[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





MARKUP OF: H.R. 5450; H.R. 6591; H.R. 7102; H.R. 7103; H.R. 6156; H.R. 
               7104; H.R. 7105; H.R. 7128; AND H.R. 7129

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                                HEARING

                               before the

                      COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
                             UNITED STATES
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                              HEARING HELD
                            JANUARY 31, 2024

                               __________





    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
                               






            Small Business Committee Document Number 118-038 
             Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov 
             
             
             
             
             
             
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                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
                 
55-405                   WASHINGTON : 2024 
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
                   HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

                    ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas, Chairman
                      BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri
                        PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
                        DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania
                         BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas
                         MARIA SALAZAR, Florida
                          TRACEY MANN, Kansas
                           JAKE ELLZEY, Texas
                        MARC MOLINARO, New York
                         MARK ALFORD, Missouri
                           ELI CRANE, Arizona
                          AARON BEAN, Florida
                           WESLEY HUNT, Texas
                         NICK LALOTA, New York
                          CELESTE MALOY, Utah
               NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member
                          JARED GOLDEN, Maine
                         KWEISI MFUME, Maryland
                        DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota
                          GREG LANDSMAN, Ohio
                  MARIE GLUESENKAMP PEREZ, Washington
                        SHRI THANEDAR, Michigan
                       MORGAN MCGARVEY, Kentucky
                       HILLARY SCHOLTEN, Michigan
                          JUDY CHU, California
                         SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
                      CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire

                  Ben Johnson, Majority Staff Director
                 Melissa Jung, Minority Staff Director 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                            C O N T E N T S

                           OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                   Page
Hon. Roger Williams..............................................     1
Hon. Nydia Velazquez.............................................     3

                                APPENDIX

Additional Material for the Record:
    H.R. 5450....................................................    41
    H.R. 6591....................................................    43
    H.R. 7102....................................................    46
    H.R. 7103....................................................    51
    H.R. 6156....................................................    54
    H.R. 7104....................................................    57
    H.R. 7105....................................................    59
    H.R. 7128....................................................    65
    H.R. 7129....................................................    69
    Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 5450.........    87
    Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 6591.........    89
    Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 6156.........    91
    Minority Views H.R. 5450.....................................    93
    Minority Views H.R. 7102.....................................    95
    Minority Views H.R. 7103.....................................    96
    Minority Views H.R. 6156.....................................    98
    Minority Views H.R. 7104.....................................    99
    Minority Views H.R. 7105.....................................   100
    Minority Views H.R. 7128.....................................   102
    Minority Views H.R. 7129.....................................   103
    DOJ Compelling Interest Document.............................   105
    Hon. Morgan McGarvey Letter..................................   164
    Joint Letter Supporting SBA ONAA Bill........................   165

 
 MARKUP OF: H.R. 5450, THE ENHANCING COMPETITION IN CONTRACTING ORDERS 
  ACT; H.R. 6591, THE ENCOURAGING SUCCESS ACT; H.R. 7102, THE NATIVE 
    AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITY ACT; H.R. 7103, THE AGENCY 
 ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2024; H.R. 6156, THE CHILD CARE SMALL BUSINESS 
   INSIGHT AND IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2023; H.R. 7104, THE NATIONAL SBDC 
 ADVISORY BOARD IMPROVEMENT ACT; H.R. 7105, THE WOSB CERTIFICATION AND 
 OPPORTUNITY EXPANSION ACT; H.R. 7128, THE WOSB INTEGRITY ACT OF 2024; 
       AND H.R. 7129, THE PUT AMERICA ON COMMISSION ACT OF 2024.

