[House Hearing, 119 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
250 YEARS OF AMERICAN LEGACY: SMALL
BUSINESSES AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD
JULY 1, 2026
__________
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Small Business Committee Document Number 119-040
Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
64-146 WASHINGTON : 2026
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas, Chairman
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas
JAKE ELLZEY, Texas
MARK ALFORD, Missouri
BRAD FINSTAD, Minnesota
TONY WIED, Wisconsin
ROB BRESNAHAN, Pennsylvania
BRIAN JACK, Georgia
KIMBERLYN KING-HINDS, Northern Marina Islands
DEREK SCHMIDT, Kansas
JIMMY PATRONIS, Florida
CLAY FULLER, Georgia
NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member
MORGAN MCGARVEY, Kentucky
HILLARY SCHOLTEN, Michigan
LAMONICA MCIVER, New Jersey
GIL CISNEROS, California
KELLY MORRISON, Minnesota
GEORGE LATIMER, New York
DEREK TRAN, California
LATEEFAH SIMON, California
JOHNNY OLSZEWSKI, Maryland
MAGGIE GOODLANDER, New Hampshire
ANALILIA MEJIA, New Jersey
Sean Dillon, Majority Staff Director
Melissa Jung, Minority Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Hon. Roger Williams.............................................. 1
Hon. Johnny Olszewski............................................ 3
WITNESSES
Mr. Adrian Adornetto, Owner, Adornetto's-Giacomo's, Zanesville,
OH............................................................. 5
Mr. Philip Freeman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Murphy's
Naturals, Inc.-The Loading Dock, LLC, Raleigh, NC.............. 7
Ms. Anne Shybunko-Moore, Owner and Chief Executive Officer, GSE
Dynamics, Inc., Hauppauge, NY.................................. 9
Ms. Veronica Cool, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cool &
Associates LLC, Baltimore, MD.................................. 10
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Mr. Adrian Adornetto, Owner, Adornetto's-Giacomo's,
Zanesville, OH............................................. 32
Mr. Philip Freeman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer,
Murphy's Naturals, Inc.-The Loading Dock, LLC, Raleigh, NC. 36
Ms. Anne Shybunko-Moore, Owner and Chief Executive Officer,
GSE Dynamics, Inc., Hauppauge, NY.......................... 41
Ms. Veronica Cool, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Cool & Associates LLC, Baltimore, MD....................... 50
Questions and Answers for the Record:
Questions from Hon. Velazquez and Hon. Olszewski to Mr.
Freeman and Answers from Mr. Freeman....................... 56
Questions from Hon. Velazquez and Hon. Olszewski to Ms.
Shybunko-Moore and Answers from Ms. Shybunko-Moore......... 59
Questions from Hon. Velazquez and Hon. Olszewski to Ms. Cool
and Answers from Ms. Cool.................................. 61
Additional Material for the Record:
Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC).......................... 65
Small Business Majority Letter............................... 67
SBC Democrat Report One...................................... 71
SBC Democrat Report Two...................................... 88
American Business Immigration Coalition Action (ABIC)........ 111
Democrat Letter to SBA Letter................................ 112
USHBC Letter................................................. 117
SBC Democrat Letter to Admin................................. 122
SBC Democrat Letter to SBA................................... 130
H.R. 8563.................................................... 139
250 YEARS OF AMERICAN LEGACY: SMALL BUSINESSES AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2026
House of Representatives,
Committee on Small Business,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:04 a.m., in Room
2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Roger Williams
[chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Williams, Meuser, Van Duyne,
Ellzey, Jack, King-Hinds, Schmidt, Patronis, Tran, Olszewski,
and Goodlander.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Before we get started, I want to
recognize Representative King-Hinds, who is with us, to lead us
in the pledge and the prayer. Would you please stand.
Ms. KING-HINDS. Heavenly Father, thank you for the
opportunity to gather in service. As we celebrate 250 years of
America's small business, we give thanks and ask for continued
blessings for the innovators, the entrepreneurs, the workers,
and the families behind these small businesses that have worked
really hard to build our communities and strengthen our
country.
Today, I also ask each and every one of you to lift up
those who are facing hardship, whatever it may be, especially
the people from my district where another typhoon threatens to
hit this Fourth of July while many of us are still recovering
from a super-typhoon 2 months ago.
God, I also pray that the Members of this Committee be--
their words, their thoughts, and their actions is a reflection
of your goodness, kindness, and mercy so that we can continue
the work of further providing opportunities for small
businesses and future businesses across this great nation for
250 more years.
In God's name we pray, amen.
All. 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.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Good morning everyone. And I now call
the Committee on Small Business to order. Without objection,
the Chair is authorized to declare a recess of the Committee at
any time. I now recognize myself for my opening statement.
I want to welcome everybody to today's hearing, 250 Years
of American Legacy: Small Businesses and the American Dream.
Happy birthday.
I want to thank our witnesses for joining us today at this
time, and for sharing their time with us and their experience
and perspectives with this Committee.
And in just a few days, our nation will celebrate the 250th
anniversary of an American independence. Throughout this year,
this Committee has been welcoming to small business owners from
every corner of the country to share their experiences and
their perspectives. Time and time again, their stories have
reflected the same qualities that have defined America for the
past 250 years: Hard work, innovation, and resilience in the
pursuit of an opportunity.
As we reflect on our nation's history, it is clear that any
American story would be incomplete without recognizing the role
of the small business entrepreneurs. American history is, in
many ways, a story of a small business, from the earliest
settlements to the modern economy, entrepreneurship has been
woven into the fabric of our nation.
The men and women who built America were farmers, they were
merchants, craftsmen, innovators, and manufacturers. From
America's earliest days, small businesses created jobs,
introduced new ideas, and helped transform a collection of
colleagues into the most prosperous nation in history.
The American Revolution itself was shaped by entrepreneurs.
Taverns served as gathering places for discussion,
organization. Printers, including Benjamin Franklin,
distributed ideas that have inspired us for a new nation and
for centuries.
Small businesses were not merely witnesses to American
history, they were the architects of American history. And just
as a small business helped build America, this country has
provided an environment where small businesses can thrive. Free
markets, access to capital, and strong protections for private
property and intellectual property, have created the most
dynamic economy in the world, and the best place to start a
small business.
So consider the American innovators who changed the world:
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and the
Wright Brothers, Walter Chrysler, and countless others. Their
achievements transformed industries, strengthened communities,
and improved everyday life for millions and millions around the
world.
As that spirit of innovation comes today across the
country, millions of small business owners are developing new
technologies and carrying forward the tradition of the American
enterprise. Today's hearing is not only about celebrating the
past, it is also about preserving the American Dream for future
generations. We have some in this room today.
And several of our witnesses represent businesses that have
endured wars, recessions, technological change, and shifting
markets. Their stories demonstrate that entrepreneurship is not
simply about starting a small business, it is about building a
legacy.
So as we look forward to America's next 250 years--and I
will be there if you want to come; we will set something up,
okay?--we must ensure that small businesses remain equipped to
compete, innovate, and grow.
The success of our nation has always been tied to the
success of entrepreneurs and if America is to remain prosperous
and strong, it will be because future generations continue the
work of building, creating, and taking risk.
I would like to thank our witnesses again for being here on
the Fourth of July and, again, for being here. I look forward
to the discussion.
I now yield to our Ranking Member from Maryland, my friend,
Mr. Olszewski, for his opening remarks.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And good
morning to all. I appreciate you calling this very timely
hearing. Thanks to all of our witnesses for your presence
today.
I want to just express my excitement about America's 250th.
Mr. Chairman, I look forward to joining you in 250 years more
as well.
But as we approach this milestone, this 250th anniversary
of our country's founding, as a former American Government
teacher, I am reminded of the first words in the preamble to
our Constitution: We, the people, of the U.S., in order to form
a more perfect union.
For 250 years, our effort to build that more perfect union
has endured countless trials and tribulations, tragedies and
triumphs. We are blessed to live in the greatest country in the
world, where opportunity and prosperity are available to all.
America became the greatest country in the world, in part,
because of the ingenuity and grit of our small businesses and
the hundreds of millions of immigrants, our forefathers, who
came ashore to start building their dreams. Immigrants, like
your ancestors and mine, are how we formed that more perfect
union. But today we know our union is also under attack.
Corporate greed is causing our markets to consolidate,
making it harder for scrappy new startups to enter and remain
in business. Simply put, the deck is stacked against the little
guy. As everything becomes less affordable due to tariffs and
the war, small companies are struggling to pay their bills and
their staff. These are our constituents, and they are being
left behind.
ICE is swarming our cities, provoking fear in workers,
small business owners and our neighbors. That does not make us
safer. It makes us less strong.
To that end, Mr. Chairman, I request unanimous consent to
insert this statement of the American Business Immigration
Coalition and Small Business Majority into the record.
Chairman WILLIAMS. So moved.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Thank you. But there is good news. Our main
street businesses are resilient, and they show up for our
communities in the face of hardship. That is the American way.
That is the spirit of our nation.
Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and their
issues aren't Democratic, they are not Republican. They are
American issues. It is why I am proud to have worked with
Chairman Williams and Members across the aisle in this
Committee to pass commonsense legislation to improve small
business assistance across the federal government. But we
cannot celebrate main street one day, and look the other way
when this administration's policies make lives harder.
So I look forward to a robust discussion about what has
truly driven the success of main street in our nation, and what
hasn't, the impacts of tariffs, healthcare costs, and the
massive unnecessary disruption to our immigrant communities.
