[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 348 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 348

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of the Treasury 
should take actions to increase the transparency and accountability of 
                the Small Business Lending Fund Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 15, 2011

Ms. Snowe submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
            Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of the Treasury 
should take actions to increase the transparency and accountability of 
                the Small Business Lending Fund Program.

Whereas the Government Accountability Office published a report in December 2011 
        entitled ``Small Business Lending Fund: Additional Actions Needed to 
        Improve Transparency and Accountability'' (GAO-12-183) (referred to in 
        this preamble as the ``GAO Report'');
Whereas the GAO Report highlighted that ``Federal government internal control 
        standards state that management should ensure that the agency has 
        adequate means of communicating with and obtaining information from 
        external stakeholders when such information could have a significant 
        impact on the agency's achieving its goals.'';
Whereas the GAO Report found that the Secretary of the Treasury's ``lack of 
        clarity in explaining program requirements and decisions created 
        confusion among applicants'';
Whereas the GAO Report expressed the following: ``Internal control standards for 
        the federal government state that internal control activities are a 
        major part of efficiently and effectively managing a program. Control 
        activities, such as (1) proper execution of transactions and events, (2) 
        accurate and timely recording of transactions and events, (3) and 
        establishing and reviewing performance measures, are an integral part of 
        an agency's planning, implementing, reviewing, and accountability for 
        stewardship of government resources and achieving effective results. 
        Establishing performance measures and developing a process for 
        monitoring participating financial institutions will be critical to 
        identifying and addressing any potential problems in these institutions' 
        compliance with program requirements. Until Treasury finalizes its plans 
        for monitoring compliance and assessing impact in a timely manner, it 
        will not be positioned to anticipate and manage payment problems and 
        other program risks.'';
Whereas the GAO Report concluded that the Secretary of the Treasury has not 
        finalized plans for assessing the impact of the Small Business Lending 
        Fund Program on small business lending or procedures for monitoring 
        recipients for compliance with requirements of the Small Business 
        Lending Fund Program; and
Whereas the GAO Report concluded that, until the Secretary of the Treasury 
        finalizes plans for monitoring compliance with and assessing the impact 
        of the Small Business Lending Fund Program in a timely manner, the 
        Secretary will not be positioned to anticipate and manage payment 
        problems and other program risks: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that, as recommended 
by the Comptroller General of the United States in the December 2011 
report entitled ``Small Business Lending Fund: Additional Actions 
Needed to Improve Transparency and Accountability'' (GAO-12-183)--
            (1) to promote transparency and improve communication with 
        participants in the Small Business Lending Fund Program and 
        other interested stakeholders, such as Congress and the 
        appropriate Federal banking agencies (as defined in section 
        3(q) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(q)), 
        the Secretary of the Treasury should apply lessons learned from 
        the application review phase of the Small Business Lending Fund 
        Program to help improve the communication strategy of the 
        Secretary; and
            (2) to enhance the transparency and accountability of the 
        Small Business Lending Fund Program, the Secretary of the 
        Treasury should finalize--
                    (A) procedures for monitoring participants in the 
                Small Business Lending Fund Program, including 
                procedures to ensure that the Secretary is receiving 
                accurate information on small business lending by such 
                participants; and
                    (B) plans for assessing the performance of the 
                Small Business Lending Fund Program, including measures 
                that can isolate the impact of Small Business Lending 
                Fund Program from other factors that affect small 
                business lending.
                                 <all>