                              ----------                              


                      WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2024

                  House of Representatives,
               Committee on Small Business,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 9:50 a.m., in Room 
2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Roger Williams 
[chairman of the Committee] presiding.
    Present: Representatives Williams, Luetkemeyer, Stauber, 
Meuser, Van Duyne, Salazar, Mann, Ellzey, Molinaro, Alford, 
Crane, Bean, Hunt, LaLota, Maloy, Velazquez, Golden, Mfume, 
Landsman, McGarvey, Gluesenkamp Perez, Scholten, Thanedar, Chu, 
Davids, and Pappas.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. If I can have everyone's attention 
If we can have everybody's attention. Before we get started, I 
want to recognize Congressman Alford from the great state of 
Missouri to say the Pledge of Allegiance and a short prayer.
    Mr. ALFORD. Well, let's start with a prayer, Chairman.
    Dear God, we just thank you for providing us a place and a 
manner and a time to conduct the business of this nation. I 
thank you for our Chair and our Ranking Member, for the 
guidance and leadership they provide each day in this 
Committee. God, thank you for the Members here. Bless us. Give 
us strength, courage, wisdom, and discernment as we move 
forward for the American people.
    And God, I just thank you for our small businesses. Thank 
you for the men and women who roll up their sleeves, who empty 
their wallets, who spend time with their families, who dedicate 
their lives, basically, to starting a small business. And I 
just ask that every decision we make here, every rule we put 
forward or bill we put forward, as we are doing today, it is 
your will and your guidance to help those families succeed in 
America.
    Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
    I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of 
America. And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation 
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
    The Committee will now come to order. A quorum is present. 
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess 
of the Committee at any time. 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. Pursuant 
to Committee rule 13 and House rule XI, all votes will be 
rolled to the end of the meeting.
    I now recognize myself for opening remarks.
    Good morning again to everyone, and I welcome today's 
markup, where we will be discussing nine bills that address the 
various needs of our nation's small businesses. I am going to 
be speaking on each of the bills we bring up today in greater 
detail, so I want to keep my opening statement brief and just 
highlight a few points.
    When I took over as the Chairman of this Committee, I 
wanted to bring my private sector experience to the forefront. 
And I employ hundreds of people back home in Texas at my car 
dealerships, and almost all of them work on commission. It 
incentivizes them to work hard and take ownership of what they 
are selling. This was the inspiration behind one of the bills 
we were marking up today, and I want to thank our colleague, 
Chairman Luetkemeyer, for a lot of his input on this very 
thing.
    This was the inspiration behind one of the bills we are 
marking up today. It is Put America on Commission Act of 2024. 
This bill creates a whistleblower program that will align the 
incentives of the public and the government to help achieve the 
shared goal of holding criminals that took advantage of the 
government lending programs during the COVID-19 pandemic 
accountable.
    When Congress passed the Pandemic Assistance Program here, 
there was a need to strike the balance between getting money 
out quickly and having appropriate fraud mitigation tools in 
place. There was always the assumption that we would be able to 
catch the fraudsters on the back end. However, as the inspector 
general shared with the Committee, he knew this would lead to a 
disaster and the after action report show he was correct. There 
has been an estimated $200 billion in fraud in the SBA pandemic 
programs and the OIG has 100-year backlog. A 100-year backlog 
to get through all of these cases. This is not an issue that 
can simply be fixed by throwing money at the existing problem. 
We need something that will speed up the process.
    That is where this bill will come into play. By creating 
this new whistleblower program within the SBA, the inspector 
general will receive a higher quality information that will 
lead to more and quicker convictions.
    Whistleblower programs have been proven to be effective in 
many other agencies, such as the IRS and the SEC, and I am 
confident that this bill will lead to more convictions of COVID 
fraud when we look to replicate it at the SBA.
    I will have more to say on this bill when it is brought up 
later today, but I want to thank the staff on both sides of the 
aisle for making this bill a reality.
    And in closing, I would like to thank our Members for 
bringing all of the bills forward for consideration in today's 
markup. Every piece of legislation we are going to look at 
today is the product of hearings and our oversight efforts that 
we have conducted, and I am proud to see our Committee activity 
being turned into legislation that will make main street even 
stronger.
    With that, I look forward to today's markup, and I yield to 
distinguished Ranking Member from New York, Ms. Velazquez.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this 
markup today.
    I plan to lend my support to the nine bills we are 
considering. They make important improvements to the 
contracting programs at SBA, codify the Office of Native 
American Affairs, takes a good first step on childcare, and 
works to recover fraudulent pandemic funds.
    This Committee has a long tradition of working together to 
get things done for small businesses, and I appreciate Chairman 
Williams and his staff for their efforts to work with us. I 
would like to also commend the Members of the Committee to put 
differences aside and improve SBA programs for small 
businesses.
    Small business growth has proven resilient in uncertain 
times. Since President Biden took office, 16 million Americans 
have filed to start new businesses and more than 14 million 
jobs have been created. Our nation's 33 million small 
businesses play an important role in driving our nation's 
economy, and I am committed to supporting entrepreneurs as they 
create good paying jobs in our local community.
    Thank you, Mr. Williams for joining forces with me on 
behalf of small businesses and I look forward to a productive 
markup.
    I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. And does any other Member 
seek recognition for the purpose of making an opening 
statement?
    Okay, if none, seeing none, we will now move to the 
consideration of the first bill.
    H.R. 5450
    The first bill we will mark up is H.R. 5450, the Enhancing 
Competition in Contracting Orders Act, introduced by 
Representatives Scholten and Salazar. The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. H.R. 5450 to amend the Small Business Act----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, H.R. 5450 is 
considered as read and open for amendment. The bill sponsor, 
Ms. Scholten, has an amendment in the nature of a substitute at 
the desk. The amendment has been predistributed to all Members 
and the clerk will report the amendment.
    The CLERK. Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 
5450 offered by Ms. Scholten.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, the amendment is 
considered as read and the substitute will be considered base 
text of the bill for the purpose of amendment.
    I now recognize the bill's sponsor, Ms. Scholten, for her 
statement.
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I am proud to 
speak on behalf of my bill, the Enhancing Competition in 
Contracting Orders, which is cosponsored by my wonderful 
colleague, Congresswoman Salazar.
    The job of this Committee is to foster small business 
growth, which means uplifting small businesses from 
historically underutilized business zones, HUBZones, and 
ensuring that they can compete and continue contributing to the 
American economy. My district in Michigan is home to several 
HUBZones where businesses who qualify for the program are 
eligible for certain contracting opportunities, including 
contract set-asides, sole source awards, and price evaluation 
preferences.
    My bill would provide additional clarification to federal 
agencies on how and when to apply price evaluation preferences 
to HUBZones. Currently, the HUBZone price evaluation preference 
is not widely used because some agencies have incorrectly 
interpreted that the preference does not apply to orders. As 
the federal government increasingly drives its spending through 
indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contracts, 
significant opportunities for HUBZone small businesses are 
being lost because the HUBZone price evaluation is not being 
applied in the award of orders.
    Importantly, the price evaluation preference language in 
the Small Business Act is broad and does not exclude orders. It 
states, in fact, that, ``In any case in which a contract is to 
be awarded on the basis of a full and open competition, the 
price offered by a qualified HUBZone small business concern 
shall be deemed as lowering--or, excuse me, as lower than the 
price offered by another offerer.''
    The only exception in the Small Business Act for the 
application of the HUBZone price evaluation preference is for 
procurements of agricultural commodities. The fact that 
Congress explicitly provided one exception, but did not provide 
an exception for orders indicates that Congress did not intend 
there to be an exception for orders. How could it? The price 
evaluation preference applies to orders because orders are 
contracts.
    Given the broad language in the statute and the fact that 
there is only one explicit exception and that orders are 
themselves contracts, the HUBZone price evaluation preference 
should be applied as broadly as possible. And my bill, the 
Enhancing Competition for Contracting Orders, would do just 
that, leveling the playing field for all qualifying small 
businesses under the HUBZone program. Many small businesses are 
unable to competitively bid on large contracts--on contracts 
against these larger companies, and this would make it more 
tenable to do so.
    The 10 percent price preference granted by the HUBZone 
program has been game-changing for HUBZone small businesses and 
their ability to participate in the contracting marketplace. 
This legislation would further clarify HUBZone benefits and 
ensure even more businesses in West Michigan and across the 
country can compete for government contracts. I strongly urge 
Members to vote yes on this important legislation.
    Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. And I now recognize the 
bill's cosponsor, Ms. Salazar, for a statement.
    Ms. SALAZAR. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you very 
much for calling me your wonderful colleague. Very good.
    You see, this is the way we have to work in Congress, in a 
bipartisan fashion. And I think this is a fantastic bill 
because it is called Enhancing Competition in Contracting 
Orders. Basically what it does is that the pie, it cuts the 
pie, the big pie of a government contract and gives big pieces 
to the small guy. And that is what I like.
    We have 250 HUBZones in Florida, 22 in the city of Miami 
that I proudly represent. So that means that the big guys are 
now need to share the pie with the small people. Those people 
that up to now have not been able to bid and become what we 
consider the American dream, which is to be a client of the 
federal government. What a fantastic bill. So thank you very 
much for cosponsoring with me. And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for 
allowing me to speak. I am very, very excited that we are going 
to be able to bring the American dream down to the small 
business owners. I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. And are there any other 
Members who wish to be recognized for a statement on this bill?
    Okay. I now recognize the gentlewoman, Ranking Member Ms. 
Velazquez.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I commend Ms. 
Scholten and Ms. Salazar for their bipartisan work to bring 
H.R. 5450 before the Committee today.
    When the government invests in small businesses, they in 
turn invest in their communities by creating jobs and buying 
local products. This is a driving force behind the HUBZone 
program. Unfortunately, the program has not reached its full 
potential. In the more than 25 years since Congress created 
HUBZones, the federal government has never achieved the 3 
percent procurement goal.
    It is clear that efforts like the HUBZone preference can 
work. This preference is now providing HUBZones with a 
competitive advantage when bidding against larger companies, 
but the authority has not been properly interpreted and it is, 
therefore, underutilized. This bill will clarify the original 
intent of Congress that the preference be applied to all 
contracts and specifically to task orders.
    Again, I appreciate the sponsors for prioritizing this bill 
and the HUBZone program.
    I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Ranking Member yields back. And I now 
recognize myself to speak in support of this legislation.
    H.R. 5450, the Enhancing Competition in Contracting Orders 
Act, seeks to encourage business development and hiring in 
areas that are historically underutilized from a business 
perspective. This bill provides the needed certainty about 
price preference when the SBA HUBZone firm is competing for 
task order contracts. HUBZone firms have the ability to utilize 
this price preference tool for other government contracts. This 
allows them to compete against some of their larger 
counterparts.
    Unfortunately, there has been some confusion on if specific 
task orders are also able to utilize this price preference 
tool. This legislation looks to end unnecessary confusion for 
HUBZone firms and make it clear that task orders do qualify for 
the same price preference as normal contracts.
    The legislation should increase the ability for small 
businesses to do business with the federal government and I 
urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5450.
    Do any Members seek recognition for the purpose of offering 
an amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute?
    Okay. If there is no further discussion, the question is 
now on the amendment in the nature of a substitute, H.R. 5450 
offered by Ms. Scholten.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    All those opposed, say no.
    In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the 
amendment in the nature of a substitute, H.R. 5450 offered by 
Ms. Scholten is agreed to.
    Okay. The question is now on favorably reporting H.R. 5450, 
as amended, to the House.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    Opposed?
    In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and H.R. 
5450 is amended as agreed and to and ordered favorably to the 
house.
    H.R. 6591