So as we commemorate America's 250th anniversary, let's
honor the generations of entrepreneurs, immigrants, and the
motivated hard workers who helped build this nation. Let's
choose action over inaction and bipartisan solutions over
gridlock.
I yield back.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back. We will now
move to the witness introductions.
Our first witness is Mr. Adrian Adornetto. Mr. Adornetto is
the owner of Adornetto's and Giacomo's in Zanesville, Ohio. Is
that right? These family-owned businesses have been serving
customers in Ohio for more than 65 years. Mr. Adornetto's
family's American story began when his grandparents emigrated
from Sicily, Italy, and helped build the foundation for
Adornetto's Pizzeria, which his father Jimmy opened in 1958.
Jimmy later founded Giacomo's Bakery in 1994, fulfilling his
passion for artisan bread. Both family businesses continue to
serve fresh scratch-made Italian food and baked goods.
Mr. Adornetto's purchase of the family business in 2012
continues the tradition of quality Italian food and community
service. Today he is investing the next generation by teaching
his 11-year-old son, who is here, the family business, with the
hope that he will one day become its third generation owner.
Thank you for being here today very much.
The next witness is Mr. Philip Freeman. Mr. Freeman is the
founder and CEO of Murphy's Naturals, a North Carolina-based
manufacturer of natural outdoor products, and The Loading Dock,
an innovative cowarehousing space for entrepreneurs.
Mr. Freeman spent 23 years in packaging sales before
founding Murphy's Naturals in his garage in 2013 when what
began as a search for an effective natural mosquito repellent
has grown into a nationally recognized brand. And as the
businesses expanded, he founded The Loading Dock, a coworking
and warehouse community that has helped hundreds of small
businesses launch and grow by providing affordable flexible
workplace.
Those mosquitoes, do you have an office in Texas?
Mr. FREEMAN. We are very popular.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay. Mr. Freeman is part of the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council where he advocates
for policies to strengthen America's small businesses. He
earned a communications degree from Virginia Tech and served 8
years as Deep-Sea Diving Officer in the U.S. Navy. Thank you
for your service, and I look forward to our discussion here.
Our next witness is Mrs. Anne Shybunko-Moore. Mrs.
Shybunko-Moore is the CEO and owner of GSE Dynamics, a U.S.
defense manufacturer founded by her father, Daniel, in 1971.
GSE Dynamics serves the defense industrial base by supplying
the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army, and major aerospace
manufacturers. She joined her father's company in 2001 and has
led its expansion into one of the nation's largest federally
certified Women-Owned Small Business. She also serves on the
Manufacturing and America Advisory Committee, where she
provides strategic guidance to the federal government on
strengthening supply chains, including global competitiveness
and supporting America's small business manufacturers.
Mrs. Shybunko-Moore and her husband, Jamie, have four sons
who may one day carry on the family business as its next
generation of leaders. I look forward to your testimony.
I now recognize the Ranking Member from Maryland, Mr.
Olszewski, to briefly introduce our last witness appearing
before us today.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Happy to welcome
Ms. Veronica Cool, who is the President and CEO of Cool &
Associates, LLC, a bilingual outreach and strategy firm
specializing in marketing and engagement for the Latino
community.
Before her time as an entrepreneur, Ms. Cool was a banker
with Wells Fargo and Bank of America, respectively. Previously,
Ms. Cool also sat on the Open Society Institute Board and the
Maryland Governor's Workforce Investment Board and has served
as the Chairperson of the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce.
Prior to coming to Congress, as Baltimore County executive,
I had the privilege to partner with Ms. Cool's firm to provide
my constituents with translation services for our town halls.
Thank you so much for being an outstanding partner in our
language and interpretation work and for helping to level the
playing field for our immigrant entrepreneur communities, both
then and now.
Ms. Cool holds a bachelor's degree in finance and
international business from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
and a master's degree in finance from Loyola University in
Maryland. Welcome, Ms. Cool.
Chairman WILLIAMS. There is a Cool, Texas, in my district.
Yeah. If you run for office there, you will have instant name
ID.
Before recognizing the witnesses, I would like to remind
them that their oral testimony is restricted to 5 minutes in
length. If you see the light turn red in front of you, it means
your 5 minutes have concluded, and you should wrap up your
testimony. If you continue to go further, you will hear this,
and that means you need to stop. But we will be fine on time.
I now recognize Mr. Adornetto for his 5-minute opening
remarks.
STATEMENTS OF ADRIAN ADORNETTO, OWNER, ADORNETTO'S-GIACOMO'S;
PHILIP FREEMAN, FOUNDER & CEO, MURPHY'S NATURALS, INC.-THE
LOADING DOCK, LLC; ANNE SHYBUNKO-MOORE, OWNER & CEO, GSE
DYNAMICS, INC.; AND VERONICA COOL, PRESIDENT & CEO, COOL &
ASSOCIATES LLC.
STATEMENT OF ADRIAN ADORNETTO
Mr. ADORNETTO. Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Dr.
Olszewski, and distinguished Members of the Committee, good
morning, and thank you for inviting me to testify today. It is
a privilege to appear before you and share my family's story
and what entrepreneurship has meant to generations of Americans
like mine.
I am grateful to have my wife, Erika, here with me, along
with two of our four children, Enzo and Giada. The other two,
Gabriella and Jase, are back home in Ohio. They are the reason
this work matters, because everything my family has built has
always been about creating opportunity for the next generation.
My name is Adrian Adornetto. I am a husband, a father, a
proud American by birth, a Sicilian by heritage, an
entrepreneur by calling, and a product of the American Dream.
My grandparents, Phillip and Catherine Adornetto, came to this
country from Sicily with hope, determination, faith, and an
unwavering belief in the opportunity, and a lot of courage,
might I add.
My grandmother was only 9 years old, my grandfather was a
teenager when they left everything they knew in search of a
better life in America. They actually later met in America and
married and settled in a small town called Zanesville, Ohio,
where they raised three sons. One became a doctor of optometry,
one built a career in financial management and leadership, and
then my father, James, Jim Adornetto, chose entrepreneurship.
With the encouragement and sacrifice of his parents and his
two brothers, my father opened Adornetto's Pizzeria in 1958
when he was just 19 years old. He later opened Giacomo's Bread
& More in 1994. I grew up in those restaurants.
Just the other day, I realized my first boardroom was not
in the corporate office, it was every Sunday morning after
church around the breakfast table, and my grandmother, father,
aunts, uncles, and relatives talked about the previous week's
business, what worked well, what didn't work well, how do we
improve it, what is on tap for next week.
Growing up, I became--growing up, I dreamed of becoming an
actor, and my family never pressured me into the restaurant
business. But over time, the restaurant business found me, and
I fell in love with the energy, the teamwork, the busy nights,
and the chance to create memorable experiences for guests.
In 2013, my father and I completed the transition of the
family business. I purchased the operating business, while he
retained the real estate. We wanted it to be a transition
specifically. We were father and son first, business partners
second.
Those lessons and other lessons also shaped the way I
viewed leadership beyond my own restaurants. As a past board
chair, the Ohio Restaurant Hospitality Alliance, I had the
opportunity to work with and advocate for restaurants and
hospitality businesses across our State.
That experience reinforced something I already knew from my
own family businesses. Small business leadership matters. It
matters to employees, communities, local suppliers, young
workers, and the future of main street.
You see, my grandparents sought the American Dream, my
father spent his life building it, and I have been blessed with
the opportunity to continue it. Now my greatest responsibility
is to preserve it for my children and, hopefully, someday for
my grandchildren. No pressure. No pressure, guys.
But preserving that dream requires more than the family
pride. It requires business environment where small businesses
can survive, reinvest, hire, and pass opportunity on to the
next generation.
Running a restaurant has never been easy over the years. We
have faced recessions, supply disruptions, inflation, labor
challenges, rising operating costs, but nothing, nothing
compared to COVID, which nearly shut us down permanently.
We survived because of our employees, our community, and
our ability to adapt. I have spoken a lot about my family.
There is also my employee family. My family's business would
not be where it is today without thousands of Ohioans who have
worked for us over the past 6 decades.
Many start at entry-level jobs as teenagers, saw an
opportunity in this industry, and offered--that the industry
offered and worked their way to positions of greater
responsibility.
I am grateful to Members of Congress who recognize small
businesses are still carrying the burden from the pandemic,
inflation, and rising costs. Tax provisions, such as
accelerated depreciation, make a real difference. They allowed
me to reinvest in my business, complete overdue improvements,
renovate locations, and hire local Zanesville, Ohio contractors
to do the work.
Family businesses do not just pass down recipes, they pass
down values, responsibilities, work ethic, integrity, and the
belief that every generation should leave something better than
it found. Restaurants and small businesses like mine are part
of the American fabric.
To our patrons, we are gathering places for first dates,
anniversaries, birthdays, sports celebrations, and family
milestones. To our communities, we are employers, training
grounds, and taxpayers, and anchors to the local economy.
Thank you again for allowing me to share my life or
family's story. It is in many ways a story of America.
May God bless our small businesses, the customers who
support them, the employees who work them, the families who
build them, and the United States of America.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Gentleman yields back.
I now recognize Mr. Freeman for his 5-minute opening
remarks.
STATEMENT OF PHILIP FREEMAN
Mr. FREEMAN. Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Olszewski,
distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for the
opportunity to testify today.
My name is Philip Freeman, and I am the founder and CEO of
Murphy's Naturals, a natural products company based in Raleigh,
North Carolina, that manufactures plant-based mosquito
repellents. I am also the founder of The Loading Dock, a
coworking and cowarehousing community serving nearly 1300
members and 450 small businesses.
