Nydia M. Velázquez

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 6955.

Community banks and credit unions are the foundations of our financial system. As ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, I understand better than most the role they play in our communities, offering small business loans, farm loans, and mortgages. They are critical lifelines to our rural and underserved communities that have been left behind by our biggest banks.

While I believe in sensible tailoring to help community banks and credit unions do what they do best--deliver personalized products to meet the needs of their customers--this bill moves far beyond sensible tailoring.

Instead of focusing on modest improvements, this package represents the largest amount of bank deregulation since before the financial crisis. It includes sweeping reforms that will not only significantly roll back necessary safeguards and weaken oversight, but it will also undermine consumer protection and antidiscrimination measures and hamper the CFPB's ability to issue new rules. This deregulation package will push risk into the shadows and make the next publicly financed bailout more likely.

This is especially concerning at a time when financial regulatory agencies are under political attack, pursuing industry-friendly agendas, and are starved of resources. That is why more than 25 labor, consumer, housing, economic justice, and public interest organizations are opposing this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong opposition to the so-called ``Ending Discrimination in Government Contracting Act,'' legislation that would more accurately be described as the ``Ending WOSB Participation in Government Contracting Act.''

This latest attempt to attack small business entrepreneurs and women's participation in the federal marketplace is transparent, misguided, and cruel. The intent of this bill is specific and the result is predictable: it will depress contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses, unlevel the playing field to reduce competition, and further the underrepresentation of women-owned firms in federal contracting across all sectors and industries.

Mr. Speaker, starting and growing a small business is already incredibly difficult for most current and aspiring entrepreneurs. The challenges can be immense, from accessing affordable capital and hiring qualified staff to maintaining or growing sales while integrating new tech. Successfully navigating the landscape requires persistence, determination, and flexibility. Competing for government contracts adds another layer of complexity, especially for small firms without the resources of corporate giants or the ear of this President.

The Small Business Administration (SBA)'s Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program is designed to help level the playing field for women- owned small businesses in the federal marketplace. It was not established solely to remedy the very real discrimination and bias that women-owned firms faced then and still face today. Congress established the WOSB Program to address how the systematic, well-documented underrepresentation of women-owned firms in specific industries was undermining the government's objectives.

Like the WOSB federal contracting goals, the government's objectives remain unmet.

In 1994, Congress established a goal of awarding 5 percent of federal contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses government-wide, providing ``a target that will result in greater opportunities for women to compete for federal contracts.'' Recognizing the obstacles that female entrepreneurs faced when entering and competing in the federal market. Congress identified this as an uphill battle: ``Given the slow progress to date . . . this goal may take some time to be reached.''

Over three decades later, this remains an understatement. The government has only met the goal twice, most recently in 2019.

At the time the goal was enacted, women-owned firms were awarded less than 2 percent of federal contracts. The dollars and percentages have climbed slowly and steadily but progress is inconsistent. In recent years, WOSB contracts have made up almost 5 percent of eligible small business spending, meaning the goal has helped to grow WOSB market share by roughly 1 percent each decade. We knew it would take time, but this progress has been insufficient for those of us who believe strongly in equal opportunity and a level playing field.

It appears that for supporters of the ``Ending WOSB Participation in Government Contracting Act,'' more than 95 percent of federal contract awarded to non-women-owned small businesses is insufficient for their goals as well. Apparently, the ``discrimination'' that non-WOSBs face as a result of receiving only more than 95 percent of federal contracting dollars must be remedied with legislative efforts designed to reduce the market share of women-owned firms--from its current 4.5 percent to zero.

The motives behind this bill are transparent but we do not need it to pass to know the result. We are now seeing the impact of a government that retreats from policies empowering women-owned firms. As the SBA recently announced, in Year One of the Trump Administration:

The value of contracts awarded to all small businesses dropped by $4.5 billion, while women-owned firms saw a decrease of $2.3 billion. That is a staggering amount: WOSB contracts make up 16 percent of all small business contracts but took half the total losses for all small businesses last year.

The number of small businesses participating in the industrial base also tanked, while WOSBs were again disproportionately impacted. The government awarded contracts to 6.9 percent fewer small businesses than the year before, yet 7.4 percent fewer women-owned firms received a contract.

The disproportionate impact of this Administration's policies on women-owned small businesses previews the predictable and foreseeable consequences of the ``Ending WOSB Participation in Government Contracting Act.'' It further highlights why the goals and tools are needed now more than ever.

In 2000, I wrote, and successfully shepherded into law, legislation that created the WOSB Program. Rather than relying only on a goal, we gave federal agencies the tools to bring women into the market and level the playing field for them to compete. Like other small business procurement programs, contracting officers are permitted to use small business only competitions and direct awards to SBA-certified firms, when certain conditions are met.