    The next bill we will mark up is H.R. 50--or I am sorry 
6591, the Encouraging Success Act introduced by Representatives 
Ellzey and Thanedar and the clerk will report.
    The CLERK. H.R. 6591, to amend section----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, H.R. 6591 is 
considered as read and open for amendment. The bill sponsor, 
Mr. Ellzey, has an amendment in the nature of a substitute at 
the desk. The amendment has been predistributed to all Members 
and the clerk will report the amendment.
    The CLERK. Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 
65----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, the amendment is 
considered as read and the substitute will be considered based 
text of the bill for the purpose of amendment.
    I now recognize the bill sponsor, Mr. Ellzey, for an 
opening statement.
    Mr. ELLZEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank 
Mr. Thanedar for joining me on this bill.
    Thanks for allowing us to mark up H.R. 6591, the 
Encouraging Success Act. The amendment in the nature of a 
substitute is a technical correction by striking language on 
page 3, line 5 in the original bill. Retained is the CutGo 
language stating no additional amounts are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this act or the amendments made by 
this act.
    The Small Business Administration's 8(a) program was 
established in the '70s to help small businesses compete with 
large corporations for U.S. Government contracts. A qualifying 
small business can only be a part of the program for up to 9 
years. To initially qualify and remain in the 8(a) program, 
there is a cap as to the value of a small business' assets. 
Since the program's inception, the asset cap has only been 
raised twice and is currently capped at $6-1/2 million. That 
asset threshold is set through SBA-determined regulation, and 
the law does not outline any process of when or how the SBA 
should reassess the threshold to remain in line with market 
changes.
    Unfortunately, because the requirements to initially 
qualify for the program or remain in it haven't kept up with 
market changes, the cap is set to a level at which a small 
business is disadvantaged to compete in the open market at the 
end of the 9-year program. The SBA's slow to change attitude 
with the asset cap can limit the success of an 8(a) small 
business.
    With the threat of being graduated out of the 8(a) program, 
small business owners must decide whether their firm's growth 
is worth being removed from the program. My bill, H.R. 6591, 
with the amendment, helps solve this situation and encourages 
success of small businesses by compelling the SBA administrator 
to review the qualification caps with greater frequency to 
ensure that small businesses participating in the 8(a) program 
are allowed to grow big enough to compete with larger companies 
once their participation in the program ends.
    This bill is needed because if an 8(a) participating small 
business surpasses the SBA-determined asset threshold, the 
small business will then be graduated or removed from the 8(a) 
program. This has literally killed many small businesses. 
Although the graduated small businesses would still complete 
existing contracts, they would not be able to compete for 
future 8(a) contracts while not having grown big enough to 
compete with the big companies.
    Mr. Chairman and Members, by supporting this bill, you are 
supporting small businesses while ensuring they are not 
punished for their success. Mr. Chairman and Members, I humbly 
request your support for H.R. 6591, as amended, to send to the 
full House for consideration.
    Thank you, Chair Williams. I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. Now, Mr. Thanedar, the 
bill's cosponsor, is not here. Are there any other Members who 
wish to be recognized for a statement on the bill?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Ranking Member.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Thanedar is here.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Oh, he just walked in, huh? You are 
late, but early.
    So, Mr. Thanedar, I recognize you as the bill's cosponsor 
for an opening statement.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Getting his glasses.
    Mr. THANEDAR. Good morning and thank you, Mr. Chair. And 
also thank you, Representative Ellzey, for introducing this 
important bill.
    I am proud to strongly support this bill as regular 
monitoring and assessment of thresholds for the 8(a) program 
will ensure that this invaluable program is helping those it is 
intended to. In my home state of Michigan, there were 217 
million worth of 8(a) contracts in fiscal year 2022, making up 
almost 5 percent of Michigan's firms that received federal 
contracts in that year, according to the Small Business 
Administration.
    Fostering entrepreneurship is a key goal. Empowering 
individuals to start their own businesses not only helps 
achieve their dreams, but also adds to the economic vibrancy of 
our nation. Entrepreneurs drive innovation and job creation. 
Minority entrepreneurs bring diverse perspectives and valuable 
skills to our local economy. However, they often face unique 
challenges when starting or growing their businesses, including 
continued discrimination and discriminatory barriers.
    The 8(a) program helps address these challenges by 
providing access to resources, mentorship, and federal contract 
assistance to the minority community. This supports not only 
helps minority and immigrant owned businesses thrive, but also 
enriches our district by contributing to its cultural and 
economic diversity. It is a win-win.
    Federal contracts can significantly boost the growth and 
revenues of local businesses. Programs like the 8(a) program 
are essential for providing these opportunities.
    Small business owned by minorities enhance diversity. 
Encouraging the growth of small businesses owned by minorities 
and underrepresented groups not only promotes diversity, but 
also creates economic opportunities and growth for all Members 
of our community. A diverse economy with thriving small 
business is more resilient. By fostering a diverse range of 
small businesses, we ensure that our economy can weather 
economic challenges more effectively. A resilient economy 
benefits everyone in our district.
    In conclusion, the support and encouragement of minority-
owned small businesses through continued refinement of the 8(a) 
program not only benefits the entrepreneurs, but also 
contributes to the overall wellbeing and prosperity of our 
community. I urge all Members to support this bipartisan bill.
    As a serial entrepreneur, Mr. Chair, I have been benefited 
by small business and small business programs, one of the small 
business programs, 504, which helped me grow my business. And I 
have experienced firsthand what these programs can do to help 
minorities, immigrants, and others to start small businesses 
create jobs.
    So I strongly urge support for this and I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. Are there any other Members 
who wish to be recognized for a statement on the bill?
    Yes, ma'am. Refer to the Ranking Member on her statement.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Chairman Williams, and thank you 
to Representatives Ellzey and Thanedar for their work on H.R. 
6591, which will require SBA to regularly update the thresholds 
for determining economic disadvantage.
    This bill is designed to help keep the 8(a) program 
relevant and current, and that is needed. Last week, for only 
the second time, the SBA released small business federal 
contracting data disaggregated by race. While I applaud the SBA 
for releasing it, I and many of my colleagues on the Committee 
asked them to do it. The data shines a bright light on the 
inequities in our federal procurement system. It highlights the 
need to prioritize and protect programs like the 8(a) a program 
that assists minority business owners who have been subject to 
discrimination.
    Seeing that minority-owned businesses do not receive a fair 
share of contracting dollars does not come as a surprise. We 
know that discrimination persists and creates barrier. In fact, 
the Department of Justice annually compiles a report on 
discrimination and discriminatory barriers faced by women and 
minority business owners in government contracting. It is 
compelling, and, Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to 
insert that into the record.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. So moved.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. This bill is a productive step designed to 
ensure that minority business owners can succeed and thrive in 
the 8(a) program and the federal marketplace. That is why I am 
pleased to support it, and I urge my colleagues to support as 
well.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back, thank you. I now recognize 
myself to speak in support of this legislation.
    H.R. 6591, the Encouraging Success Act, requires the SBA to 
reassess the 8(a) business development program asset threshold 
every 4 years. The SBA 8(a) program allows certain small 
businesses to compete for valuable contracting opportunities. 
Small businesses can participate in the program for 9 years. 
However, there are certain circumstances where a firm will be 
removed from the program. One of these if the owner's assets 
reach a certain threshold, essentially punishing a business 
owner for their success.
    The goal of this program is to ensure small businesses are 
not crowded out from the competing for government contracts. 
With the prices of everything rising the past few years, we 
should ensure that the SBA is appropriately tailoring this 
program to true small businesses. The Encouraging Success Act 
will ensure that this threshold matches current market 
realities by requiring the SBA to reevaluate it every few 
years.
    I encourage all my colleagues to support H.R. 6591.
    Do any Members seek recognition for the purpose of offering 
an amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute?
    Okay. If no, there is no further discussion. The question 
is now on the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 
6591 offered by Mr. Ellzey.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    All those opposed, say no.
    In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it. The 
amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 6591 offered by 
Mr. Ellzey is agreed to.
    The question is now on favorably reporting H.R. 6591, as 
amended, to the House.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yes.
    Mr. STAUBER. Request a recorded vote.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. A recorded vote is requested and 
pursuant to rule 13 and House rule XI, further proceedings on 
the bill are postponed.
    H.R. 7102
    Next is consideration of H.R. 7102, the Native American 
Entrepreneurial Opportunity Act. The next bill we will mark up 
is H.R. 7102, the Native American Entrepreneurial Opportunity 
Act, introduced by Representatives Davids and Crane.
    I now recognize the bill's sponsor, Ms. Davids, for an 
opening statement.
    Ms. DAVIDS. Thank you, Chairman Williams and Ranking Member 
Velazquez.
    Look, it is no secret that our nation's entrepreneurs face 
challenges in starting and operating their small businesses. I 
can attest that these challenges are often more pronounced in 
Tribal communities. Native Americans are twice as likely to 
live in poverty than other Americans. This affects their 
ability to use their savings and assets to finance a small 
business, to access credit, and to undertake just the general 
risk of entrepreneurship.
    Also, these business owners face geographical barriers with 
longer distances for supply deliveries, lack of reliable 
broadband and telephone service. These long distances have also 
made it harder for Native American entrepreneurs to network, to 
find mentors, to reach their consumer base, and ultimately, it 
reduces their chances of success.
    Native entrepreneurs also frequently face bigger challenges 
in attracting private investment and accessing federal 
contracting opportunities. We really must do everything that we 
can in our power to find solutions to these challenges, to 
level the playing field for Tribal small businesses and to 
boost our overall economy.
    Currently, the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of 
Native American Affairs does work diligently to connect Native 
business owners with entrepreneurial development, with lending 
and procurement programs. However, the SBA currently lacks a 
congressional mandate for this office, limiting the capacity 
for the office to do the work that it needs to do, and leaves 
it vulnerable to challenges or changes from one administration 
to the next.
    This is why we really need to advance my Native American 
Entrepreneurial Opportunity Act. This bill codifies the SBA's 
Office of Native American Affairs into federal law and 
establishes an assistant administrator role to oversee the 
operations and report directly to SBA leadership.
    It also directs the office to report to Congress on its 
success or maybe challenges in Indian Country.
    Native-owned entities employing over 300,000 Americans are 
vital drivers for our national economy, which is why these 
Tribal businesses deserve a seat at the table to advocate not 
only for the challenges, as I mentioned earlier, but also for 
their successes and their achievements.
    I do want to thank Congressman Crane for his partnership in 
introducing this bill, and I absolutely encourage my colleagues 
to support the Native American Entrepreneurial Opportunity Act 
and vote in favor of successful entrepreneurship in Tribal 
communities.
    And with that, I yield, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. I now recognize the bill's 
cosponsor, Mr. Crane, for an opening statement.
    Mr. CRANE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am proud to colead 
H.R. 7102, which officially establishes the Office of Native 
American Affairs under the Small Business Administration. I 
want to thank my colleague, Representative Davis, for your 
leadership and the opportunity to work in a bipartisan way.
    Tribal entrepreneurs face complex hurdles when it comes to 
running a business. This can come in the form of property 
rights questions, tax implications, regulatory burdens, and 
lending opportunities, to name a few. Entrepreneurs should have 
the flexibility to start a business on a Reservation, just like 
anywhere else. But in reality, the federal government has 
created barriers to enter the market. Tribal communities could 
especially benefit from specialized expertise SBA offers to 
assist business owners in navigating the unique complexities of 
running a business on a Reservation.
    I am hopeful that passing this bill will bring attention to 
these complexities, as this office will ensure Tribal 
businesses are not overlooked. Starting a dialogue with our 
Tribal small business owners, who may be unaware that this 
office even exists, could spur economic development that 
supports our entire nation's economic growth and prosperity, 
which protects freedom for all.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. And are there any of the 