I am proud to testify on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce and its Small Business Council, of which I am a
Member. As we mark 250 years of American independence, there is
no better time to reflect on the ultimate engine of this
nation's prosperity: American small business.
My entrepreneurial journey didn't start in the traditional
way, and I didn't have a formal finance background or
education. It started on the Virginia farm where I was raised
and later during my service as a Deep-Sea Diving Officer in the
United States Navy.
For decades, I filed away business ideas, telling myself
the time wasn't right. But sitting in my garage in Raleigh, I
looked at a simple problem that we had at home. My wife, Pam,
who is here, she is an absolute mosquito magnet, and we both
disliked the chemical repellents that were on the market.
Because I couldn't find an effective natural alternative, I
developed one myself. So garage-born. That is the American
story: Identifying a need, taking a risk, and building
something from nothing.
What started in our garage has grown into a 120,000-square-
foot manufacturing facility where we make 85 percent of our
products and employ nearly 50 full-time team members.
But scaling is never a straight line. Early on, I hit a
massive roadblock, which was space. Traditional commercial
leases were rigid, expensive, and completely mismatched for the
bootstrap startup. I signed a multiyear personal guaranteed
lease for a small space, outgrew it in 6 months, and found
myself trapped. There had to be a better way.
When I finally found a larger facility, I decided to build
a concept to help other entrepreneurs facing those same
hurdles. I leased extra space, and I launched The Loading Dock.
Today, we provide flexible, affordable cowarehousing for
hundreds of startups across three campuses.
Essentially, we were a startup starting a startup for
startups, and that is a little bit crazy and not well-advised,
but it has worked.
But that is what small business owners do. We don't just
solve our own problems. We build the infrastructure to help
others solve theirs. But we can't do it alone.
On behalf of entrepreneurs working around the clock, I want
to highlight three urgent priorities for the Committee.
First, access to capital and flexible space. The single
greatest barrier for an early-stage company is infrastructure.
Congress can unlock immense growth by expanding access to SBA
lending tools and supporting flexible small business
infrastructure.
Second, regulatory clarity and innovation. Small businesses
can't afford teams of lawyers. We need clear, accessible
guidance from federal agencies so entrepreneurs have a clear
path to bring forward disruptive beneficial ideas.
Three, pathways for veterans and second-career founders.
Our most successful founders are often veterans who bring
decades of wisdom. Congress must continue to fund vital
pipelines, like Hiring Our Heroes and The Honor Foundation.
We provide generous education opportunities for veterans.
Imagine the economic impact if we could provide similar grants
and favorable loans for veterans taking a startup risk.
Members of the Committee, 250 years ago, our Founders of
this nation bet everything on a radical idea, that free people,
given the opportunity, would build something extraordinary. The
American Dream is not a relic of the past. It is alive in every
garage, spare bedroom, and warehouse bay across your districts.
But it requires tending, it requires policies that lower
barriers, reward responsibility and trust in American
ingenuity.
I am here because I believe this Committee has the power to
make it easier for the next Philip Freeman to take that leap a
little sooner with the confidence that their country is the
wind at their back.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Gentleman yields back.
I now recognize Mrs. Shybunko-Moore for her 5-minute
opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF ANNE SHYBUNKO-MOORE
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Chairman Williams, Ranking Member
Olszewski, and Members of the Committee, my name is Anne
Shybunko-Moore, and I am the owner and CEO of GSE Dynamics. We
are a family-owned defense manufacturer on Long Island, New
York.
I am honored to be here on behalf of the small businesses
and manufacturers that drive our nation's economy. My company
grew out of the cradle of aviation on Long Island. It was from
Long Island's Roosevelt Field that Charles Lindbergh began his
flight across the Atlantic.
And it was on Long Island during the Golden Age of Aviation
following The Great War that manufacturers pioneered aircraft,
not for wartime, but for peacetime, opening the skies for
commercial flight.
And it was a Long Island company named Grumman Aerospace
that transformed carrier-based aircraft during World War II.
Grumman helped give the arsenal of democracy its wings. Later,
Grumman answered the call to make the impossible real, crafting
the Apollo Lunar Module that landed America on the moon.
Grumman also built something else, my father, Daniel
Shybunko's, career. My father was an engineer when the company
encouraged him to start a small side business in 1971. And 8
years later, he left Grumman to run GSE Dynamics full-time.
Decades after I walked the factory floor as a child, he
invited me to join the company in 2001. And in 2003, GSE became
a woman-owned small business, and I continued to work beside my
dad until his passing in 2019.
And today, GSE is a top woman-owned supplier for the U.S.
military, building complex assemblies for the B-52 bomber, the
M1 Abrams tank, naval submarines, and many more. We are the top
woman-owned small business supplier to DLA Aviation and a
critical supplier for the U.S. Navy's periscope mast fairings.
And with over 90 employees, we are among the 93 percent of U.S.
manufacturers classified as small businesses.
This is my family's story, and this is GSE's story. This is
a true Long Island story. And today, just days from America's
250th anniversary, this is an American story.
America's small businesses have always been where
innovation takes flight. But as everyone in this room knows,
America's success does not just happen. It must be built, it
must be protected, and it must be strengthened.
The best investment in manufacturers comes from public
policies that help small businesses like mine invest, grow, and
thrive. First and foremost, that means protecting pro-growth
tax policies like those Congress passed last year in H.R. 1.
Provisions like immediate expensing are helping GSE invest in
the future.
Already this year, we have purchased a new 5-Axis Machining
Center that will help us build better and faster. We are also
expanding a facility and investing in new research to help keep
GSE on the cutting-edge.
Secondly, we need reliable access to capital, because long
before a product leaves the factory floor, manufacturers must
invest in expensive equipment and raw materials to build it.
That is why increasing SBA lending limits is so important,
precisely as this Committee did through the Made in America
Manufacturing Finance Act.
Third, we must address workforce shortages. Manufacturing
offers great careers for highly skilled technicians,
machinists, welders, tradespeople, along with administrative
and professional staff. We must strengthen employer-led
workforce training and encourage more young people to see
manufacturing as a career of purpose and opportunity.
And finally, we must remember that our national security
depends on a strong Defense Industrial Base. To build more
resilient supply chains, we need a 21st century permitting
system. We need to protect pro-America, pro-manufacturing trade
agreements, like the USMCA, and we need more access to key
inputs, like critical minerals.
And when I think about America's 250th anniversary, I think
about the chance my father took 50 years ago on a country that
rewards risk-takers. I think about GSE's contribution, not just
to Long Island's story as the cradle of aviation, but to
America's story as the land of opportunity, a place where
manufacturers don't just build products; we build families, and
we build communities, and we build a stronger country.
Fifty years from now, I hope another family business will
be here telling its story or maybe even my son, James, will be
sharing GSE's next chapter. That will happen through your
courage and your vision to back policies that strengthen
America's industrial base.
If our leaders work together, America will lead as the best
place in the world to create and make things, and our dreams
will take flight. Thank you very much.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Thank you. Well said. The gentlelady
yields back.
I now recognize Ms. Cool for her 5-minute opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF VERONICA COOL
Ms. COOL. Chairman Williams, Ranking Member Velazquez,
Congressman Johnny O, thank you very much for having me today.
Fifteen years ago, I was sitting at my kitchen table
wondering whether filing the paperwork for a tiny government
subcontract was even worth the effort. Today, it is one of the
greatest honors of my life to appear before Congress because
that little opportunity became the foundation of a company that
now helps strengthen communities across our entire country.
That is the American Dream.
My name is Veronica Cool, and I am the founder, president,
and CEO of Cool & Associates, LLC, a Maryland-based small
business I started in 2011. I was born in Dominican Republic,
and I came to the U.S. believing what millions of immigrants
have believed for generations: That if I worked hard, if I kept
learning, treating people with integrity and I persevered, I
could build a better life. And America gave me that
opportunity.
When I started my business, I didn't have investors, I
didn't have venture capital or a family business I inherited. I
had 20 years of banking experience, grit, and an idea. That
organizations could better serve people by building trust, not
just translating words. And that little tiny idea became the
basis for my company.
Today, our team helps government agencies across all
aisles. Hospitals, nonprofits, universities, and businesses
communicate more effectively, engage communities and solve very
complicated issues. But our success, just like my fellow
witnesses here, didn't happen overnight.
Like every single entrepreneur, we had to work really hard
and earn it. One of our very first government contracts was a
tiny little thing, as I mentioned earlier. And I remember
thinking, it probably wasn't even worth it. The paperwork was
excessive, the compliance reporting was extensive. And for us
being tiny, it actually felt like more work than the work we
were getting paid to do. But, of course, we kept delivering and
working on it.
That one opportunity became another and then another, and
every project taught us something. Every satisfied client
became a reference. Every single problem, mistake and challenge
made us stronger.
Recently I had one of those full-circle moments that we all
celebrate and hope for. During a really competitive procurement
bid, I learned that the prime contractor and every
subcontractor in that group had adjusted their schedule around
ours because the agency wanted the Cool team included in the
proposal, not because we were the biggest, not because it was a
large marketing budget, but because over 15 years, we had
earned the reputation for delivering quality, building trust,
and helping organizations genuinely connect with the
communities they serve.
I have been fortunate to receive awards throughout my
career, but that one moment meant more to me than any other
plaque or recognition. It told me that our work became trusted
enough to influence outcomes that improve communities and
create opportunity. To me, that is what entrepreneurship is all
about.
