature to raise some of those goals my colleague proposes to raise. The government has never met its HUBzone goal, yet the amendment raises the goal from 3 to 4 percent, while the previous goals, as stated, have never been met.

Similarly, with the women-owned small business goal, which has been met only a few times in nonconsecutive years, raising that as well does not seem it would have the result that we are seeking.

Lastly, the SBA is undergoing some significant changes to its government contracting programs; namely, beginning to fully certify women-owned small businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. These goaling numbers presumably capture awards made to firms that self-certified as women-owned, or service-disabled veteran- owned. Once the SBA begins to start certifying firms and self- certification is no longer an option, we should expect to see a correlative dip in these two goals since there will be less vendors for agencies to choose from. It may be prudent to wait and see the true picture of where the government stands on these goals, once these front-end certification programs are fully in place, rather than raising them now.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, in closing, although I very much share my colleague, Mr. Mfume's goal and idea, conceptually, in seeing more contract dollars be awarded to small business, I do not believe this is the correct approach.

As a member of the Small Business Committee's Contracting and Infrastructure Subcommittee, I look forward to working with him, and certainly others, to address the underlying challenging our small businesses are facing in such contracting.

I do not support this amendment, and I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Republican leader, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger).

Mr. Speaker, today, the national debt is a higher percentage of GDP than it has ever been. Our national debt threatens to burden future generations and limit our prosperity. After spending $5 trillion in the last year--$3.6 trillion of which was bipartisan for COVID relief--it is time to address this very serious issue.

This Democrat majority, however, has rushed headlong toward excessive and unnecessary spending. Working families are already feeling the impact of the $1.9 trillion spending bill that continues to drive record inflation. Now Democrat leadership is moving forward with an outrageous $3.5, maybe $4.5, maybe $5 trillion tax and spending spree, which is not only the single largest bill ever brought before Congress--spending bill, that is--it is also the largest tax bill. It is also the largest anti-domestic energy bill. It is also the largest entitlement bill. And it is also the largest amnesty bill ever.

The only thing that got cut from this was the $1 billion, which was somewhat explained, from the Iron Dome funding for defense of our ally Israel.

Mr. Speaker, the bill would actually limit private-sector growth, which is the source of the revenue--the golden goose, if you will--and would reduce GDP as debt crowds out any benefit spending would have. This comes from a report from the Wharton School of Business.

This is nothing short of Big Government socialism suffocating free market capitalism. While this pill works its way through Congress, Democrats are asking Republicans to sign a blank check for their reckless spending. The Democrats are asking us to suspend the debt ceiling for the remainder of their time in the majority to finance reckless spending while we stand on the sidelines, which we are not going to do.

As the Senate minority leader recently put it, this is like cosigning a loan before a heavy gambler's trip to Las Vegas. Democrats want unlimited borrowing authority to finance their Big Government socialist agenda, leaving the American people to pay for these tax-and-spend, irresponsible policies in more ways than one.

We simply cannot stand for this.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman.

Mr. Speaker, if this was for past spending that the majority leader suggested, then the debt ceiling cap would be at today's level of debt, which is about $28.6 trillion. We will see a much higher number coming our way.

I will not support signing a blank check, as this majority has advanced the most reckless expansion of government in generations.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend today's rollcall vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 266.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 227.

Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress

Aderholt (Moolenaar)

DeSaulnier (Thompson (CA))

Graves (MO) (Wagner)

Green (TX) (Perlmutter)

Grijalva (Stanton)

Horsford (Jeffries)

Katko (Herrera Beutler)

Kelly (PA) (Keller)

Kirkpatrick (Stanton)

Lawrence (Beatty)

Lawson (FL) (Evans)

Lowenthal (Beyer)

Maloney, Carolyn (Velazquez)

McEachin (Wexton)

Meng (Jeffries)

Napolitano (Correa)

Payne (Pallone)

Porter (Wexton)

Ruppersberger (Brown)

Rush (Underwood)

Sires (Pallone)

Torres (NY) (Jeffries)

Watson Coleman (Pallone)

Wild (Axne)

Wilson (FL) (Hayes)

Amendments En Bloc No. 4 Offered by Ms. DeLauro of Connecticut

Madam Speaker, the Biden administration and Democrat House leadership want to cap off their first 6 months with an additional $3.5 trillion in massive bills which will be the largest expansion of government ever.

