[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 195 (Tuesday, November 28, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5909-H5911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REPORT ON FRAUD RELATING TO CERTAIN COVID-19 LOANS

  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 4666) to require the Inspector General of the Small 
Business Administration to submit a quarterly report on fraud relating 
to certain COVID-19 loans, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4666

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. REPORT ON FRAUD RELATING TO CERTAIN COVID-19 
                   LOANS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, and every 3 months thereafter, the 
     Inspector General of the Small Business Administration shall 
     submit to the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and 
     Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the number of 
     borrowers engaged in fraud with respect to a covered loan.
       (b) Elements.--The report required under subsection (a) 
     shall include, with respect to the period covered by such 
     report--
       (1) the number and total dollar amount of all covered loans 
     made;
       (2) the number of new cases of fraud and suspected fraud;
       (3) the number of fraud cases resolved; and
       (4) the types of fraud cases described in paragraphs (2) 
     and (3).
       (c) Covered Loan Defined.--In this section, the term 
     ``covered loan'' means--
       (1) a loan made under paragraphs (36) or (37) of section 
     7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)); or
       (2) a loan made under section 7(b) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 
     636(b)) in response to COVID-19 during the covered period (as 
     defined in section 1110(a) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 
     9009)).
       (d) Termination.--This Act and the requirements of this Act 
     shall terminate on the date that is two years after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE WITH CUTGO.

       No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to 
     carry out this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Williams) and the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, first, I say I am anxious for this to happen. I think we 
are going to show America that we have some bipartisan legislation that 
we can pass from both sides of the aisle. I am thankful that we have 
some good legislation, and we will see that that may happen, too.
  I rise today in support of H.R. 4666 introduced by my friend from 
Florida (Mr. Bean). For any small business owner, once a problem is 
identified, they need to get periodic updates until the problem is 
fixed. The Small Business Administration's pandemic lending programs 
should be held to the same standard.
  The PPP and the EIDL Fraud Report Act of 2023 requires the Inspector 
General of the SBA to submit quarterly reports to Congress that keep 
Congress updated on the ongoing fraud investigations in the Paycheck 
Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

[[Page H5910]]