Small businesses do not just create jobs. We solve
problems. We strengthen neighborhoods, and we mentor future
leaders. We create opportunities for others. We build legacy.
That is what my father taught me.
My team experienced that firsthand during the COVID-19
pandemic. We supported the State of Maryland, Governor Hogan at
that time, by translating and culturally adapting urgent public
health information in a matter of hours so essential workers
and multilingual communities could receive lifesaving
information when they needed it the most. We were proud to do
it even though it required around-the-clock work, significant
personal sacrifice, and tremendous resilience.
Experiences like that have taught me that one important
lesson. Communication is economic infrastructure. And being in
Baltimore, we know that ports and highways are transportation,
but communication is an integral part of that.
When people understand how to access healthcare, workforce
opportunities, government services, and small business
resources, they show up, and they participate. When they
participate, businesses grow, communities become stronger, and
our economy benefits.
And as Congress looks to that next 250 years, I am hoping
for something simple. Please continue to create an environment
where entrepreneurs can do what they do best: Innovate, adapt,
and build.
Please provide greater predictability, reduce unnecessary
administrative burdens, invest in workforce development and
technology.
Please ensure that qualified small businesses have the
opportunity to compete.
The American Dream, I know, did not guarantee success, but
it did promise opportunity. That opportunity changed my life,
and I hope, together, we can ensure remains available for the
future generation of entrepreneurs.
I thank you for the opportunity and look forward to your
questions.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlelady yields back. Those were
great opening comments--thank you--for all of you. We will now
move to the Member questions under the 5-minute rule that we
went over with you. I now recognize myself for 5 minutes.
Mr. Adornetto, successfully been in business for 68 years,
you said, crossing two generations. And according to Pizza
Today, your business is in the top 100 independently owned
pizzerias in the nation.
My question is, what has enabled you to remain successful
across multiple generations? And as you look to the future,
what lessons do you hope to pass down to the next generation
that is sitting behind you to ensure that you continue for many
years and many more generations to come?
Mr. ADORNETTO. You know, as I said in my opening statement,
Mr. Chairman--thank you for the question, by the way--just the
work ethic that was passed down to me from my grandparents, my
father has helped us achieve that; our community, our great
workforce that we have had in the past and currently. And
hopefully in the future--reference the future--hopefully have
more workforce development. We need that in hospitality
industry, making sure that people realize that they can make a
career of that. And, obviously, access the capital and
expansion will help out greatly, and continuing to achieve that
award with Pizza Today in the future as well for the next
generations to come.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Great. Mr. Freeman, to you, you started
your first company, Murphy's Naturals, in search of a natural
bug repellent for your wife. That is a great story in itself.
After experiencing the firsthand challenges of starting the
scaling back--scaling a business, you then launched your second
business, The Loading Dock, which is a flexible warehouse
space, as you talked about, where you help mentor and guide
other growing entrepreneurs.
So the question is, can you share how The Loading Dock is
helping other small business owners overcome barriers, grow
their companies, and achieve the American Dream?
Mr. FREEMAN. Yes, sir. And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the
question.
One of the biggest hurdles that I ran into starting off was
I was a solopreneur. I was doing things on my own. I didn't
have much of a base of support to work from, to ask questions
about how you start a new business. It was really figuring it
out myself in that scrappy way.
There were many hurdles that I had to overcome. Some were,
as I mentioned before, signing a multiyear lease for a
warehouse and having to personally guarantee that when I really
didn't know if my business would thrive or not. I figured there
had to be a better way to do this.
So what we did was we created a vast amount of warehouse
space, and we divided it into individual units. And that
allowed small business to come in and use as little as a
hundred square feet to support their business, and that is an
incredible thing for them to have that flexibility.
Now we have units as big as 2400 square feet, but we don't
require a lease, and we don't require a personal guarantee. As
a matter of fact, they don't even have to buy the material
handling equipment that they need to move their goods, to
receive goods, to warehouse goods, and to ship goods. We supply
all of that, and it is shared.
So by removing some of those hurdles, it made a massive
difference for people to be willing to start something, and I
would never want anyone to regret never starting something
because of those hurdles. Now, we can't remove the hurdles to
entrepreneurialism, but we can lower them. And if we lower them
and we get a few more people to say, yes, I am going to give it
a try, then that matters.
And then lastly, as far as that is concerned, we have built
a community. When you think about all those different
entrepreneurs working in the same building together, they share
ideas, they commiserate, they speak about the victories, the
challenges, and that is a big deal.
When you have other people to work with, even though they
are not part of the same company, that is a very, very big deal
and to have that community.
And that is all around Murphy's Naturals at our main
headquarters. So we derive energy from all of those people, and
several of those people became team members at Murphy's
Naturals as well. So very beneficial.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Well, thank you for that.
And in the limited time I have got, Mrs. Shybunko-Moore,
since the founding of our nation, small businesses have played
a vital role in strengthening America's ability to defend
itself.
Could you speak briefly to the unique role that small
businesses like yours play in supporting America's warfighters
today, and, more broadly, can you talk about what is critical
for our national security that we continue to foster an
environment where small business can start, grow, and thrive?
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Thank you very much for the question.
It is a big question for something very important that we all
do.
So to support, obviously, the defense industrial base
brings pride every day, not only to me and my family, but to my
employees, which is the most important thing that I have,
right? My workforce.
So I think right now, I am going to get to the end of your
question first with the time allotted here. We have to focus on
workforce and make sure that we continue to train the workforce
that can manufacture the parts that we need for our national
security. We need to make sure that we are building our supply
chain, we need to make sure that we are building capacity and
capability in this nation and which right now, I believe it was
referenced, it is diminishing right now with all the different
business dealings that are going on. We absolutely have a
diminishing supply chain in our defense industrial base, which
poses a threat.
And I also believe we need to do some more branding and
marketing for manufacturing. We have to make sure that people
understand that it is a noble job to be in a manufacturing
company.
Chairman WILLIAMS. My time is up.
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. I saw that. That is why I went to the
end of your question first. Thank you.
Chairman WILLIAMS. I now recognize the Ranking Member for 5
minutes of questions.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It is the
250th anniversary. So, Ms. Cool, I will start with a fun
question.
Why is America the best place to start a small business?
Ms. COOL. Oh, my gosh. The United States of America rewards
innovation. When an immigrant can come with the focus and the
determination to build the business from the ground up like me,
that is rewarded. That is absolutely rewarded.
And being able to create jobs, invest in my neighborhoods,
invest in my communities, you can't do that anywhere else in
the world. So happy birthday.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Happy birthday, America, indeed. And, Ms.
Cool, your story is an inspiration and, I think, speaks to that
promise.
I know that minority Committee staff released two reports
warning about the ways in which the Trump administration is
draining main street of critical immigrant staff and
entrepreneurs.
So, Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent to put
those reports into the record.
Chairman WILLIAMS. So moved.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Thank you. Ms. Cool, can you speak to how
you see President Trump's mass deportations as hurting your
clients' ability to find and keep workers and make sales?
Ms. COOL. Well, I can speak from the perspective of seeing
what is happening in my communities and the organizations we
serve.
When there is uncertainty around immigration, many
employers report greater difficulty recruiting and retaining
workers, and the community declines in participating because
hesitation, they are fearful. So whether we are talking about
healthcare, workforce, we need stability. Trust matters.
My hope is that we can maintain a legal or a lawful
immigration system that also serves the small businesses so
that our workers can grow and our communities can feel more
stable.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. I appreciate that perspective. Mrs.
Shybunko-Moore, someone who has a difficult name, I appreciate
sharing that with you.
Women-owned small businesses saw 2.3 billion less in
federal contract dollars than in 2024. The WOSB program is
severely underused and the goals are unmet.
Can you speak to how bolstering this critical program might
help small businesses and the industrial base?
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Yeah, absolutely, and thank you for
that question, indeed. So I think in general, before you get to
the woman-owned small business specific, though, I think you
have to accept the fact that there are more barriers to entry
into federal contracting as a whole.
So I would say that across the board, it is hard to get
companies to, again, enter into federal contracting. And then,
as you narrow into the woman-owned small business, you have to
ensure that they are mentored and trained and understand all
the requirements and regulations in order to succeed.
And when I was on the National Women's Business Council a
few years back, that was really the focus. You can bring them
to the federal contracting world, but you really have to ensure
that they will succeed in it. And I think that is definitely a
focus of mine in terms of making sure that we are mentoring and
training and working together as partners in that federal
contracting world.
Small business community is very close, and we do tend to
want everyone to rise and succeed. So I think it is imperative
that, again, we continue to look at what the red tape is to get
into federal contracting, that we minimize it--I know the
administrator is working on that--the access, again, to
capital, so that women-owned businesses can succeed and grow.
And overall, just be able to have a conversation,
communication direct with the government, which I will say in
my years of experience, I am thrilled to see that there is
strong communication right now between the small business
leaders, and specifically, Defense Logistics Agency. I have
never seen the support right now, because I think they
recognize the need and the imperative nature of making sure
that these businesses thrive.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Appreciate that. And then, Mr. Freeman, you
write that several of your product components can't be sourced
in the U.S. and that, quote, ``tariffs will eliminate profits
and put this innovative technology into a loss position.''
Can you just expand a little bit upon that and, sort of,
the impacts you are seeing? Thanks.
Mr. FREEMAN. I will be happy to. Thank you. So, yeah,
tariffs are definitely a challenge, especially when you don't
have the time to plan for them. Because oftentimes, we are
pricing products for retail and giving those price points well
in advance.