Let's review the past 6 months. Prior to the Biden administration, on a bipartisan basis we here in this Congress allocated $3.7 trillion for COVID relief and recovery on a bipartisan basis.

President Biden and the Democrats through a completely partisan spending bill spent $1.9 trillion, three times more than many thought was necessary, and many Democrat economists also felt that way, especially since GDP growth was hitting record levels, clearly indicating American recovery.

Now we are experiencing inflation at really historic levels. Milk, bread, fruit, gasoline, among other items, have seen price increases, taxing all Americans. Unemployment remains very high in States that continue to extend and enhanced unemployment insurance. Meanwhile, virtually all employers have a shortfall in their workforce and are looking for employees.

Additionally, illegal immigration is at an all-time high. We see the mess at the border with no real corrections being made by the Biden administration or the Democrat-led House. Crime is hitting record levels in urban and suburban American. Oil imports from Russia are at an all-time high while we restrict energy production here at home, and China's economy is roaring.

We receive no cooperation from the CCP or the WHO, regarding investigations into the origins of COVID-19. Additionally, cyberattacks originating from China and Russia have presented a huge threat to American businesses large and small, yet, we have little to no response from the Biden administration or from our Democratic leadership here in the House.

Now the Democrats are putting a bipartisan transportation infrastructure bill in jeopardy that was agreed upon because they insist on spending $3.5 trillion-plus for all kinds of government expansion initiatives, including expansions in Medicaid, ObamaCare, EPA, IRS, and I could go on.

This reckless expansion of government after $5 trillion in spending will rock our economy, destroy career opportunities, create permanent dependency on government, and saddle our future American generations with debt well beyond what the eye can see or what the mind can contemplate.

Say ``no'' to reconciliation. Say ``yes'' to a bipartisan transportation infrastructure bill.

Mr. Speaker, in the 100 days Vice President Harris has been overseeing the border, an estimated 500,000 immigrants and thousands of pounds of drugs have flowed over the border into our country. Despite clear evidence of a worsening crisis, the Biden administration continued to dismantle effective policies.

When I visited the border, Border Patrol agents consistently expressed that eliminating the Remain in Mexico policy has brought on this current crisis. Now, the Biden administration is considering rescinding yet another successful policy, title 42, which allows CBP to expel adult migrants.

The data is clear. Human traffickers, drug smugglers, and criminals are benefiting from the Biden administration's open border policies. More fentanyl has been seized this year than in all of 2020.

Deadly drugs like fentanyl are flowing across the border into our communities, killing people in my district and all of our districts. Fentanyl was present in 75 percent of the overdose deaths in my home county of Luzerne County in the last year.

An open border is not some faraway problem. Consequences are reverberating across America. We must send a strong message of enforcement and resecure our southern border.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Graves for yielding and for so strongly and well leading this important debate.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my amendment, the roads to revitalization amendment, which would increase the Federal share for infrastructure projects in areas of persistent poverty from 80 percent to 85 percent. Levelling up the Federal contribution to these projects could reduce the burden on local governments, enabling long overdue projects to proceed sooner.

Many low-income communities have infrastructure needs that have been deferred for far too long, imperiling public safety and compounding the project's costs. My amendment reduces the burden on State and local governments to drive infrastructure investments in distressed areas, paving the way for broader economic development and revitalization of countless great American neighborhoods.

Infrastructure investment, as we all know, can be a game changer for many of the communities I represent, as we all do. This simple policy change will help these communities, Madam Speaker, make the up-front investment they need to revitalize Main Street, attract private-sector investment, and become even better places to live and to work.