[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1731-S1732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       PPP Extension Act of 2021

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to urge swift passage of the 
PPP Extension Act, which will extend the March 31 deadline for the 
Paycheck Protection Program 2 months, to May 31, and give the SBA an 
additional month, through June 30, to process any backlogged 
applications.
  This Saturday, March 27, will be the 1-year date since the CARES Act 
was enacted. In that time, SBA has approved 8.2 million PPP loans worth 
more than $715 billion.
  These loans have saved small businesses throughout our Nation. They 
would not be here today but for this program. It also saved the stress 
on our unemployment insurance system by keeping small business 
employees on the payroll. And as I am sure the Presiding Officer knows, 
for a small business, it is difficult to find a workforce and to keep a 
workforce, and the Paycheck Protection Program allowed small businesses 
to maintain their workforce so that when the pandemic is over, they are 
going to be ready for our growing economy.
  The world feels a little different today than it did a year ago. The 
American people are finally beginning to see a light at the end of the 
tunnel. More than 124 million vaccine doses have been administered, and 
public health officials nationwide are beginning to ease restrictions 
on public gatherings.
  We can see a light at the end of the tunnel, but we are not there 
yet. Small businesses are struggling, but in spite of those struggles, 
small businesses are still showing up for our communities.
  The Baltimore Sun recently published a story about a restaurant in my 
hometown of Baltimore that captured the essence of the value that small 
businesses bring to our communities.
  Steve Chu and Ephrem Abebe, co-owners of the popular restaurant in 
Baltimore named Ekiben, recently drove 6 hours from Baltimore to 
Vermont to prepare a meal for a longtime customer who was on her 
deathbed. They did this at their own cost because that is what small 
business owners do. They are part of our community. Afterward, Mr. Chu 
and Mr. Abebe called the decision a ``no-brainer'' and viewed their 
trip as a way to say thank you to a customer who had supported them for 
years.
  That is what makes small businesses special. They are more than 
places we go to buy products or enjoy a meal. They are vital pillars in 
our community. That story and countless others like it are why we 
passed the PPP program initially and why we must pass the PPP Extension 
Act--so PPP can continue to be a lifeline for small businesses in the 
coming months.
  Congress and the Biden administration have implemented significant 
improvements to the PPP in recent months that have made the program 
more equitable and useful. So we must now extend the deadline to allow 
small businesses and nonprofits to take full advantage and receive the 
help that they need.
  In December, Congress passed the bipartisan Economic Aid Act, which 
provided an additional $284 billion to PPP and made second-round PPP 
loans available to small businesses that had spent their initial PPP 
loan and can demonstrate a 25-percent loss in revenue. The bill also 
expanded eligibility of PPP to include certain local newspapers, TV 
stations and radio stations, as well as 501(c)6 nonprofits.
  I must remind my colleagues that while the SBA was beginning to 
implement the improvements we made to the PPP in the Economic Aid Act, 
the Agency was also undergoing a transition from the Trump 
administration to the Biden administration. Transitions, even under the 
best circumstances, can be disruptive to an Agency's work.
  On February 22, the Biden administration took strong action to get 
funding to small businesses that were either left out or underfunded 
during prior rounds of PPP. The administration implemented a 14-day 
exclusive window for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees. It 
updated the maximum loan calculation formula for sole proprietors, and 
it eliminated rules prohibiting small businesses owned by formerly 
incarcerated individuals and individuals with delinquent Federal 
student loans from securing a PPP loan.
  It made it possible and much more worthwhile for small businesses to 
apply for PPP loans, but it takes time. PPP is a forgivable loan, but 
you have to have a financial institution to make that loan. It has to 
be processed, it has to be approved, and it can't be done by the end of 
this month.
  During the exclusivity period, SBA approved PPP loans for more than 
400,000 small businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees, 
nearly half of which were first-time borrowers. We are reaching the 
hard to serve, the most needy of the small businesses. They finally got 
help.
  Earlier this month, we passed the historic American Rescue Plan. The 
plan expanded PPP eligibility even more, to include more nonprofits as 
well as digital news platforms. The plan provides overdu aid to the 
local chapters of large nonprofits, such as the YMCA and Goodwill, 
which had not had prior access to PPP due to having multiple locations 
totaling more than 500 employees. The plan makes these nonprofits 
eligible for PPP loans worth up to $10 million, as long as each 
location does not exceed the employee limit. That makes sense.

  During a hearing examining PPP last week, the small business 
community heard testimony from John Hoey, who leads the YMCA chapter 
that serves the Baltimore region. John urged us to extend the PPP to 
give nonprofit leaders more time to understand the program. He said:

       I can tell you that colleagues of mine who run large Ys 
     around the country and large nonprofits in Baltimore are 
     still trying to understand the program and figure out if they 
     qualify. I think a 3-month extension is not only warranted 
     but owed to all of us after what we've been through this past 
     year.

  We also heard testimony from Lisa Mensah, who leads the Opportunity 
Finance Network, which is the national

[[Page S1732]]

association of CDFIs, our mission lenders. She warned us that 
``thousands of business owners will not receive access to PPP without 
an extension.''
  She told us about a CDFI in Jackson, MS, that estimates that 1,300 
loans from small businesses that applied for PPP will not receive funds 
if we do not extend the deadline. Of these 1,300 applicants, 98 percent 
are businesses with fewer than 20 employees, 95 percent are minority-
owned, and nearly 100 of them are veteran- or veteran-spouse-owned 
small businesses.
  This is only one CDFI out of hundreds nationwide. The story will be 
repeated--those that have been left out. The committee has also been 
urged to extend the deadline by the business community. On March 15, 
more than 90 chambers of commerce, trade groups, and business 
organizations sent a letter urging extension, and they said:

       Nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the continued 
     liquidity challenges of the small business sector are acute.

  It is clear that there is still an overwhelming need for PPP loans, 
which is why the PPP Extension Act passed the House of Representatives 
by a 415-to-3 vote. This is bipartisan. The bill that we are talking 
about is sponsored by Senator Collins. Senator Shaheen and I are also 
on that bill.
  The good news is that the resources are there. We have been informed 
by the SBA that the extension of the deadline can work within the funds 
that have already been made available by Congress. The money is there.
  This is not the first time we have done this. I must remind my 
colleagues that, last year, as PPP was approaching its deadline, I 
brought a bill to the floor of the Senate and worked with Senator Rubio 
to give small businesses more time to get their applications filed. I 
must also remind my colleagues that we passed that extension to 
preserve access to PPP while we continued negotiating on broader 
changes to the program. We need to do the same thing again.
  I know that there are other modifications to the program that we will 
have an opportunity to discuss, and I am committed to conducting those 
discussions in the same bipartisan manner that I have approached the 
development of these programs. In fact, later today, in just 45 
minutes, there will be a hearing of the Small Business Committee where 
we will be doing oversight on the programs that we made available 
during COVID-19, and we will have representatives from government 
responsible for those programs, including the SBA.
  But the bottom line: We first need to extend the program. We have got 
to make sure it doesn't expire next week. We must get this done. The 
need is there, and the funds are there.