And we have had the situation where tariffs have hit us in
a way that we had to absorb a lot of that additional cost. But
we show adaptability. And where it created some challenges for
us, it also created opportunities as well.
In terms of because we are a manufacturer, people actually
asked us if we could manufacture for them as a U.S.-based
company. So there are challenges with it, but there are also
benefits.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Thank you for that. I see my time has
expired. Happy birthday, America.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
I now recognize Mr. Meuser from the great State of
Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
Mr. MEUSER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for
being here very much. We are glad to be with you. It seems like
a very strong and positive discussion we are having, so that is
very important to hear.
I have spent a lot of time helping grow small businesses to
a large business myself for almost 25 years. And sometimes when
people say, What does it take? I say, Well, find out what you
like, be committed to it, and in 20 years you might have
something.
So there is a lot of--the environment matters, of course,
small business accounts for 99 percent of--not employment, but
of the businesses, about 60 percent of the employment. So it is
really truly the proverbial, but literal backbone of the United
States economy.
Taxes, regulations, skills development, workforce, overall
environment that can be created within a State, you know, State
regulations, like in Pennsylvania, matter a lot. We tend to
have--we are very, very overly burdened with regulations in
Pennsylvania. We need to change that. Versus Florida, Georgia,
the Carolinas, Tennessee, Texas, where all the jobs are going
to. You know, consumer demand, I mean, that is a big part of
government, right? Making sure that interest rates are there,
access to capital, of course, all of those regulations.
But outside of that--well, you know, there is an old
saying, too, just get out of my way, which you probably say on
occasion. But then again, from OSHA, many of the other
regulations and workers' compensation, you know, all these
things are definitely necessary.
You know, there is a reason--I just looked this up. You
know, the EU, in 1995, had a GDP of $8.3 trillion, 800 billion
more than the United States. We were at 7.6. Today, the EU is
at 21.2, and we are at $30 trillion. So we are obviously doing
a lot right as far as growing an economy.
So just based upon the conversations and statements you
have been making--and, Ms. Moore, I am going to start with you,
if you don't mind. I am from Long Island originally, by the
way, so I see your business is in Hauppauge. And I grew up
there, and I remember Grumman extremely well. I think everybody
worked at Grumman there for a little while.
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. They did.
Mr. MEUSER. But congratulations on your business. If you
were sitting in my seat, if you were making some of these
governmental rules and all, what do you think you would need to
make you grow better over the next 5 years?
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Yeah. Thank you. And happy to hear
that you are from Long Island.
I think right now, people need to recognize that, first of
all, small businesses in manufacturing to me is a center aisle
issue. Everyone should support small businesses and
manufacturing.
And at the end of the day, no matter what decisions are
happening here, we still have to work every day, make our
product and feed, for myself, 90 families, right? At the end of
the day, that is what I am responsible for.
So I am always looking at the decisions that are being done
and made here, ensuring that, again, in order to grow, access
to capital is always the key. I would like to buy more
equipment, I would like to grow my capacity, I would like to
grow my capability, continue to grow and expand and support the
U.S. Defense Industrial Base, and then, obviously, create jobs
that people can be proud of, that people can support their
families on.
So sometimes I have to stop hearing the noise that is
sometimes out there and focus that I just have to continue
waking up every morning and making the products that I make and
meet the goals and production rates that I have.
Mr. MEUSER. Products, people, process. All the Ps you got
to nail. Payment, very important in business.
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Yes.
Mr. MEUSER. The working family tax cut, which was in the
big beautiful bill, you mentioned earlier the importance of it,
199A, the bonus depreciation, the R&D tax cuts----
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Yes.
Mr. MEUSER.--perhaps the overtime also help your employers.
Move on to Ms. Cool, could you maybe answer the same
question as far as what would you like to see improve from a
regulatory government tax standpoint for your business to grow
better over the next 5 years?
Ms. COOL. I would say predictability. We need to be able to
plan. For us to invest, buy equipment, hire people. Same thing
with my clients. I cannot get commitments on contracts or
proposals because they themselves are impacted what may happen
tomorrow.
So as we are planning to feed our families, to keep our
folks employed, to pay for kids' colleges, mortgages, we can't
afford to go out and make willy-nilly decisions because
tomorrow the rules have changed.
Mr. MEUSER. I agree very much.
Ms. COOL. But being able to have predictability is a
priority.
Mr. MEUSER. That is very important. I very much agree.
Mr. Adornetto, same question to you.
Mr. ADORNETTO. Adornetto. Yes, sir. Thank you for the
question.
Mr. MEUSER. Adornetto, got it.
Mr. ADORNETTO. I would say obviously predictability as
well, access to capital, continue to do--specifically, you have
done some things with no tax on tips on the federal level, and
that has helped my industry specifically.
Mr. MEUSER. Sure.
Mr. ADORNETTO. The employees that----
Mr. MEUSER. Pardon me. My time has expired.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
I now recognize Mr. Tran from the great State of California
for 5 minutes.
Mr. TRAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ranking
Member, for convening today's hearing. Thank you to the
witnesses for being here.
For 250 years, the American Dream has been built by people
who believed hard work and took a leap of faith to build
something of their own. Nowhere is that story more powerful
than in Southern California.
There is our small business community in Southern
California. In Los Angeles and Orange County, I see it every
day. These are family-owned restaurants, manufacturers,
contractors, startups, and neighborhood shops. They are run by
entrepreneurs from every background, including Asian Americans,
Latinos, and immigrant business owners who have helped power
our economy and create good-paying jobs. They represent the
very best of America.
This Committee has done real bipartisan work for this
Congress, moving bill after bill with support from both sides
of the aisle. At a time when Congress feels more divided than
ever, this Committee has shown that bipartisan progress is
still possible.
But good bipartisan bills sitting on the Senate floor does
not help anyone on main street. In fact, there are over 20
bipartisan small business bills that have passed this House and
are now stalled in the Senate. The Senate Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship, under the leadership of Senator
Joni Ernst, has held just a handful of markups this Congress
all last year and none this year.
And while those bipartisan bills stall, small businesses
across America cannot afford to wait. They are facing raising
costs, uncertainty, and economic pressures every single day.
They are dealing with President Trump's trade war, tariffs that
raises the costs of supplies, inflation, the loss of the
Affordable Care Act tax credit, and the costs of oil and energy
skyrocketing due to the President's war of choice in Iran.
That is why Senate gridlock is so costly. Every month,
bipartisan bills sit without Senate consideration is a month
small business owners go without relief while costs keep
climbing around them. Main street is asking Congress for help,
and right now Chairwoman Ernst isn't answering. The Small
Business Committee has proven bipartisan progress is possible.
Now the Senate needs to match that urgency and act.
Ms. Cool, from your perspective working with small
businesses, is President Trump's erratic policies making it
harder for entrepreneurs?
Ms. COOL. Speaking from my perspective, the lack of
predictability certainly impacts me as a small business. So,
again, anyone we work with, whether it is a client, whether it
is a partner, whether it is a vendor, without knowing what is
happening tomorrow, we are hampered.
Mr. TRAN. Let me follow up with, what would it mean for
main street if Senate Republicans sit on these bipartisan bills
while financial pressure keeps building up?
Ms. COOL. You know, again, speaking from my perspective, I
can tell you that we, as small businesses, need improved
procurement access, improved access to technical assistance,
you know, support for new technologies like AI. So when things
are delayed repeatedly, we cannot make decisions, we cannot
hire comfortably, we can't invest in future plans.
Mr. TRAN. Ms. Cool, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services announced it will make temporary visa holders leave
America to apply for green cards, something that I am actually
working with the Judiciary Committee to oppose.
How will that policy hurt immigrant entrepreneurs and the
Americans that they employ?
Ms. COOL. You know, we mentioned at the very beginning how
the United States rewards innovation. When we do not know,
regardless of the status, whether you are able to stay or not,
whether tomorrow the rug gets pulled from you, that impacts our
ability to make decisions. I feel like a broken record, so
apologies for that.
But not knowing if a status or a current small business
will not be able to function tomorrow prevents us from bidding
on things, prevents us from hiring, from paying our workers. It
is that simple.
Mr. TRAN. Shifting gears a bit. Healthcare costs are still
a barrier to entrepreneurship for Americans looking to take the
leap of faith and start a small business.
Ms. Cool, how would expanding healthcare through Medicaid
and the ACA help aspiring entrepreneurs join the business
community?
Ms. COOL. That is actually one of the main reasons people
do not start small businesses, because they need to have their
family covered. So when we don't have access to healthcare, we
are unable to make or take that innovative risk to launch the
business and grow the business.
Mr. TRAN. With the few seconds I have left, Mrs. Shybunko-
Moore, do you have anything to add to that question?
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Again, I echo the predictability. But
I think also, if you were to look through the lens of a small
business owner, just please look at all the risks that we are
trying to mitigate every day. It is healthcare, it is the cost
of material, it is the cost of salaries, it is the cost of
living.
So please, these are stackable for us. We are dealing with
this every day, as you are voting on one issue at a time.
Mr. TRAN. Thank you so much. And with that, I yield back.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
I now recognize Ms. King-Hinds from the great Northern
Mariana Islands for 5 minutes.
Ms. KING-HINDS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
As we celebrate America's 250th anniversary, one of the
greatest lessons that we can learn from small businesses is
resilience. I have heard you tell your stories about having to
endure the pandemic, have to endure changing regulations, lack
of clarity and just the changing business dynamics, right?