Members who wish to be recognized for a statement on this bill?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Refer to the Ranking Member.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I strongly support 
the Native American Entrepreneurial Development Opportunity 
Act.
    Let me begin by commending Ms. Davids for her leadership on 
efforts to codify the Office of Native American Affairs at the 
Small Business Administration. The office has been a valuable 
resource for American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Native 
Hawaiians seeking to launch and grow their small businesses. 
Codifying the office will ensure that Tribal small businesses 
will have access to SBA full range of business development 
tools, regardless of the administration. Importantly, the 
legislation requires the assistant administrator report 
directly to the administrator, ensuring the voices of their 
Tribal communities will be heard at the SBA.
    Native American owned businesses are economic engines, 
contributing over $33 billion to the U.S. economy every year 
and employing 200,000 people in their communities. Statutorily 
authorizing the Office of Native American Affairs as SBA will 
increase access to federal programs and services that support 
Native American entrepreneurs across the country and promote 
economic development.
    I would also like to thank Mr. Crane for coleading this 
bill with Ms. Davis. I urge Members to support the bill and I 
yield back, Mr. Chairman, thank you.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. And I now recognize myself 
to speak in support of this legislation.
    H.R. 7102, the Native American Entrepreneurial Opportunity 
Act, establishes the Office of Native American Affairs within 
the Small Business Administration. The SBA Office of Native 
American Affairs has been providing services like counseling, 
training, and Tribal consultations for many years. However, the 
office has not been codified into law. This bill will codify 
this office and provide Congress with better oversight and 
performance metrics that could be tracked. This will require 
the office to provide a report on the services this office 
provides to ensure that this office is performing their task 
appropriately.
    I want to thank my colleagues for introducing this bill and 
urge my colleagues to support H.R. 7102.
    If there is no further discussion, the Committee now moves 
to consideration of H.R. 7102. The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. H.R. 7102, to establish the office----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, the first reading of 
the bill is dispensed. And without objection, the bill is 
considered as read and open for amendment.
    Do any Members seek recognition for the purpose of offering 
an amendment?
    If no, seeing none, the question is now on adoption of H.R. 
7102 in favor of reporting it to the House.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    Mr. ELLZEY. Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. All opposed, say no.
    Mr. ELLZEY. Mr. Chairman, I call for a recorded vote.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. All right. A recorded vote has been 
requested and a roll call vote is ordered. Pursuant to 
Committee Rule 13 and House rule XI, further proceedings on the 
bill are postponed.
    H.R. 7103
    The next bill we will mark up is H.R. 7103, the Agency 
Accountability Act of 2024, introduced by Representatives 
Stauber and McGarvey.
    I now recognize the bill's sponsor, Mr. Stauber, for an 
opening statement.
    Mr. STAUBER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I rise today to speak 
in favor of my bill, H.R. 7103, the Agency Accountability Act 
of 2024.
    It is well known that endless bureaucracy and red tape 
crushes small businesses. Yet since President Biden took 
office, over 700 regulations have been added to the Federal 
Register, costing nearly $440 billion and adding more than 236 
million paperwork hours. It is clear that Main Street America 
is not a priority of this administration. If the Biden 
administration insists on burdening small businesses with such 
an overregulated landscape, the very least they could do is 
ensure that small businesses have every opportunity to contract 
with the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world, 
the federal government.
    Right now, federal agencies set goals for awarding 
contracts to small businesses. But meeting those goals is often 
treated like a suggestion and not a requirement. The result? 
Too many agencies fall short, leaving billions of dollars in 
contracts off the reach of American dreamers.
    My bill, the Agency Accountability Act, changes the game. 
It shines a spotlight on agency performance by requiring public 
testimony for failures. Agency heads will answer directly to 
Congress for missing goals, explaining why they haven't 
prioritized small businesses and what they will do to fix it.
    This isn't just about finger pointing. It is about finding 
solutions. Public scrutiny paired with mandated reporting on 
scorecard performance will expose systemic roadblocks and 
identify best practices.
    Our small businesses are more than just economic engines. 
They are the embodiment of the American spirit, equipped with 
creativity, resilience, and a fierce determination to succeed. 
This bill gives them a fighting chance, a seat at the table, 
and the opportunity to prove themselves on the national stage.
    I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation 
as it will help ensure the federal government is doing 
everything it can to support small businesses in America.
    Mr. Chair, I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. And I now recognize the 
bill's cosponsor, Mr. McGarvey, for an opening statement.
    Mr. MCGARVEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, 
Representative Stauber.
    Each week we sit on this Committee and we discuss how we 
can help ensure the federal government actually supports our 
small businesses, the small business growth and 
entrepreneurship in this country. This bill will do exactly 
that. It is going to bring the federal government one step 
closer to meeting its small business contracting goals. We 
can't just walk the walk. We have to talk the talk, too. And 
that's why I am proud to join Representative Stauber as a proud 
sponsor of H.R. 7103, the Agency Accountability Act. And I am 
grateful it was included in today's markup.
    The bill would require the head of the Office of Small and 
Disadvantaged Business Utilization of any federal agency that 
does not receive an A grade on the SBA scorecard or whose 
agency does not meet two or more of the subcategory goals to 
hit their quota of contracts awarded to small business 
recipients to testify before the House and Senate Small 
Business Committees. We can hold failing agencies accountable, 
and we can ensure that small businesses everywhere have the 
opportunity to compete for and win federal contracts that 
should be going to small enterprises.
    I urge my colleagues to support the bill and look forward 
to its passage today. I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. Are there any other Members 
who wish to be recognized for a statement on the bill?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Recognize the Ranking Member.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to 
Representative Stauber and Mr. McGarvey for their bipartisan 
work on H.R. 7103.
    I believe that most agency officials are making good faith 
efforts to ensure that small businesses are able to participate 
and maximize opportunities in the federal marketplace. The 
goals are only goals, though, and agencies are not penalized if 
they do not meet them. The way we encourage agencies to meet 
their goal is to name and shame them when they don't. Requiring 
testimony is an additional way to do that and to use our 
leverage and congressional oversight tools to hold their feet 
to the fire.
    I am particularly pleased to see that this bill includes 
agencies that have not received an A on the scorecard, but also 
agencies that have not met two or more of their subcategory 
goals. Each of the categories, including and especially the 
HUBZone and WOSB programs, continue to need additional focus, 
and this is a helpful step in that direction.
    I am pleased to support it, and I urge my colleagues to do 
as well. I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. And I now recognize myself 
to speak in support of this legislation.
    H.R. 7103, the Agency Accountability Act, brings 
accountability to agencies who fail to meet their goals by 
bringing them in front of Congress to answer to the American 
people. Government agencies are required to meet a goal of 
spending a certain amount of their contracting dollars with 
small businesses. Unfortunately, these goals are not always 
met, and specifically, certain small businesses, like those 
that are service-disabled veteran-owned, are commonly left out.
    To evaluate how agencies are meeting these goals, the SBA 
produces a scorecard which shows vital information on awards 
made to small businesses by each agency. Each agency is given a 
letter grade in the SBA scorecard. This legislation will 
require those agencies that do not receive an A on their 
scorecard to be brought before Congress.
    I urge all my colleagues support H.R. 7103 so that we can 
finally hold the government accountable for failing to meet its 
commitment to small businesses.
    If there is no further discussion, the Committee now moves 
to consideration of H.R. 7103. The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. H.R. 7103, to amend the Small----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, the first reading of 
the bill is dispensed with. And without objection, the bill is 
considered as read and open for amendment.
    Do any Members seek recognition for the purpose of offering 
an amendment?
    Seeing none, the question is now in the adoption of H.R. 
7103 and favorably reporting it to the House.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    All those opposed, say no.
    In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it.
    Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Chair.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yes, sir?
    Mr. STAUBER. Request a recorded vote.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The recorded vote has been requested and 
a roll call vote is ordered. Pursuant to Committee rule 13 and 
House rule XI, further proceedings on the bill are postponed.
    H.R. 6156
    The next bill we will mark up is H.R. 6156, the Childcare 
Small Business Insight and Improvement Act of 2023, introduced 
by Representatives Landsman, Molinaro, and Meuser. The clerk 
will report.
    The CLERK. H.R. 6156, to require the administrator----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, H.R. 6156 is 
considered as read and open for amendment. The bill's sponsor, 
Mr. Landsman, has an amendment in the nature of a substitute at 
the desk. The amendment has been predistributed to all Members. 
The clerk will report the amendment.
    The CLERK. Amendment in the nature of a substitute to 
H.R.----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, the amendment is 
considered as read and the substitute will be considered base 
text of the bill for the purpose of amendment.
    I now recognize the bill sponsor, Mr. Landsman, for an 
opening statement.
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to my Republican 
colleagues who helped us put this bill together, Congresswoman 
Letlow and, of course, here Congressmembers Molinaro and 
Meuser.
    The Childcare Small Business Insight and Improvement Act is 
an important step in lifting up and supporting childcare 
providers, which are uniquely special and uniquely important 
small businesses. They help children as they are developing, 
and they help families so that they can work. They are, as it 
has been said, the workforce behind the workforce. They are 
essential to our economy.
    And many, if not most, of our childcare providers are, in 
fact, small businesses. We think about them sometimes as 
nonprofits, and there are many that are, in fact, nonprofits 
and many that are part of larger companies or bigger 
businesses. But the fact is, most are small businesses. But the 
SBA was not really built for these small businesses.
    This bill will change that. It assesses the needs of our 
childcare small businesses. It looks at the resources that the 
SBA currently provides, but, most importantly, it starts to 
tackle the gaps of what the SBA could be doing to lift up and 
support our childcare small businesses and the leadership 
within the SBA that would be needed to implement the 
recommendations.
    So I am grateful for the bipartisan support for our 
childcare small businesses, the workforce behind our workforce.
    And with that, I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. I now recognize the bill's 
cosponsor, Mr. Meuser, for an opening statement.
    Mr. MEUSER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I thank 
my colleague, Mr. Landsman, for his leadership.
    For parents in the workforce, access to reliable and 
affordable childcare is not just a convenience, it is a 
necessity. It enables parents to focus on their careers, 
contribute to the economy, and pursue their entrepreneurial 
aspirations with the confidence that their children are in safe 
hands.
    Entrepreneurs face unique challenges in balancing the 
demands of building a successful business and caring for their 
families. Access to reliable and affordable childcare can make 
all the difference, allowing entrepreneurs to concentrate on 
their businesses while providing a secure environment for their 
children's development.
    In talking with many small businesses, particularly as of 
late, and local chambers in my district, such as Mr. Bob Carl, 
he's president of the Schuylkill County Chamber, they have 
emphasized the importance and prioritized the importance of 
access to reliable childcare for our small business owners and 
local economy. This legislation recognizes the significant role 
for-profit childcare providers play in supporting working 
parents. By directing the SBA to conduct a thorough study of 
the needs and challenges faced by these businesses, this 
legislation will help this Committee and the SBA understand how 
to appropriately assist increasing the overall availability and 
affordability of childcare, benefiting both small business 
childcare providers as well as the businesses and 
entrepreneurs.
    So I do thank my colleague again, Mr. Landsman. I thank my 
colleague, Mr. Molinaro, for his leadership on this 
legislation. I urge my colleagues to support its passage and 
look forward to its consideration on the floor.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
    I now recognize the bill's cosponsor, Mr. Molinaro, for an 
opening statement.
    Mr. MOLINARO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly 
appreciate it. And I am grateful to my colleague, Mr. Landsman.
    This bipartisan legislation seeks to address a significant 
challenge for certainly many families across America. Quality 
and affordable childcare is as much about providing assistance 
to children as it is a part of developing young children. And 
so H.R. 6156, the Childcare Small Business Insight and 
Improvement Act, is meant to address the need for affordable 