We knew at the time that any federal contracting program assisting women-owned firms had to pass constitutional scrutiny. We built in strong legal protections that have enabled the program to remain operational today.

As a result of the details and complexity of these protections, however, the WOSBs tools remain underutilized, and contracts awarded using these tools are few. The less than $2 billion in contracts awarded through the WOSB Program makes up: just over 6 percent of contracts awarded to women-owned small businesses, roughly 1 percent of all small business contracts, and barely a fraction--only 0.3 percent-- of total government contracts.

That bears repeating, as supporters of efforts like this bill conveniently leave it out: the overwhelming majority of contracts awarded to WOSBs are awarded competitively. Firms owned by men are not discriminated against or left out of these competitions, women-owned firms are winning them. In Fiscal Year 2024, WOSBs won $12 billion in competitions among other small businesses and more than $8 billion in competitions against other than small firms.

This context helps clarify the motives behind this bill: to stigmatize the WOSB Program and eliminate the market share that currently results from WOSBs winning competitively-awarded contracts.

For those of us who believe strongly in equal opportunity and a level playing field, the unmet goal and underutilization of the procurement tools show the government is not properly implementing the WOSB program-and therefore not addressing needs of the women business owners it is designed to serve.

In a recent Small Business Committee hearing on the defense industrial base, Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) summed it up bluntly: ``It is not a shortage of capable women-owned firms ready to bid and win. . . . The goal is the government's to meet, and the reasons it goes unmet are structural and within the government's own control.''

It appears however that for supporters of the ``Ending WOSB Participation in Government Contracting Act,'' more than 99.97 percent of federal contracts open to competition from non-WOSBs does not meet their needs either.

This bill and similar attacks on small business programs often imply that the government simply hands out contracts to unqualified and unvetted companies. This ignores the fundamental nature of government procurement, and is both inaccurate and insulting.

In my years leading the Small Business Committee, I have yet to meet a small business who says the government's requirements are too lax, winning contracts is easy, and compliance is not burdensome. Even before last year's exodus of small businesses from the federal market, estimates showed the government has almost half the number of small businesses in its ecosystem than a decade ago. The shrinking industrial base usually sets off bipartisan alarms. The Department of Defense calls it a national security risk.

Therefore, recruiting and retaining small businesses into the public sector, ensuring they have contracting opportunities, and bolstering the resiliency and competitiveness of the industrial base should be our priority. As women entrepreneurs increasingly venture into diverse industries, the WOSB Program can help us do that. In fact, women-owned small businesses are the industrial base's growth opportunity.

I hope all of my colleagues will join me in opposing this extremist bill to eliminate the WOSB program and any legislation that rolls back the hard-fought gains women have made in the workplace, the business community, and the federal market.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Principal Marc Pascente for his extraordinary commitment to public education and his unwavering dedication to the students, families, and communities of New York's 7th Congressional District and across New York City.

For more than two decades, Principal Pascente has devoted his career to ensuring that every student has access to a high-quality education and the support necessary to succeed. He began his service with New York City Public Schools in 2001 as a New Language teacher through the Teaching Fellows program at Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx. From the very beginning, he distinguished himself as an educator committed to equity, inclusion, and empowering students from diverse backgrounds.

In 2006, he assumed the role of Assistant Principal at Belmont Preparatory High School, where he continued to foster a student- centered environment grounded in growth, opportunity, and academic excellence. His leadership and vision would later reach new heights when he became Principal of Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, Queens at the start of the 2018-2019 school year.

Throughout his tenure at Grover Cleveland High School, Principal Pascente placed the needs of students at the forefront of every decision. His transformative leadership revitalized key school facilities, including the auditorium, library, and cafeteria, creating welcoming spaces where students could learn, grow, and thrive. His advocacy on behalf of young people, particularly those from underserved and vulnerable communities, has opened doors and expanded opportunities for countless students.

As the facilitator of the My Brother's Keeper program, Principal Pascente inspired young men to pursue academic excellence, leadership, and personal integrity. He also broadened students' horizons by championing educational field trips to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Boston, providing opportunities to engage with history, culture, and higher education firsthand.

Under Principal Pascente's leadership, Grover Cleveland High School became a model of innovation and inclusion. The school piloted the Civic Seal program, expanded participation in the New York State Seal of Biliteracy to include speakers of Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, and Polish, and welcomed both a bilingual GED program and a District 75 program. These initiatives strengthened the school's reputation as a place where all learners are valued, supported, and empowered to succeed.

Beyond the programs and accomplishments, Principal Pascente's greatest legacy is the culture of belonging he cultivated. He has consistently amplified student voices, nurtured talent, and demonstrated compassion, integrity, and an unwavering belief in the potential of every young person who walked through the school's doors.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Principal Marc Pascente for his distinguished public service career. His legacy will continue to shape the lives of students and strengthen our communities for years to come.