And so folks back home, small business back home right now
have barely recovered from a super-typhoon that hit us 2 months
ago. And as I head back home tomorrow, I have got to board up
because another typhoon is on the way, right?
And, you know, the one beautiful thing that we saw after
this last typhoon was, you know, these businesses, they lost
inventory, you know, they lost their roofs, they lost
equipment, but they quickly came back the next day. They
cleaned, you know, they started rebuilding, and people just
started helping one another.
And the one thing that I have realized, having been a
Member for 18 months, is that, you know, whether you are from
the Marianas or from the United States, the continental United
States, right, our communities are built by the same values,
which is faith, you know, family, hard work, and the belief
that tomorrow can be better than today.
And I feel that my responsibility as a Member of Congress
is to ensure that you are given every opportunity in terms of,
you know, just some of the policies that are out there to
thrive so that this country can continue on, you know, this
great American path.
So I want to yield the remainder of my time to you, and I
will start with Mr. Adornetto to just--you know, if there is
one policy that you can change, you know, what would it be? And
I want everybody to have equal time, so--I have about 2:50.
Please share.
Mr. ADORNETTO. In my industry, credit card swipe fees. They
are approaching more in my profit and loss than what I pay for
benefits for my employees.
Mr. FREEMAN. For my industry at Murphy's Naturals, we fall
under the U.S. EPA, and it would be really helpful from an
innovative standpoint if we were able to have ways, have people
who could advocate for us for bringing forward new and
inventive ways of using natural products that don't necessarily
conform to the strict guidelines that are in place now, where
we could actually add new ingredients. Because the list has
been the same for a very long time on active and inerts.
So to have the ability to introduce new ingredients,
natural ingredients, would be a huge help.
Ms. KING-HINDS. Okay.
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Thank you very much for the time.
Again, in my industry, I am going to say the word
predictability again and ensuring that demand signals are clear
for the defense industry, making sure that we are able to buy,
again, the raw material that we need to get.
So we need to talk much more about funding and how we can
manage cash better in the small business so that we can grow
and buy new equipment and grow capability, which I have
mentioned.
But the other that I will say with these few seconds left
is that I think we have to remember we are celebrating 250
years, and we are all now thinking, what does this next long
game look like, the next 250 years? And I am hoping and praying
every day, not only in my short life and perspective that I can
pass on my company to my family, but also that we just continue
to focus again on this long game of small businesses and
manufacturing.
I believe, Chairman, you mentioned the architects, right?
Well, I am curious what drawings we are drawing right now for
the next 250 years of what U.S. manufacturing looks like, and I
do hope that we are, again, looking at the long game, the
decisions that are going to impact us for these next 250 years.
Thank you.
Ms. COOL. So echoing a lot of what my fellow witnesses have
mentioned, from me is--needs to be language access. It is not
just symbolic to put something in a foreign language so we can
access it. The world is global. Our community is global,
regardless of what anyone is thinking. And when we don't
provide access in simple language, we are missing a swath of
the population.
That is our workforce. That is our future doctors, the
future architects. These are the people that are driving the
next 250 years. When issues are complex and not easily
digestible, we are excluding folks.
Along with language access, one of the main things that can
be done is technical assistance, especially around new
technologies like AI. It is not going anywhere. So do we have
access to resources where small businesses can be supported and
learning and implementing those tools so that we are able,
then, to function and continue to be competitive?
Ms. KING-HINDS. I am out of time. I yield back.
Thank you.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlelady yields back.
I now recognize Ms. Goodlander from the great State of New
Hampshire for 5 minutes.
Ms. GOODLANDER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you to our witnesses for being here today and for
sharing your American small-business stories. It is exactly the
right spirit for this week, for this moment, because we have
gathered in the 250th year of the greatest experiment in self-
government that the world has ever known.
Two hundred and fifty years ago this week, the Second
Continental Congress--and Congress doesn't get a lot of great
reviews these days, but we did do one very good thing 250 years
ago, and that was in creating a five-person subcommittee to
draft a declaration.
The effort was led by a 33-year-old Virginian, Thomas
Jefferson. He spent 17 days in a rented room in Philadelphia.
And what he produced, what that congressional subcommittee
produced was probably the best thing Congress has ever
produced, and it was probably the most consequential document
in the history of human freedom.
``We hold these truths to be self-evident''--
straightforward, not bureaucratic, just a clear statement that
every human being is created equal and entitled to rights, to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I had a chance a few weeks ago to spend some time with
three extraordinary small businesses in my State of New
Hampshire. Our motto as a State is ``Live Free or Die.'' And we
have family farmers who have been operating their farms for 250
years. Their ancestors fought in the Revolution, and they are
continuing to fight to keep these small businesses afloat.
One of the things I talked about with these three
incredible small businesses was, how have you stayed in
business for 250 years? And, really, I think the answer to how
small businesses, how America stays forever young is a constant
reinvention.
And, Ms. Cool, you said it so well, that reinvention is the
small-business superpower. It is constantly inventing to solve
problems and to seize opportunities. And you have all done that
in your own small businesses.
But the throughline, to me, in this hearing has been the
absolute urgency in giving you the predictability and the
clarity that you need to continue to stay forever young and to
fuel our economy.
We know that kleptocracy, that arbitrary and capricious
decision-making is the enemy of predictability and clarity.
Kleptocracy is bad for small business. Lawless and
unconstitutional taxation is bad for small businesses. In fact,
they were the sources of the Revolution.
And so, as I have listened to small businesses across the
State of New Hampshire, we come back again and again to the
unconstitutional, to the corrupt and extremely costly tariffs
that President Trump unilaterally imposed on every small
business in this country.
We challenge those tariffs in court. We were successful in
the Supreme Court. We are pressing for reimbursement for every
unconstitutional dollar that was taxed by this President.
Mr. Freeman, you spoke about the impact of tariffs on your
small business. Have you sought to be reimbursed for these
unconstitutional taxes?
Mr. FREEMAN. Certainly, as a small business, every bit of
cash that we can have, that we can deploy is critical. So, yes,
I mean, we have submitted for refunds of tariffs, and----
Ms. GOODLANDER. And have you received those refunds?
Mr. FREEMAN. No, but we just received an update, actually,
yesterday that we will be receiving a credit, and actually
coming through one of our vendors who actually imported--they
were the importer of record--and they let us know about a
credit that we would be receiving.
And we just recently were able to go through the process of
getting on the portal and submitting for those that we had
purchased directly from overseas suppliers.
Ms. GOODLANDER. Well, the amount of time and effort and
cost that has been put on every small business in this country
to recoup taxes that never should have been imposed in the
first place is outrageous.
We are working around the clock to press this
administration to issue these reimbursements way more quickly
and with way less red tape and hassle. You shouldn't have to
have an army of lawyers to be able to get back what is owed to
you and never should have been taken from you in the first
place.
So I thank you all for being here today.
And, with that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentlelady yields back.
I now recognize Mr. Patronis and one of the great
entrepreneur restaurateurs in Florida, from that great State,
for 5 minutes.
Mr. PATRONIS. I got so each excited about Adrian being
here, I am telling you. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a
cool slate of folks you invited up, no offense to anybody else.
But I am going to nerd out a little bit. My family has been
in the same family restaurant business for 70 years. My uncle
and dad started it back in 1958, and now my kids are working
there, so three generations. It is tough; it is tough working
with family.
And, yeah, you are singing to the choir when you speak
``interchange fees'' and ``card swipe fees.'' Not everybody
here understands what that means, but everybody here that has a
credit card--every single one of you use a credit card when you
go out to eat. But did you know that, at Adrian's restaurant,
every time you swipe that card, it costs him anywhere from 4 to
5 percent out of his pocket so you can get your miles, so you
can get your rebates, you know? It is great when you use that
Costco card and you get 3 percent back, but you probably didn't
realize Adrian is the one paying for it. And so, yeah, the
credit card swipe fees is something.
And we are in a society now--back when I was in the State
legislature, I even advocated for a bill that said businesses
had to take cash, because I still feel like there is an
importance to having legal tender that is not, you know, some
credit-card-managed, you know, type of doing business.
But it is what it is. We are in a society now where credit
cards make up 75 percent of your business--or more, you know,
yeah.
But that is--look, it is--but thank God, you know, it is
intoxicating, the restaurant business. Where else do you get to
see somebody celebrate an engagement or an anniversary or a
birthday? And they can go eat at anybody's restaurant in the
whole entire town, but he decided to come to yours, you know?
And so it is exciting to see.
I will ask some questions.
I am assuming, as long as your business has been around, is
your dad still around?
Mr. ADORNETTO. No, sir. My dad passed away in 2023.
Mr. PATRONIS. Yeah. I lost my dad in 2020. So my dad and
uncle were partners. They shared a desk, you know? They worked
shifts.
My brothers--I was there for 30 years, and then my brothers
now still--I am the baby--we still--to kind of get along from
keeping at each other's throats, they still clock in and clock
out. If you want a paycheck, you are in the building taking
care of the customer. If you are not there taking care of the
customer, then no sense in being paid. So now, since I am in
Congress, I don't get paid.
So, when you worked through that transition----
Mr. ADORNETTO. Uh-huh.
Mr. PATRONIS.--did you have siblings also in the business
with you?
Mr. ADORNETTO. I did not. I did not. I was an only child.
We, actually, Congressman, share the same starting year--
1950, I think I heard you say----
Mr. PATRONIS. Yeah.
Mr. ADORNETTO.--and that is when my father started his.
No, I am an only child, so the barrier wasn't that I didn't
want it and worked for it to have the opportunity to talk to my
father. My father wanted me to take it over. For us, being a
small business, it was just the access of, how do we do this?