childcare. The bill seeks to enhance the SBA's role in 
supporting for-profit childcare providers while seeking to 
foster a greater understanding of the needs and challenges of 
small businesses.
    New York, as sadly in many cases, is either the top or the 
bottom when it comes to most expensive or least opportunity. 
New York is the third least affordable state for single 
parents. And we know in particular in upstate New York, we 
continue to face the challenge of accessibility to affordable 
and quality childcare. We hear consistently not only from 
constituents, but also constituent business owners about the 
lack of access to quality, affordable childcare and how 
difficult it is, especially for families in rural communities 
like mine, to access childcare.
    The Childcare Small Business Insight and Improvement Act 
sets our childcare providers up for long-term success and works 
to ensure that access to quality childcare is not a workforce 
barrier for our growing communities. We have seen it 
consistently, too many are locked out of the workforce simply 
because of lack of access to childcare. And again, I reinforce 
that access to quality childcare is as much about providing the 
opportunity for individuals to get to work and kids to have 
those social relationships. But quality childcare is quality 
early child development, and all of that is critically 
important to growing the American economy and closing the gaps 
in places like upstate New York.
    And with that, again, I thank my colleagues Mr. Landsman, 
Mr. Chairman, thank you. And I encourage my colleagues to 
support of the bill.
    And I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. Are there any other Members 
who wish to be recognized for a statement on this bill?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Ranking Member.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Let me begin by thanking Mr. Landsman and Molinaro and Mr. 
Meuser. But let me also praise Mr. Landsman for his leadership 
on this important issue. Since being elected to Congress, he 
has made it his mission to make life better for children and 
families, and increasing access to quality childcare is one way 
to accomplish that goal.
    Affordable, high-quality childcare is essential to working 
families, small businesses, and our economy. A recent study 
found nearly two-thirds of parents of infants and toddlers face 
childcare issues that affect their productivity at work, 
resulting in $78 billion in foregone earnings and job search 
expenses for families. It also means $23 billion in workforce 
shortages for employers and $21 billion in lower federal, state 
and local tax revenues.
    Unfortunately, quality childcare services has been in short 
supply, and the pandemic exacerbated the shortages within the 
industry. To make matters worse, the emergency funding provided 
in the American Rescue Plan for childcare centers has ended. 
Put simply, we are in the midst of a crisis.
    In December, we heard testimony that the loss of funds is 
threatening the existence of more than a third of our nation's 
centers, and many providers have had to increase their fees. We 
must tackle this crisis head-on and provide families the 
support they need to enter and stay in the workforce. That is 
why I am pleased to support the Childcare Business Insight and 
Improvement Act, which will make sure our nation's 600,000 
childcare businesses have the resources they need to thrive.
    Mr. Williams, I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The Ranking Member yields back and I now 
recognize myself to speak in support of the amendment in nature 
of a substitute to H.R. 6156, the Childcare Small Business 
Insight and Improvement Act of 2023.
    This legislation requires the SBA to examine the landscape 
of access to childcare through a report that will assess the 
needs and challenges of for-profit childcare providers as well 
as potential gaps in federal support for childcare small 
businesses. The report will include recommendations for the 
administrator on how to address the challenges uncovered in the 
study.
    This amendment preserves the intent of the original bill 
while removing the mandate to create a new position to carry 
out the bill before the study is conducted. I commend my 
colleagues for supporting this legislation today while also 
maintaining fiscal responsibility.
    I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the amendment to H.R. 
6156.
    Do any Members seek recognition for the purpose of offering 
an amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute?
    If there is no further discussion, this question is now on 
the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 6156 
offered by Mr. Landsman.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    All those opposed, say no. In the opinion of the Chair, the 
ayes have it, and the amendment and nature of a substitute to 
H.R. 6156 offered by Mr. Landsman is agreed to.
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Mr. Chair?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yes. Recognized.
    Mr. LANDSMAN. May I ask for a recorded vote?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. A recorded vote has been requested and a 
roll call vote is ordered. Pursuant to Committee rule 13 and 
House rule XI, further proceedings on the amendment are 
postponed.
    The question is now on favorably reporting H.R. 6156, as 
amended, to the House.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    All those opposed, say no.
    In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it and H.R. 
6156----
    Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yes.
    Mr. MEUSER. I request a recorded vote.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. A recorded vote has been requested 
and a roll call vote is ordered. Pursuant to Committee rule 13 
and House rule XI, further proceedings on the bill are 
postponed.
    H.R. 7104
    The next bill we will mark up is H.R. 7104, the National 
SBDC Advisory Board Improvement Act, introduced by 
Representatives Mann and Golden.
    I now recognize the bill's sponsor, Mr. Mann, for an 
opening statement.
    Mr. MANN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    I rise to speak in support of H.R. 7104. In Kansas' big 1st 
Congressional District, more than 80 percent of employees in 
the district are employed by small business. There are five 
small business development centers, or SBDCs, in the district, 
and they operate in partnership with colleges or universities 
across the state. We have ones in Liberal, Dodge City, Hayes, 
Manhattan, and Lawrence. These SBDCs and those around the 
country offer beneficial resources to small businesses, support 
entrepreneurship, and drive economic development.
    Between rampant inflation, high interest rates, a 
disruptive supply chain, and burdensome federal regulation, our 
small businesses are struggling. SBDCs often offer the tools 
and resources that America's small business owners need to get 
their business off the ground and to keep it running.
    This legislation, the National SBDC Advisory Board 
Improvement Act, would require the National Small Business 
Development Center Advisory Board to provide an annual report 
to Congress recommending improvements to SBDC's outreach, 
technical assistant, and training for small businesses. The 
National SBDC Advisory Board should be a part of the solution 
to offer recommendations on how to keep those services and 
resources current and of the highest quality, especially in 
rural America.
    I appreciate Representative Golden joining me in this 
bipartisan legislation, and I encourage my colleagues to join 
me in voting yes to advance this legislation to the full House.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. I now 
recognize the bill's cosponsor, Mr. Golden, for an opening 
statement.
    Mr. GOLDEN. Thank you, Mr. Chair, Madam Ranking Member. I 
want to thank Congressman Mann for bringing this bill forward 
and for asking me to go ahead and partner with him on this.
    In the interest of time, I will simply say that I am 
strongly supportive of the work of Small Business Development 
Centers and take seriously the responsibility of this Committee 
and Congress to have good oversight of taxpayer-funded 
programs. So I think this bill makes good sense. It is a 
commonsense bill, it is a good bill, and I encourage the 
Committee to support it. Thank you.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Are there any other Members who wish to 
be recognized for a statement on the bill?
    Yes, ma'am?
    Ms. DAVIDS. Thank you, Chairman. And I would just like to 
speak in support of the National SBDC Advisory Board 
Improvement Act.
    As Mr. Mann from the Big 1st in Kansas already stated, we 
have quite a bit of entrepreneurship going on in the state of 
Kansas. I know certainly the SBDCs in our state, including the 
one in the 3rd district at Johnson County Community College, 
works closely with the folks in Lawrence and other places in 
the state. And just wanted to thank my colleagues for bringing 
this bill up in a bipartisan way. I think this is a great 
example of the ways that we can work together to improve the 
entrepreneurial pursuits of the folks in our communities.
    So I speak in support of the bill and encourage my 
colleagues to support it here and on the House floor. I yield.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. Are there any other Members 
who wish to be recognized for a statement on the bill?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Ranking Member.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you. I am pleased to support the 
legislation offered by Mr. Mann and Mr. Golden, which will 
require the Small Business Development Center Advisory Board to 
submit an annual report to Congress and the SBA on their 
activities and, also, and this is the part that is so 
important, to make recommendations to improve the program.
    I applaud Mr. Mann and Mr. Golden for their leadership on 
this issue, but I will be remiss if I did not mention the 
importance of reauthorizing the entrepreneurial development 
programs. It is imperative that this Committee review these 
programs and make improvements to better meet the needs of 
today small business owners. As the former Chair of this 
Committee, I made certain we reauthorized these bills in both 
the 116 and 117 Congresses. We worked together in a bipartisan 
manner and all of the bills passed the House overwhelmingly.
    In closing, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working 
together to mark up those reauthorization bills and appreciate 
your commitment to that effort. I support this bill and I yield 
back my time.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlelady yields back. I now 
recognize myself to speak in support of the legislation.
    H.R. 7104, the National Small Business Development Center 
Advisory Board Improvement Act ensures our nation's SBDCs 
function at the highest level possible. The National SBDC 
Advisory Board consists of educators, small business leaders, 
and industry experts to give advice on improvements to the SBDC 
program, to the associate administrator. This bill elevates 
this important advisory board by providing an annual report to 
Congress on opportunities to improve services and the program 
as a whole.
    I want to thank my colleague from Kansas and my colleague 
from Maine for introducing this bill. I urge my colleagues to 
support H.R. 7104.
    If there is no further discussion, the Committee now moves 
to consideration of H.R. 7104. The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. H.R. 7104, to require the----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, the first reading of 
the bill is dispensed with. And without objection, the bill is 
considered as read and open for floor amendment.
    Do any Members seek recognition for the purpose of offering 
an amendment?
    Seeing none, the question is now an adoption of H.R. 7104 
and favorably reporting it to the House.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    Opposed, say no.
    In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and H.R. 
7104 is agreed to.
    Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Chairman, I ask for a recorded vote.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Request for a recorded vote has been 
requested and a roll call vote is ordered. Pursuant to 
Committee rule 13 and House rule XI, further proceedings on the 
bill are postponed.
    H.R. 7105
    The next bill we will mark up is H.R. 7105, the WOSB 
Certification and Opportunity Expansion Act, introduced by 
Ranking Member of Velazquez and Representative LaLota.
    I now recognize the bill's sponsor, Ranking Member 
Velazquez, for an opening statement.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Chairman Williams, and thank you, 
Representative LaLota, for cosponsoring this bill.
    Our Committee has regularly worked to strengthen the SBA 
Small business contracting programs and to protect their 
integrity. Continuing this tradition, the WOSB Certification 
and Opportunity Expansion Act will move away from self-
certification for the women-owned small business program by 
requiring federal agencies to only count contracts awarded to 
certified WOSBs toward meeting their procurement goals. This 
will bring the WOSB certification process in line with 
certifications from the other three small business program. And 
while it will strengthen the program, it is further intended to 
bolster its use.
    This administration has awarded a record amount of 
contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses, yet the 
top line goal of 5 percent of contracting dollars to WOSBs 
remains unmet. Simply put, women-owned small businesses are not 
seeing the contracting opportunities that should accompany 
their level of participation in the federal market. This is not 
surprising when looking at the utilization of the contracting 
authorities for small business programs.
    According to CRS last analysis, the percentage set-aside or 
sole sources to the other programs ranges from a low of 17 
percent for HUBZones to well over half, about 58 percent, for 
8(a)'s. The veteran's programs seized 44 percent of its dollars 
reserved exclusively for veterans. Of the spending now going to 
women-owned small businesses, only about 5 percent is moved 
through the contracting authority.
    Stakeholders point to confusion around WOSB-specific 
requirements and processes. By moving more WOSB through the SBA 
certification contracting process, we are expecting that 
contracting officers will more confidently and more frequently 
set aside and sole source contracts to women-owned small 
businesses.
    I will close by highlighting two key points. First, we know 
this will take time and resources for SBA to implement. I 
appreciate the Chairman's willingness to work with us to 
provide sufficient time, and in doing so, we expect that WOSBs 
will not be penalized if SBA faces delays.
    Second, the WOSB program is unique in its use of third-
party certifiers, and those third-party certifiers charge fees. 
We believe that existing and new processes laid out in the bill 
will ensure that no WOSB is required to pay for a 
certification. I intend to monitor both of these issues closely 
during implementation.
