[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 105 (Thursday, June 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S2120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONFIRMATION OF DILAWAR SYED

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, last week, the Senate confirmed Dilawar 
Syed to be the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business 
Administration with a bipartisan vote. Mr. Syed was the longest pending 
nomination in the Biden administration, waiting 827 days to be 
confirmed.
  The Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration should 
not have been a controversial nomination. Mr. Syed has served our 
Nation admirably as Special Representative for Commercial Diplomacy at 
the State Department, where he has helped American companies compete in 
international markets throughout the world. He has extensive background 
as an entrepreneur and business leader with an inspiring immigrant 
success story that is only possible in America. Now that he has been 
confirmed, he is the highest ranking Muslim American in the Biden 
administration.
  Mr. Syed should have been confirmed unanimously years ago. But 
regrettably, Senate Republicans chose to play politics with changing 
excuses designed to obstruct the nomination. Obstruction and delay 
resulted in the position being vacant for over 5 years. With record 
numbers of entrepreneurs starting new small businesses, we need a fully 
staffed SBA.
  Senate Republicans criticized pandemic loans that were taken out by 
Mr. Syed's company, Lumiata, and accused Mr. Syed of being slow to 
disclose the loans. Mr. Syed testified before the committee that the 
board of his company had taken out Paycheck Protection Program--PPP--
loans from SBA, funds that they were legally eligible to receive. And 
to his credit, Mr. Syed and his company repaid those PPP loans when 
they secured an additional round of venture funding. All of this 
funding was disclosed to the White House during the vetting process, 
and Mr. Syed was transparent about his financials, even beyond the 
information asked by the Senate committee questionnaire. Critics tried 
to claim that he had misled Congress or outright lied. That is simply 
not true.
  Despite his unfair treatment, justice ultimately prevailed, and his 
nomination passed with bipartisan support from five Republican Senators 
who were able to judge Mr. Syed on his character and business acumen 
rather than false attacks.
  Many nominees would have given up and decided the attacks were not 
worth it. With his background, Mr. Syed could have taken a lucrative 
positions in the private sector. But our Nation is fortunate that Mr. 
Syed did not let this long process deter him from serving the public 
interest. I join Mr. Syed's family, friends, and colleagues in 
congratulating him on his perseverance throughout this process and look 
forward to working with him, Administrator Guzman, and the leadership 
team at the Small Business Administration.

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