The legalities.
Mr. PATRONIS. Yeah.
Mr. ADORNETTO. Watching for what tax implications we could
trip into; talking to accountants.
And they were all great people and professionals that
helped us out through it, but we spent a lot of time. And it
got to one point where--I believe we were 6 months in--I said,
``Hey, listen. The founder wants to do it. He has a buyer; it
happens to be his son. Let's figure out these legalities and
the tax implications and let's get this done.'' We just dragged
out money and bills and further and further.
So it was a good situation. I do know a lot of family
businesses, maybe some on this panel, that have different
family members, whether it is aunts, uncles, siblings, that
could be quite contentious. And that is unfortunate, because
that is how some businesses lose----
Mr. PATRONIS. Sure.
Mr. ADORNETTO.--and fall apart and families split apart.
So----
Mr. PATRONIS. And then those are the struggles we are going
through right now. Now I have--it was just four boys working
for my dad, and my uncle had no kids, but now all my nieces are
in it. And so my mom went from having four boys to seven
granddaughters. So now the business is overrun with women
running it now--which is great. They do a great job.
Mr. ADORNETTO. Uh-huh.
Mr. PATRONIS. But it is--it is still--as much as I would
love to work with my family every day, some days I would love
to, you know, vote them off the island because of the
challenges you run into.
We----
Mr. ADORNETTO. My kids are right there. I don't want them
to vote me off the island.
Mr. PATRONIS. It is okay. You don't have stock yet. But
maybe if he takes advantage of the tax law, he will start
gifting you the maximum amount every single year early on.
But it is--it is just an honor to see, still, people
wanting to be in the restaurant business. What you have, you
could not start it today. And, you know, God bless your dad for
doing what he did.
Mr. ADORNETTO. Thank you.
Mr. PATRONIS. I yield, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
I now recognize Mr. Schmidt from the great State of Kansas
for 5 minutes.
Mr. SCHMIDT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I appreciate the witnesses being here. It has been a
pleasant discussion to listen to, with folks, sort of,
analytically discussing information. It doesn't always happen
around this place. I was in a hearing yesterday in a different
committee where I was, embarrassingly, between two folks
shouting at each other, and I carefully read my notes while
trying to look impartial.
I had just a handful of questions.
I was thinking about that famous line that President Reagan
used, ``The nine most terrifying words in the English language
are, 'I'm from the government, and I'm here to help,''' and
thinking about what I would characterize as part of the
intellectual tension that I have heard discussed here. On the
one hand, we need certainty, we need government policy that is
predictable, we need to not be whipsawed all the time. I
understand that. And, on the other hand, sort of, the spirit of
1776. There are times when you just have to make bold change
and you are worried a little less about the short-term
uncertainty and a little more about the long-term trends and,
kind of, where you are headed. And those have been in tension
throughout our history.
So a couple of questions along that line.
Regulatory reform, generally--I always love the, sort of,
top-line back-and-forth debates that you hear about, are
regulations good or bad? And the answer is, they are both. They
often have good purpose, and many of them we need. And, on the
other hand, it is possible to have too much of a good thing,
and you impose compliance costs that are unnecessary and create
other harm, right? And so it is a balance.
I have pointed out before that, the year I was born, in
1968, the Code of Federal Regulations--which, of course, is the
compiled list of all of the law made by bureaucrats, made by
folks with authority we have delegated to them in Congress--was
about 50,000 pages. Today, it is about 200,000 pages. It has
quadrupled in my lifetime.
And I guess I would just invite--we will just go down the
line, in the time I have--I would invite you to comment on
regulatory compliance costs, and are there areas we should be
looking, from your vantage point, where perhaps we have gone
overboard and we could scale it a back a bit, free up some--
some freedom of motion on your part?
Mr. Adornetto?
Mr. ADORNETTO. You know, the first one that comes to my
mind is the Affordable Care Act. As a small business, I was
stretching around everywhere trying to find, how does this
work? What can I do? What is my resource? I even called the 1-
800 number at the time, going back to 2013-2014. Still get
confused by it. I have talked to insurance agents that I try to
deal with, and they are confused by it.
Recently, we retired a brand that was 51 years old that we
didn't mention in my testimony. As a result of that, I went
from a large employer, if you can believe it or not, three
restaurants, in rural Ohio, open in the evening--so a large
employer to a small employer.
Mr. SCHMIDT. Uh-huh.
Mr. ADORNETTO. Just that change alone was about $3,500 a
month, for virtually the same healthcare that we had prior,
because of status.
And so that is where I have some ongoing issues with trying
to figure out the regulations on that and make sure that I am
staying compliant, make sure I am doing the right paperwork--
because I do all of our own payroll and things like that in-
house--and just make sure we are not getting ourselves in
trouble.
Mr. SCHMIDT. Thank you very much.
Mr. Freeman?
Mr. FREEMAN. Thank you for the question and opportunity to
speak to it.
I mentioned EPA regulatory earlier. Another thing that is a
challenge there--and, definitely, the EPA, you know, serves its
purposes, but there are challenges for small businesses, too,
when you have red tape that you have to work through.
Each individual State, many of them--I would say about 37
to 38 of them--have their own regulatory bodies, but sometimes
they are in conflict with one another, and we have to hire
consultants. Those consultants are very expensive.
It would be nice if there were greater coordination between
the U.S. EPA and the State bodies to streamline that so we
didn't have the conflicting regulations between them.
But that would be something that would be incredibly
beneficial to us, to have one guiding policy for repellant
products.
Mr. SCHMIDT. Thank you very much.
Time is tight, but Mrs. Shybunko-Moore?
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Sure.
So, in my business, Federal Acquisition Requirements are
everything. And so my issue right now is: Obviously, we are
advancing technology in the sector, manufacturing sector, but
the federal regulations flow-down with cybersecurity right now
are incredibly burdensome.
I don't think the flow-down of the supply chain on small
businesses was necessarily assessed in terms of how it impacts
operations every day, and I think we need to look at how we are
flowing down the cybersecurity requirements with CUI and other
issues.
Mr. SCHMIDT. Thank you.
Ms. Cool, I have 2 seconds, if you want to speak fast.
Ms. COOL. Super-fast. Procurement.
Chairman WILLIAMS. If you wouldn't mind saying it one more
time?
Ms. COOL. Procurement. Simplifying procurement.
Mr. SCHMIDT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank the witnesses.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
Now we recognize Mr. Jack from the great State of Georgia.
And it appears all the ``little Jacks'' are here.
Mr. JACK. I wish that were the case, but, Mr. Chairman, I
am delighted to be joined today by my former high school
basketball coach. And you, as the coach of our congressional
baseball team, I thought he could hopefully share some
embarrassing stories about me to you.
But I want to acknowledge Coach Michael Wylder and his
wife, Kathy, and their entire family for coming.
Thank you.
And they are here to celebrate America's 250th birthday, as
are we all this weekend.
And to celebrate, last year, the President of the United
States enacted H.R. 1, the Working Families Tax Cuts. And I
would like to start my line of questioning hearing from the
small-business owners before us as to how helpful H.R. 1 was
and continues to be to your business.
So, if we could start with Mr. Adornetto, I would welcome
your comments and feedback.
Mr. ADORNETTO. Forgive me. I am not well-versed on that.
Can you explain what those tax cuts----
Mr. JACK. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Mr. ADORNETTO. Thank you.
Mr. JACK. Yes.
Mr. ADORNETTO. Of course, I mentioned in my opening
testimony, but I will reiterate: the accelerated depreciation,
where I can buy equipment, American-made equipment--True out of
St. Louis, Missouri; Manitowoc ice machines out of Manitowoc,
Wisconsin. They were great help to us in accelerating doing
remodels and facelifts to our restaurants.
Mr. JACK. Wonderful. Thank you.
Mr. Freeman?
Mr. FREEMAN. Yes, sir. Definitely, when you take
passthrough organizations, making those tax cuts permanent so
that we are more in line with the C-corp type corporations,
that is a big deal for us as well, to make those tax cuts
permanent.
Mr. JACK. And if I can ask you as well, Mr. Freeman, what
more could Congress be doing to make life easier and more
affordable for small business?
Mr. FREEMAN. In a little bit different vein, access to
capital. That is the biggest thing and has been the biggest
challenge and hurdle for us, is having access to capital
sufficient for the growth that we have in front of us and the
opportunity.
Mr. JACK. I should ask Mr. Adornetto.
Mr. ADORNETTO. I would actually have to agree. Again, going
through a restaurant remodel, that was one of the hardest
challenges, was to access capital and to get hands on money to
reinvest in an industry that sometimes banks don't want to open
their pocketbooks for.
Mr. JACK. One of the issues I care deeply about is
deregulation, and would welcome thoughts from both of you
gentlemen on deregulatory efforts, what you would like to see
accomplished across that as we have a few more months left in
this Congress.
Mr. ADORNETTO. I welcome deregulation. There are some
things with--some regulatory things with healthcare that I
would probably be more concerned with more than anything else.
Mr. JACK. Sure.
Mr. Freeman?
Mr. FREEMAN. From a regulatory perspective, I understand
regulation. I would say, when it goes too far and it is a
hindrance to business and the progress of business, anything
that can be done to help reduce the friction for small business
would be incredibly helpful.
Mr. JACK. Mrs. Shybunko-Moore?
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. I would say, any tax policy that
promotes growth is obviously critical--so the immediate
expensing in regards to capital investments that I am making,
the R&D tax that was done.