    Again, thank you, Mr. Williams. I urge Members to support 
the bill, and I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The lady yields back.
    I now recognize the bill's cosponsor, Mr. LaLota, for an 
opening statement.
    Mr. LALOTA. Thank you, Chairman Williams. Thank you to 
Ranking Member Velazquez, a proud fellow New Yorker, for 
leading this effort with me. It is a good day when Members of 
the same state delegation, but from opposite sides of the aisle 
work together on an important issue that will not just benefit 
our state's small businesses, but America's small businesses.
    Our Women-Owned Small Business Certification Opportunity 
Expansion Act will phase out self-certified women-owned small 
businesses from the governmentwide procurement goals. In doing 
so, we will achieve two main things: protect the integrity of 
the women-owned small business program; and two, prevent the 
abuse of federal small business contracting goals.
    While our federal government has a goal to spend at least 5 
percent of its procurement dollars with women-owned small 
businesses, at present this includes self-certified firms. The 
SBA Office of Inspector General has consistently pointed out 
that with small disadvantaged businesses, the ability to self-
certify opens up the designation to risk. This holds true to 
the ability for self-certified women-owned small businesses as 
well.
    Meanwhile, women-owned small business owners in the SBA's 
Women-Owned Small Business Program go through a certification 
program to ensure that only women-owned firms enter. This 
aligns the Women-Owned Small Business Program with similar 
programs that no longer count self-certified firms in these 
goals. A similar provision phasing out self-certified service-
disabled veteran-owned small businesses from the procurement 
goals passed in the fiscal year 2024 NDAA.
    I ask that my colleagues support and vote yes on the Women-
Owned Small Business Certification and Opportunity Expansion 
Act.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
    Are there any other Members who wish to be recognized for a 
statement on the bill?
    Seeing none, I now recognize myself to speak in support of 
H.R. 7105, the Women-Owned Small Business Opportunity and 
Expansion Act.
    This bill will remove self-certification from the 
governmentwide women-owned small business procurement goals, 
allowing anyone to self-certify their business status could 
lead to fraud and abuse. Women small business owners competing 
for critical government contracts deserve to know that their 
competition did not falsely self-certify their business status.
    I am proud of the work already done to remove self-
certification from the service-disabled veteran-owned small 
business program in the NDAA. And now it is time to do the same 
with the WOSB program to help ensure integrity across SBA 
programs.
    I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 7105.
    If there is no further discussion, the Committee now moves 
to consideration of H.R. 7105. The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. H.R. 7105, to establish----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, the first reading of 
the bill is dispensed with. And without objection, the bill is 
considered as read and open for amendment.
    Do any Members seek recognition for the purpose of offering 
an amendment?
    Seeing none, the question is now on the adoption of H.R. 
7105 and favorably reporting it to the House.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    All those opposed, say no.
    In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes haven it, and H.R. 
7105 is agreed to and ordered favorably to the House.
    Mr. MANN. Chairman, request a recorded vote, please.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. A recorded vote has been requested. A 
roll call vote is ordered. Pursuant to Committee rule 13 and 
House rule XI, further proceedings on the bill are postponed.
    H.R. 7128
    The next bill we will mark up is H.R. 7128, the WOSB 
Integrity Act of 2024, introduced by Representatives Maloy and 
Scholten.
    I now recognize the bill's sponsor, Ms. Maloy, for an 
opening statement.
    Mr. MALOY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman. I'll be brief.
    We have already talked a fair amount about women-owned 
small businesses, or WOSBs. This bill seeks to close a 
loophole. The SBA inspector general found that while the SBA 
certifies that firms are women-owned, the SBA does not have 
procedures in place to verify size.
    And this bill will close a loophole that allows women-owned 
businesses that are not small businesses to use the resources 
that have been set aside for women-owned small businesses. It 
cleans up the process and makes sure that the resources that we 
have set aside to support women who are trying to enter the 
marketplace are, in fact, going to women in small businesses 
who are entering the marketplace.
    I represent Utah. Utah is the home to a lot of women who 
are entrepreneurs, and I want to make sure that they can 
compete and succeed. And in order to make that happen, we have 
got to level the playing field and make sure these programs are 
operating the way they were intended to.
    With that, I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. I now recognize the bill 
sponsor, Ms. Scholten, for an opening statement.
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Yes, sir. Thank you so much.
    I am so proud to speak on behalf of this bill. The Women-
Owned Small Business--WOSB--Integrity Act, which is 
cosponsored, of course, by Congresswoman Maloy. Women working 
together, happy to see it.
    Women, in particular, have been a driving force behind 
America's economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, creating 
about half of new businesses for the third year in a row. To 
that end, it is incumbent on us to continue to find ways to 
support them. I strongly believe that one of the easiest ways 
to do this is by streamlining the bureaucratic process required 
when registering as a women-owned small business with the SBA. 
That is why I am so proud to support this bill that would 
require the SBA, or third-party certifiers, to certify that an 
applicant meets the SBA's size standards as a Small business 
for participation in the WOSB program.
    By incorporating the certification at the beginning of the 
registration process, WOSBs will be able to spend their time 
running their business instead of defending their legitimacy 
and being forced to engage in lengthy battles with the 
competing companies that challenge the contracts they earn in 
the federal marketplace.
    As the Ranking Member on the Small Business Committee on 
Contracting and Infrastructure, I look forward to continuing to 
find solutions that lighten the bureaucratic burden of running 
a women-owned small business in America.
    I urge Members to vote yes on this important legislation. 
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I yield back the remainder of my 
time.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. Are there any Members who 
wish to be recognized for a statement on this bill?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yes, Ranking Member.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you. I really appreciate this bill's 
sponsors, Representatives Maloy and Scholten, for their work to 
bring it before us today.
    The SBA's IG has routinely highlighted what it believes is 
a discrepancy in SBA implementation of the WOSB program. Like 
all small business contracting programs, WOSBs must meet a 
number of criteria for participation, including that the firm 
is owned and controlled by women, it is certified, and it is 
small, among others. The IG has stated that implementation of 
the size requirement is, and I quote, inconsistent with the 
statutory requirement.
    The purpose of this bill is to clarify that we expect SBA 
to have a process similar to the other contracting programs 
when reviewing WASP applicants. The OIG report states that they 
acknowledge, and I quote, ``that size determination is a 
specific process and is not recommending SBA perform size 
determinations for each applicant.'' The legislation mirrors 
that language to clarify the intent.
    With that, I support this bill and I ask for a yes vote.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. I now recognize myself to 
speak in support of H.R. 7128, the Women-Owned Small Business 
Integrity Act.
    This bill will ensure that women small businesses' owners 
and the SBA's women-owned small business program do not have to 
worry about a large firm and misrepresenting themselves as a 
small business when they enter the program. Self-certification 
in the SBA contracting programs presents a major concern, as 
the Committee has heard directly from witnesses in our 
hearings.
    Unfortunately, the SBA does not have processes and 
procedures in place to verify that WOSB applicants are in fact 
women-owned small businesses. This is a missed opportunity by 
the SBA to ensure that only small businesses are entering the 
program and WOSB participants are not competing with fraudulent 
actors.
    I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 7128, the WOSB 
Integrity Act, and take this step to prevent fraud and abuse. 
If there is no further discussion, the Committee now moves 
consideration of H.R. 7128. The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. H.R. 7128, to establish requirements----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, The first reading of 
the bill is dispensed. And without objection, the bill is 
considered as read and open for amendment.
    Do any Members seek recognition for the purpose of offering 
an amendment?
    Seeing none, the question is now on the adoption of H.R. 
7128 in favor of reporting it to the House.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    All those opposed, say no.
    In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and H.R. 
7128 is agreed to and ordered favorably to the House.
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Mr. Chair?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Recognized.
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. I request a recorded vote.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. A recorded vote has been requested and a 
roll call vote is ordered. Pursuant to Committee Rule 13 and 
House rule XI, further proceedings on the bill are postponed.
    H.R. 7129
    The next bill we will mark up is H.R. 7129, the Put America 
on Commission Act of 2024, which I introduced along with many 
of my colleagues on this Committee.
    I now recognize myself to speak in support of this 
legislation
    H.R. 7129, the Put America on Commission Act of 2024, will 
maximize recovery efforts of fraudulent pandemic loan funds by 
incentivizing everyday Americans to submit information on 
fraudulent loans in exchange for a commission. This bill will 
establish the Office of Whistleblower awards within the SBA to 
pass along tips to the Office of Inspector General and credible 
evidence of pandemic loan fraud submitted by the public. If 
that information leads to a final conviction, the office will 
then disperse award money to eligible whistleblowers.
    The need for this bill was demonstrated during our 
Committee hearing last year where we examined the SBA inspector 
general's estimate that over $200 billion in taxpayer money was 
given out to bad actors through PPP, EIDL, and other COVID-19 
funding programs by the SBA. This accounts for nearly 20 
percent of all pandemic lending and it is totally unacceptable.
    One thing became particularly clear in that hearing was 
that whistleblowers could serve as the key to uncovering this 
unprecedented amount of fraud. The newly established Office of 
Whistleblower Awards will be led by one staffer to coordinate 
tips to the SBA inspector general for investigation.
    Uniquely, the cost of the office's operations and the 
whistleblower awards are fully funded by the recovered 
fraudulent loan amounts which are deposited into the 
whistleblower award fund. The office will sunset at the 
conclusion of the final investigation under the expiration of 
the statute of limitations for pandemic loan fraud.
    Lastly, the bill provides authority to the SBA to seek a 
separate civil monetary penalty against convicted fraudsters, 
which must also be deposited the Whistleblower award fund. Any 
unused monies in the whistleblower award fund are mandated to 
be returned to the general fund.
    In the private sector commission works, this bill will look 
to bring this common practice to help bring accountability to 
these individuals that chose to defraud the taxpayers during a 
global pandemic. I greatly appreciate the work that the Office 
of the Inspector General has done thus far to uncover the 
extent of the fraud. But it is clear that more work must be 
done to do the American people what they need to have done, and 
also small businesses.
    I am proud to put forward this piece of legislation that 
will hold fraudsters accountable and recoup the billions of 
dollars stolen from the taxpayers. I urge my colleagues to vote 
yes on H.R. 7129.
    Are there any other Members who wish to be recognized for a 
statement on this bill?
    Seeing none, I would--oh, Mr. Luetkemeyer, sorry. Yes, sir.
    Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your 
hard work on this bill. And you and I have been talking about 
this for a long time, and I think you articulated some of the 
problems and ways that we can deal with this.
    You know, the Inspector general did his job. He did the job 
of going through the files, seeing what the problem is and 
showing us how large it was. Now it is our job, the SBA's job, 
to fix it. SBA doesn't want to do it. They think they can't do 
it, which is, in my judgment, I don't believe that. But if they 
can't do it, then maybe we need to help them. And so if that is 
the case, then this bill is a way to do that. It is a way to 
take back our first target, the dollars that are taxpayer 
dollars. They are not the government dollars. They are taxpayer 
dollars, our dollars that we are supposed to be overseeing and 
then have SBA go find them, DOJ go find them, whoever and 
however this is going to work.
    I think this is extremely important piece of legislation, 
maybe the most important piece of legislation that comes out of 
this Committee, because of the total amount of money that 
you're talking about, number one. And number two, the principle 
that if you owe money to the government, we are not going to 
write it off. We are going to ask you to pay it back. Just like 
every single business in this country, when they do--or 
individual, when you take out a loan, when you take something 
from somebody and you commit to pay it back, you pay it back. 
That is a principle that has to be maintained, and this bill 
will help do that.
    Mr. Chairman, again, sincerely, thank you for your hard 
work on this. I look forward to supporting it and urge my 
colleagues to do as well.
    With that, I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. I now recognize Representative Meuser 
from Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
    Mr. MEUSER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    So we have discussed in detail, in multiple hearings this 
year, the SBA's inspector general estimate $200 billion of 
pandemic loan dollars were potentially obtained fraudulently. 
So this number includes 8 percent of PPP, 44 percent of vital 
loans.
    So by establishing an Office of Whistleblower Rewards 
within the SBA and putting America on commission, as you have 
named the bill, and as the Chairman likes to say, this 
legislation will incentivize Americans to come forward with 
tips on potential pandemic loan fraud. This office will be 
another tool at our disposal to fight to recover as much of the 
potential COVID fraud as possible. This Committee must and will 
take seriously our role in overseeing the SBA's loan programs, 
especially the Pandemic Relief Programs, and assure bad actors 
are pursued.
    So I thank Chairman Williams for his leadership. I urge my 
colleagues to support its passage and look forward to its swift 
consideration on the House floor.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you. And I yield back.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back.
    I would like to recognize the Ranking Member to speak on 
the bill.
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Throughout the 118th Congress, this Committee has been 
primarily focused on recovering fraudulent pandemic loans. I 
share your commitment, and that is why I led efforts, along 
with Congressman Luetkemeyer, to extend the statute of 
limitations for fraud in the EIDL and PPP programs.
    This bill, which became law, sent a strong message that 
unscrupulous behavior will not be tolerated and that those who 
commit fraud will be held accountable in the years to come. The 
estimates of potential fraud in SBA programs vary 
significantly, ranging from 26 billion to 200 billion. And 
while we may never know the exact number, there is no doubt 
that the vast majority of the fraud occurred in the first 9 
months of the pandemic under the leadership of former President 
Trump.
    We also know with certainty that the Biden administration, 
led by Administrator Guzman at SBA, took a number of steps to 
curtail the fraud, including reinstituting longstanding 
controls, establishing a fraud risk management board, and 
creating a special council for enterprise risk. The IG has 
attested to that in our Committee, and he reported that the 
oversight work has provided an exponential return on 
investment, 1,300 percent on the dollar.
    Given the stellar return on the investment, the single most 
important action we can take to recover fraud is to fully fund 
the IG and our law enforcement community. I should note that 
the IG has more than 90,000 actionable leads that have been 
submitted to their hotline. The underlying issue is not 
necessarily a failure to identify fraud, because the IG and DOJ 
have enough leads to stay active for decades. The issue is 
adequately funding the law enforcement community to investigate 
and prosecute potential fraud.
    With that said, I appreciate the efforts of the Chairman to 
come up with a creative solution to help recover fraudulent 
funds, and I plan to support this bill. New spending will be 
needed to establish the office and hire staff because this type 
of investigations and prosecutions can take time and the 
recoveries, unfortunately, will not flow immediately into 
account.
    I am committed to making sure that SBA and the IG have the 
resources they need to recover fraudulent funds. And I thank 
the Chairman for working with me to bridge the differences on 
this bill. Thank you and I yield back
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yields back. If there is no further 
discussion, the Committee now moves to consideration of H.R. 
7129. The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. H.R. 7129, to amend the Small Business Act----
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection, the first reading of 
the bill is dispensed with. And without objection, the bill is 
considered as read and open for amendment.
    Do any Members seek recognition for the purpose of offering 
an amendment?
    Seeing none, the question is now on the adoption of H.R. 
7129 and favorably reporting to the house.
    All those in favor, say aye.
    Those opposed, say no.
    In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and H.R. 
7129 is agreed to and ordered favorably to the House.
    Mr. ELLZEY. Mr. Chairman, I request a recorded vote.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. A recorded vote has been requested. A 
roll call vote is ordered. Pursuant to Committee rule 13 and 
House rule XI, further proceedings on the bill are postponed.
    The Committee now stands in recess subject to the call of 
the Chair. We will resume at a later today at 11:45.
    [Recess.]
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay, if I can have everybody's 
attention. The Committee will now come to order.
    Without objection, the request for a recorded vote on the 
agreeing to the amendment in the nature of a substitute for 
H.R. 6156 is withdrawn and the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute offered by Mr. Landsman is agreed to.
    The Committee will now resume consideration of the bills on 
which roll call votes are requested and postponed. We will 
start with H.R. 6591.
    The question now is on adopting H.R. 6591, as amended, and 
ordering it favorably reported to the House. The clerk will 
call the roll.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer?
    Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Yes.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer votes aye.
    Mr. Stauber?
    Mr. STAUBER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Stauber votes aye.
    Mr. Meuser?
    Mr. MEUSER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Meuser votes aye.
    Ms. Van Duyne?
    Ms. VAN DUYNE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Van Duyne votes aye.
    Ms. Salazar?
    Ms. SALAZAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Salazar votes aye.
    Mr. Mann?
    Mr. MANN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mann votes aye.
    Mr. Ellzey?
    Mr. ELLZEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Ellzey votes aye.
    Mr. Molinaro?
    [No response.]
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford?
    Mr. ALFORD. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford votes aye.
    Mr. Crane?
    Mr. CRANE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Crane votes aye.
    Mr. Bean?
    Mr. BEAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Bean votes aye.
    Mr. Hunt?
    Mr. HUNT. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Hunt votes aye.
    Mr. LaLota?
    Mr. LALOTA. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. LaLota votes aye.
    Ms. Maloy?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Golden?
    Mr. GOLDEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Golden votes aye.
    Mr. Mfume?
    Mr. MFUME. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mfume votes aye.
    Mr. Phillips?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Landsman?
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Landsman votes aye.
    Mr. McGarvey?
    [No response.]
    Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez?
    Ms. GLUESENKAMP PEREZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez votes aye.
    Ms. Scholten?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Thanedar?
    Mr. THANEDAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Thanedar votes aye.
    Ms. Chu?
    Ms. CHU. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Chu votes aye.
    Ms. Davids?
    Ms. DAVIDS. Ms. Davids votes aye.
    Mr. Pappas?
    [No response.]
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez votes aye.
    Chairman Williams?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Aye.
    The CLERK. Chairman Williams votes aye.
    Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Yes.
    Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Chairman, how am I recorded?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Who said that?
    Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Molinaro. Okay. The other Italian from 
New York.
    The CLERK. Mr. Molinaro is recorded as not voted.
    Mr. MOLINARO. I vote yes.
    The CLERK. Mr. Molinaro votes aye.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. Are there any other Members who 
have not voted or wish to change their vote?
    Seeing none, the clerk will report it.
    The CLERK. Mr. Chairman, on that vote, 22 ayes, 0 nays, and 
0 present.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The motion is agreed to, and H.R. 6591, 
as amended, is adopted and will be reported favorably to the 
House.
    The question now is on adopting H.R. 7102 and ordering it 
favorably reported to the Jouse. The clerk will call the roll.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer?
    Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer votes aye.
    Mr. Stauber?
    Mr. STAUBER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Stauber votes aye.
    Mr. Meuser?
    Mr. MEUSER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Meuser votes aye.
    Ms. Van Duyne?
    Ms. VAN DUYNE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Van Duyne votes aye.
    Ms. Salazar?
    Ms. SALAZAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Salazar votes aye.
    Mr. Mann?
    Mr. MANN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mann votes aye.
    Mr. Ellzey?
    Mr. ELLZEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Ellzey votes aye.
    Mr. Molinaro?
    Mr. MOLINARO. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford?
    Mr. ALFORD. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford votes aye.
    Mr. Crane?
    Mr. CRANE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Crane votes aye.
    Mr. Bean?
    Mr. BEAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Bean votes aye.
    Mr. Hunt?
    Mr. HUNT. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Hunt votes aye.
    Mr. LaLota?
    Mr. LALOTA. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. LaLota votes aye.
    Ms. Maloy?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Golden?
    Mr. GOLDEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Golden votes aye.
    Mr. Mfume?
    Mr. MFUME. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mfume votes aye.
    Mr. Phillips?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Landsman?
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Landsman votes aye.
    Mr. McGarvey?
    [No response.]
    Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez?
    Ms. GLUESENKAMP PEREZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez votes aye.
    Ms. Scholten?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Thanedar?
    Mr. THANEDAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Thanedar votes aye.
    Ms. Chu?
    Ms. CHU. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Chu votes aye.
    Ms. Davids?
    Ms. DAVIDS. Ms. Davids votes aye.
    Mr. Pappas?
    [No response.]
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez votes aye.
    Chairman Williams?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Aye.
    The CLERK. Chairman Williams votes aye.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Are there any Members who have not 
voted?
    Mr. MCGARVEY. I wish to be recorded as an I vote, Mr. 
Chairman.
    The CLERK. Mr. McGarvey votes aye.
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Scholten votes aye.
    Mr. Chairman, on that vote, 24 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 present.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. The motion is agreed to and H.R. 
7102 is adopted and will be reported favorably to the House.
    The question now is adopting H.R. 7103 and ordering it 
favorably to the House. The clerk will call the roll.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer?
    Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer votes aye.
    Mr. Stauber?
    Mr. STAUBER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Stauber votes aye.
    Mr. Meuser?
    Mr. MEUSER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Meuser votes aye.
    Ms. Van Duyne?
    Ms. VAN DUYNE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Van Duyne votes aye.
    Ms. Salazar?
    Ms. SALAZAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Salazar votes aye.
    Mr. Mann?
    Mr. MANN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mann votes aye.
    Mr. Ellzey?
    Mr. ELLZEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Ellzey votes aye.
    Mr. Molinaro?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Alford?
    Mr. ALFORD. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford votes aye.
    Mr. Crane?
    Mr. CRANE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Crane votes aye.
    Mr. Bean?
    Mr. BEAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Bean votes aye.
    Mr. Hunt?
    Mr. HUNT. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Hunt votes aye.
    Mr. LaLota?
    Mr. LALOTA. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. LaLota votes aye.
    Ms. Maloy?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Golden?
    Mr. GOLDEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Golden votes aye.
    Mr. Mfume?
    Mr. MFUME. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mfume votes aye.
    Mr. Phillips?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Landsman?
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Landsman votes aye.
    Mr. McGarvey?
    Mr. MCGARVEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. McGarvey votes aye.
    Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez?
    Ms. GLUESENKAMP PEREZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez votes aye.
    Ms. Scholten?
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Yes.
    The CLERK. Ms. Scholten votes aye.
    Mr. Thanedar?
    Mr. THANEDAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Thanedar votes aye.
    Ms. Chu?
    Ms. CHU. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Chu votes aye.
    Ms. Davids?
    Ms. DAVIDS. Ms. Davids votes aye.
    Mr. Pappas?
    [No response.]
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez votes aye.
    Chairman Williams?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Aye.
    The CLERK. Chairman Williams votes aye.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. Are there any of the Members who 
have not voted or wished to change their vote?
    Seeing none, the clerk will report.
    The CLERK. Mr. Chairman, on that vote, 23 ayes, 0 nays, and 
0 present.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. The motion is agreed to and H.R. 
7103 is adopted and will be reported favorably to the House.
    The question now is on adopting H.R. 6156, as amended, and 
ordering it favorably reported to the House. The clerk will 
call the roll.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer?
    Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer votes aye.
    Mr. Stauber?
    Mr. STAUBER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Stauber votes aye.
    Mr. Meuser?
    Mr. MEUSER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Meuser votes aye.
    Ms. Van Duyne?
    Ms. VAN DUYNE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Van Duyne votes aye.