Anything that puts more cash into my operations, where I
can then reinvest and, again, be innovative and be that
entrepreneur that we are, is critical.
Mr. JACK. Well, Mr. Chairman, I want to highlight just a
few of the things that I have heard from constituents in my
district--specifically, what we accomplished 1 year ago this
Saturday.
We prevented the largest tax increase in American history
by making President Trump's tax cuts permanent, saving the
average American family from a $1,700 tax increase.
We delivered the largest tax cut in American history for
working and middle-class Americans, including an estimated 15-
percent tax cut for Americans earning between $30,000 and
$80,000 annually.
We preserved the double standard deduction for more than 90
percent of taxpayers, strengthened the Child Tax Credit, and
eliminated taxes on tips, taxes on overtime, so hardworking
Americans can keep more of what they earn.
I also want to note, specifically in my home State of
Georgia, since H.R. 1 became law, manufacturers have announced
billions of dollars in new investments, not just across the
country but also in my State, including new steel mills,
pharmaceutical facilities, battery plants, and advanced
manufacturing projects.
In my home State of Georgia specifically, companies have
announced a $223-million rare-earth magnet manufacturing
facility and a $400-million poultry processing plant, which
means a lot to our farmers, means a lot to the ag community in
Georgia. So, for those actions and stories that I have heard
from my district, I am very grateful.
I wish you all well this weekend. I hope you are able to
enjoy the festivities.
And, Mr. Chairman, I applaud you for hosting this committee
hearing. I hope, 250 years from now, people are looking back to
our transcript and enjoying the conversation we had as our
country celebrates its 500th-year anniversary 250 years from
Saturday.
I yield back.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Three of us have already committed to be
here 250 years from now.
The gentleman yields back.
And, now, before we close, I have another question, as does
the Ranking Member have a question.
So let me say this. Each of you is part of a
multigenerational business or has got the potential to have one
and pass one down to generations. And my business back in
Texas, we now--I am second generation, third generation is
running it, and fourth generation is coming down on Saturday.
So we are pretty excited about that.
And I was glad to see the federal income tax exemption go
from $15 million per person to $30 million per couple under the
Working Families Tax Cuts.
So what does that--you know, we talk about, always, we are
saving the family farm, we are doing this and that. But it is
not the family farm we are saving, it is all businesses, by
being able to pass this down without having to pay taxes.
So what does this change mean to you, and how does it
impact your business, to pass your business on to the next
generation? Maybe each one of you can answer that.
Mr. ADORNETTO. Very grateful for the change. It is greatly
impactful. It will help in our situation.
Hopefully, Mr. Chairman, I will be living many more years
to come, but I hope that that stays that level or possibly
increases and other vehicles to help out in passing a family
business down to the next generation.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Yeah.
Mr. FREEMAN. Yes, sir. As the founder of our companies, one
thing that would be meaningful for us is the ability to tweak
what has been put into place.
For us, if you are a C corp, there is the founder discount,
which is significant when there is any sort of transaction for
the company. But we were established originally as an S corp,
so not eligible for that reason.
So, if it could be expanded to S corps that later became C
corps--which we did--that would be very meaningful for our
particular situation.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Thank you.
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. I think, in my industry, the
unpredictability is the only thing that is predictable. So any
decisions that are made that can, again, provide stability is
critical for me.
Anything that we can do to invest and reinvest not only in
my company but in regional manufacturing and national
manufacturing is just something that I am incredibly passionate
about.
And so I want to make sure that when you are making
decisions, that they are based on entrepreneurship and
innovation and risk mitigation and how do we create the best
manufacturing companies in this next generation and, more
importantly, how do we stay relevant with the pace at which
technology is moving.
Make sure that we are looking at steps that can be made so
that, again, we can continue to pass on our companies and keep
them private. Right? That is important to me, personally, that
my sons are able to maintain private ownership and that it
maintains a manufacturing company, not a financial company. I
think that is something we have to focus on.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Okay.
Ms. Cool?
Ms. COOL. Yeah. For me, it is similar.
You know, we haven't been able to explore all the benefits.
I mean, definitely have to engage my accountant and my lawyer
on that. And, similarly, we are an S corp, so there is
definitely opportunity--or additional cost--for me to figure
out how to do this.
And I will echo what my fellow witnesses have mentioned.
When major legislation like this is passed and we aren't
looking at small businesses and seeking their input in advance,
we have to catch up.
So, as long as we are investing the energy to ensure we
have the resources to hire, to invest over the long haul, to
think about the next generation, my own children, 22 and 24,
how they can come into the business--all these pieces take time
to plan.
Chairman WILLIAMS. All right.
I yield back, to the Ranking Member.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. And I thank the Chairman for an opportunity
to go a little deeper.
Thank you all again for your time.
I have a quick observation and then a quick question, I
hope.
One is, it seems clear: Access to capital--huge issue. Yes?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I have heard it over and over again from this panel, and I
couldn't agree more--which is why I am concerned about a change
that the SBA made back in February of 2026 around lending
policies that would bar all small businesses with any amount of
ownership by non-citizens lawfully in the U.S. from
participating in the flagship 7(a) and 504 CDC lending
programs. That change was subsequently extended to the surety
bond and microloan programs.
And so my concern is, as we are talking about access to
capital, we are affirmatively taking away access to capital
through some of these changes.
And so, since I didn't have time before, I just wanted to
add to the record again and ask unanimous consent to put a
letter of concern that Members from the Committee have shared,
Mr. Chairman.
Chairman WILLIAMS. So moved.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Thank you.
And I just would reiterate that I hope that we can do
something on that issue. I think it is a very specific,
tangible way that we can make access to capital available for
more people, and would welcome you all in that work.
My question is really around housing, about, sort of, the
cost of housing generally.
Mrs. Shybunko-Moore, I know that you spoke specifically
about the Long Island press--if others want to weigh in as
well--but just, sort of, talking about--can you talk briefly
about, sort of, the impact you are seeing for employees as the
cost of housing for starter homes is now over a million dollars
in many places--people are turning 40 before they can buy their
first home--and just what you are seeing on that landscape.
Mrs. SHYBUNKO-MOORE. Sure. And Long Island certainly is
facing a lot of housing issues. So I will say that I have been
working with local legislation on whether there can be an
employee-employer effort to where we can somehow assist with
their downpayment. I think that is something that had been done
years ago in Long Island. I would love to see that in our
region and then broadly as well, because I think they do need
assistance, and I think that owning a home is an American dream
that everyone should have before they are 50.
So, you know, it is something--and when I am looking at,
obviously, the operations of my company, I am concerned about
all the costs that my employees are trying to carry and,
obviously, trying to maintain my workforce. It is hard to
attract people to Long Island, it is hard to attract people to
New York, because of the cost of living.
So I think we need to be creative in the way that we can
somehow work with families and government and private
businesses to figure out if we can find a solution with all
those parties involved.
Mr. OLSZEWSKI. Yeah. I appreciate that.
I saw a lot of head-shaking, so, in the interest of time, I
will take that as agreement.
I would love to have this Committee continue to engage with
you and others about, to the extent it is in our purview,
finding those kinds of opportunities to do partnerships with
business to make homeownership more real.
I will just note as I conclude: Very proud of the ways in
which this Congress passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan housing
package. Probably the only major item of significance that I
have seen be that kind of bipartisan approach that
overwhelmingly addresses cost of living and some of those
issues without some of the back-and-forth or the concerns that
we have had.
There are some provisions, for example, in the
reconciliation package that I actually supported, like the no
tax on tips, like the no tax on Social Security, like the
depreciation. There are other elements I think are problematic
for Americans and for small business.
But this was legislation that was overwhelmingly
bipartisan, will have the impact of lowering costs. I think it
is the model for our way forward. It is why I really appreciate
the partnership I have had with the Chairman in passing out
some bipartisan legislation from this Committee. I echo
Representative Tran's sentiments. We hope to see the Senate
move on them.
It is not a ``big yawn,'' as the President said. I think it
is important, it is impactful. And I hope that we can keep
working with all of you to keep making progress on that
legislation.
And, again, I thank you for the time, and I yield back.
Chairman WILLIAMS. The gentleman yields back.
I have three of my fellow Congressmen here.
Do you all have about a 1-minute question real quick?
Mr. PATRONIS. I think all I want to plug, Mr. Chairman, is
a very special opportunity for our guests here, just because
the American 250 display is going to be in the Rayburn Room,
especially for the little guys. That is at 1:30 to 3:30.
We are going to have James Madison's copy of ``The
Federalist,'' we are going to have the second printing of the
Declaration of Independence, and we will have an original
letter from Thomas Jefferson celebrating the 50th anniversary
of our country.
So anybody in the room could stop--the Rayburn Room is
right across from the House Chamber.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Congressman Schmidt?
Mr. SCHMIDT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just appreciate the
witnesses.
Chairman WILLIAMS. Congressman Jack?
Mr. JACK. I echo Mr. Schmidt. Thank you.
I yield back.
Chairman WILLIAMS. All right.
I would like to thank our witnesses for their testimony and
for appearing before us today.
It has been a great hearing. And we always like to say
that--you see a lot of hearings on TV. Some go different
directions. This Committee here, we really do work hard to be
bipartisan, and it shows, what we get out of here. And I
appreciate all the Members.
And, without objection, Members have 5 legislative days to
submit additional materials and written questions for the
witnesses to the Chair, which will be forwarded to the
witnesses.
I ask the witnesses to please do that promptly.
And if there is no further business, without objection, the
Committee is adjourned. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 11:36 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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