    Ms. Salazar?
    Ms. SALAZAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Salazar votes aye.
    Mr. Mann?
    Mr. MANN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mann votes aye.
    Mr. Ellzey?
    Mr. ELLZEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Ellzey votes aye.
    Mr. Molinaro?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Alford?
    Mr. ALFORD. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford votes aye.
    Mr. Crane?
    Mr. CRANE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Crane votes aye.
    Mr. Bean?
    Mr. BEAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Bean votes aye.
    Mr. Hunt?
    Mr. HUNT. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Hunt votes aye.
    Mr. LaLota?
    Mr. LALOTA. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. LaLota votes aye.
    Ms. Maloy?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Golden?
    Mr. GOLDEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Golden votes aye.
    Mr. Mfume?
    Mr. MFUME. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mfume votes aye.
    Mr. Phillips?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Landsman?
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Landsman votes aye.
    Mr. McGarvey?
    Mr. MCGARVEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. McGarvey votes aye.
    Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez?
    Ms. GLUESENKAMP PEREZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez votes aye.
    Ms. Scholten?
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Scholten votes aye.
    Mr. Thanedar?
    Mr. THANEDAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Thanedar votes aye.
    Ms. Chu?
    Ms. CHU. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Chu votes aye.
    Ms. Davids?
    Ms. DAVIDS. Ms. Davids votes aye.
    Mr. Pappas?
    [No response.]
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez votes aye.
    Chairman Williams?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Aye.
    The CLERK. Chairman Williams votes aye.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. Are there any of the Members who 
have not voted or wish to change their vote?
    Seeing none, the clerk will report.
    The CLERK. Mr. Chairman, on that vote, 23 ayes, 0 nays, and 
0 present.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. The motion is agreed to and H.R. 
6156, as amended, is adopted and will be reported favorably to 
the House.
    The question now is on adopting H.R. 7104, and ordered 
favorably reported to the House. The clerk will call the roll.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer?
    Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer votes aye.
    Mr. Stauber?
    Mr. STAUBER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Stauber votes aye.
    Mr. Meuser?
    Mr. MEUSER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Meuser votes aye.
    Ms. Van Duyne?
    Ms. VAN DUYNE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Van Duyne votes aye.
    Ms. Salazar?
    Ms. SALAZAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Salazar votes aye.
    Mr. Mann?
    Mr. MANN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mann votes aye.
    Mr. Ellzey?
    Mr. ELLZEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Ellzey votes aye.
    Mr. Molinaro?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Alford?
    Mr. ALFORD. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford votes aye.
    Mr. Crane?
    Mr. CRANE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Crane votes aye.
    Mr. Bean?
    Mr. BEAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Bean votes aye.
    Mr. Hunt?
    Mr. HUNT. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Hunt votes aye.
    Mr. LaLota?
    Mr. LALOTA. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. LaLota votes aye.
    Ms. Maloy?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Golden?
    Mr. GOLDEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Golden votes aye.
    Mr. Mfume?
    Mr. MFUME. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mfume votes aye.
    Mr. Phillips?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Landsman?
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Landsman votes aye.
    Mr. McGarvey?
    Mr. MCGARVEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. McGarvey votes aye.
    Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez?
    Ms. GLUESENKAMP PEREZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez votes aye.
    Ms. Scholten?
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Scholten votes aye.
    Mr. Thanedar?
    Mr. THANEDAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Thanedar votes aye.
    Ms. Chu?
    Ms. CHU. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Chu votes aye.
    Ms. Davids?
    Ms. DAVIDS. Ms. Davids votes aye.
    Mr. Pappas?
    [No response.]
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez votes aye.
    Chairman Williams?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Aye.
    The CLERK. Chairman Williams votes aye.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Are there any other Members who have not 
voted or wish to change their vote?
    The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. Mr. Chairman, on that vote, 23 ayes, 0 nays, and 
0 present.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The motion is agreed to and H.R. 7104 is 
adopted and will be reported favorably to the House.
    The question now is on adopting H.R. 7105 and ordering it 
favorably reported to the House. The clerk will call the roll.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer?
    Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer votes aye.
    Mr. Stauber?
    Mr. STAUBER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Stauber votes aye.
    Mr. Meuser?
    Mr. MEUSER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Meuser votes aye.
    Ms. Van Duyne?
    Ms. VAN DUYNE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Van Duyne votes aye.
    Ms. Salazar?
    Ms. SALAZAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Salazar votes aye.
    Mr. Mann?
    Mr. MANN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mann votes aye.
    Mr. Ellzey?
    Mr. ELLZEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Ellzey votes aye.
    Mr. Molinaro?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Alford?
    Mr. ALFORD. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford votes aye.
    Mr. Crane?
    Mr. CRANE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Crane votes aye.
    Mr. Bean?
    Mr. BEAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Bean votes aye.
    Mr. Hunt?
    Mr. HUNT. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Hunt votes aye.
    Mr. LaLota?
    Mr. LALOTA. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. LaLota votes aye.
    Ms. Maloy?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Golden?
    Mr. GOLDEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Golden votes aye.
    Mr. Mfume?
    Mr. MFUME. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mfume votes aye.
    Mr. Phillips?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Landsman?
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Landsman votes aye.
    Mr. McGarvey?
    Mr. MCGARVEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. McGarvey votes aye.
    Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez?
    Ms. GLUESENKAMP PEREZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez votes aye.
    Ms. Scholten?
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Scholten votes aye.
    Mr. Thanedar?
    Mr. THANEDAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Thanedar votes aye.
    Ms. Chu?
    Ms. CHU. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Chu votes aye.
    Ms. Davids?
    Ms. DAVIDS. Ms. Davids votes aye.
    Mr. Pappas?
    [No response.]
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez votes aye.
    Chairman Williams?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Aye.
    The CLERK. Chairman Williams votes aye.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Are there any other Members who have not 
voted or wish to change their vote?
    Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Chairman? Mr. Molinaro votes aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Molinaro votes aye.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. Mr. Chairman, on that vote, 24 ayes, 0 nays, and 
0 present.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The motion is agreed to and H.R. 7105 is 
adopted and will be reported favorably to the House.
    The question now is on adopting H.R. 7128 and ordering it 
favorably reported to the House. The clerk will call the roll.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer?
    Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer votes aye.
    Mr. Stauber?
    Mr. STAUBER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Stauber votes aye.
    Mr. Meuser?
    Mr. MEUSER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Meuser votes aye.
    Ms. Van Duyne?
    Ms. VAN DUYNE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Van Duyne votes aye.
    Ms. Salazar?
    Ms. SALAZAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Salazar votes aye.
    Mr. Mann?
    Mr. MANN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mann votes aye.
    Mr. Ellzey?
    Mr. ELLZEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Ellzey votes aye.
    Mr. Molinaro?
    Mr. MOLINARO. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Molinaro votes aye.
    Mr. Alford?
    Mr. ALFORD. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford votes aye.
    Mr. Crane?
    Mr. CRANE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Crane votes aye.
    Mr. Bean?
    Mr. BEAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Bean votes aye.
    Mr. Hunt?
    Mr. HUNT. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Hunt votes aye.
    Mr. LaLota?
    Mr. LALOTA. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. LaLota votes aye.
    Ms. Maloy?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Golden?
    Mr. GOLDEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Golden votes aye.
    Mr. Mfume?
    Mr. MFUME. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mfume votes aye.
    Mr. Phillips?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Landsman?
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Landsman votes aye.
    Mr. McGarvey?
    Mr. MCGARVEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. McGarvey votes aye.
    Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez?
    Ms. GLUESENKAMP PEREZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez votes aye.
    Ms. Scholten?
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Scholten votes aye.
    Mr. Thanedar?
    Mr. THANEDAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Thanedar votes aye.
    Ms. Chu?
    Ms. CHU. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Chu votes aye.
    Ms. Davids?
    Ms. DAVIDS. Ms. Davids votes aye.
    Mr. Pappas?
    [No response.]
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez? Can you repeat that?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez votes aye.
    Chairman Williams?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Aye.
    The CLERK. Chairman Williams votes aye.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Are there any of the Members who have 
not voted wish to change their votes?
    The clerk will report.
    The CLERK. Mr. Chairman on that vote 24 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 
present.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The motion is agreed to and H.R. 7128 is 
adopted and will be reported favorably to the House. I think 
this is about as perfect as going to get right here for the 
people of this great country that we are doing things to help 
Main Street America.
    So with that being said, the question now is on adopting 
H.R. 7129 and ordering it favorably to the House. The clerk 
will call the roll.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer?
    Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Luetkemeyer votes aye.
    Mr. Stauber?
    Mr. STAUBER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Stauber votes aye.
    Mr. Meuser?
    Mr. MEUSER. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Meuser votes aye.
    Ms. Van Duyne?
    Ms. VAN DUYNE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Van Duyne votes aye.
    Ms. Salazar?
    Ms. SALAZAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Salazar votes aye.
    Mr. Mann?
    Mr. MANN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mann votes aye.
    Mr. Ellzey?
    Mr. ELLZEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Ellzey votes aye.
    Mr. Molinaro?
    Mr. MOLINARO. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Molinaro votes aye.
    Mr. Alford?
    Mr. ALFORD. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Alford votes aye.
    Mr. Crane?
    Mr. CRANE. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Crane votes aye.
    Mr. Bean?
    Mr. BEAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Bean votes aye.
    Mr. Hunt?
    Mr. HUNT. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Hunt votes aye.
    Mr. LaLota?
    Mr. LALOTA. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. LaLota votes aye.
    Ms. Maloy?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Golden?
    Mr. GOLDEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Golden votes aye.
    Mr. Mfume?
    Mr. MFUME. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Mfume votes aye.
    Mr. Phillips?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Landsman?
    Mr. LANDSMAN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Landsman votes aye.
    Mr. McGarvey?
    Mr. MCGARVEY. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. McGarvey votes aye.
    Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez?
    Ms. GLUESENKAMP PEREZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez votes aye.
    Ms. Scholten?
    Ms. SCHOLTEN. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Scholten votes aye.
    Mr. Thanedar?
    Mr. THANEDAR. Aye.
    The CLERK. Mr. Thanedar votes aye.
    Ms. Chu?
    Ms. CHU. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ms. Chu votes aye.
    Ms. Davids?
    Ms. DAVIDS. Ms. Davids votes aye.
    Mr. Pappas?
    [No response.]
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez?
    Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Aye.
    The CLERK. Ranking Member Velazquez votes aye.
    Chairman Williams?
    Chairman WILLIAMS. Aye.
    The CLERK. Chairman Williams votes aye.
    Mr. Chairman, on that vote, 24 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 present.
    Chairman WILLIAMS. The motion is agreed to and H.R. 7129 is 
adopted and will be reported favorably to the House.
    Let me also say, without objection, Committee staff is 
authorized to make technically conforming changes, and Members 
have 2 business days to file additional supplemental descending 
and minority views.
    Thanks for being here today. We did a good job. I am proud 
of all of you. Thank you.
    [Whereupon, at 12:14 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
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