  It is estimated that $200 billion in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 
EIDL and PPP loans were disbursed by the SBA. This massive loss of 
taxpayer dollars is unacceptable. The American people need to know what 
the status is of recouping these stolen funds as the SBA's Office of 
the Inspector General works through their investigations.
  The report will provide Congress the most recent vital information on 
the number of both new fraud cases opened, the type of fraud suspected, 
and the number of investigations resolved to date.
  Tracking the progress of the OIG's actions will be vital for Congress 
as we look to piece together the complete picture of how much fraud 
truly flowed through the SBA and how many of these funds were able to 
be recovered on the back end. This information will be vital to 
evaluate the role the SBA should play in future emergencies.
  I urge full support from my colleagues on this commonsense bill, and 
I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise today in support of the six bills we are considering today. 
America's 33 million small businesses are the foundation of our 
Nation's economy and account for two-thirds of new jobs. The Small 
Business Committee has a long tradition of working together on behalf 
of our Nation's small businesses. I am pleased we are coming together 
yet again.
  Let me start off by thanking Representatives Bean and Mfume for their 
bipartisan work on H.R. 4666, which will help the committee fulfill its 
oversight responsibilities.
  SBA was a lifeline to millions of small businesses throughout the 
pandemic. More than $1.2 trillion in economic aid was distributed to 
help businesses keep their doors open.
  During these unprecedented times, the SBA, under the Trump 
administration, weakened and removed these internal controls in an 
effort to disburse funds swiftly.
  This resulted in roughly 87 percent of likely fraud originating in 
the first 9 months of the pandemic, largely due to organized criminal 
syndicates and transnational gangs exploiting the weakened controls and 
stealing billions of dollars from the American people.
  Upon taking office, Administrator Guzman strengthened internal 
controls, and they remain in place to this day, but the damage was 
done.
  In order to improve our understanding and prevent future fraud, H.R. 
4666 requires the OIG to send periodic reports over the next 2 years to 
provide the Committee with detailed information that it needs to 
conduct robust oversight.
  Let me take a minute to commend our IG and their commitment to 
rooting out fraud and abuse. I also highlight the need to fully meet 
their budget request rather than make any cuts. Doing so harms their 
ability to hold fraudsters accountable.
  As of this October, their work has resulted in nearly 1,200 
indictments, almost 950 arrests, and over 600 convictions. Almost $400 
million in seized or forfeited assets and more than $500 million in 
restitution orders have been returned to the American taxpayers.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4666, as amended, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from the great State of Florida (Mr. Bean).
  Mr. BEAN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, the COVID pandemic is behind us, and with that, a lot of 
the problems associated with COVID have also managed to go away, but 
fraud remains. The bill to the American people associated with that 
COVID relief fraud is here. We have to deal with it.
  Pandemic relief opened the door to wide-scale fraud. Due to the lack 
of guardrails within the SBA and the borrowing structure, over $200 
billion of pandemic loan programs were potentially fraudulent.
  Did you catch that, Mr. Speaker? $200 billion. That is not me. That 
is not Aaron Bean. That is the Inspector General of the United States 
overseeing the SBA.
  He has identified more than 90,000 fraud cases, over one in five, 
which represents more than 100 years of investigative casework.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the most disturbing stories to come out of the 
Inspector General's investigation is the Barbie doll face scam.
  Do you know about this? This scam wasn't perpetrated by America's 
favorite Barbie such as Malibu Barbie, Presidential Barbie, Lawyer 
Barbie, or even Live Action Barbie.
  No, no, no, Mr. Speaker. This was perpetrated--this was the job of 
swindler Barbie. Swindler Barbie's face was used as identification for 
fake identities who went on to collect millions in fraudulent loans 
when facial recognition software used at SBA verified the identities as 
real people.
  Behind me, this poster shows real faces, real corrupt Barbie dolls 
that were used to collect fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans. Yes, it is 
absurd, Mr. Speaker, but what do you expect? This is crazy town.
  That is why I rise today to speak in favor of my bill, H.R. 4666, the 
PPP/EIDL Fraud Report Act of 2023, but you know it, Mr. Speaker, as the 
we want our money back act.
  The bill requires the Inspector General of the SBA to report to 
Congress every quarter with detailed updates on the ongoing fraud 
investigations of the PPP and EIDL loan programs.
  Most importantly, we are not going to let it go. This will hopefully 
ensure that the pandemic loan fraud will not be swept under the rug. 
The American people want oversight over a runaway, unaccountable 
bureaucracy. We just don't like cheats. We don't like skippers. 
Somebody has to be held accountable.
  As the Inspector General continues to uncover the abuse of taxpayer 
dollars, it is important for Congress to know the full extent of the 
fraud, and most importantly, the progress of getting our money back.
  To the fraudsters: You can run, but you can't hide. We will find you, 
and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We will 
never tolerate stealing from hardworking taxpayers.
  Mr. Speaker, as the chairman said, it has been a delight working 
together, both within the committee and even on the other side of the 
aisle.
  To the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Mfume, what a treat it is to work 
with him as we come together to get our money back because that is what 
the American people want. We want our money back.
  Get ready, Mr. Speaker, and get ready, America, accountability is 
coming. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this 
important piece of legislation because the American people have made it 
clear: We want our money back.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Mfume), the ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations.
  Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member, the gentlewoman 
from New York (Ms. Velazquez) and the chairman of the committee, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams), as well as the cosponsor of this 
bill, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bean) for their work on this 
measure.
  I rise today in full support, obviously, of this bill, which requires 
the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration to submit a 
quarterly report on the fraud that has occurred and is being uncovered 
in the small business pandemic relief programs. We do want our money 
back, and this is about the first step in doing that.
  On June 27 of this year, the SBA's Office of the Inspector General 
issued a white paper that the Small Business Administration disbursed 
more than $200 billion in potentially fraudulent pandemic relief aid in 
the form of loans and in the form of grants. It was all done through 
the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck 
Protection Program.
  The Small Business Administration also issued another report. It was 
titled: ``Protecting the Integrity of the Pandemic Relief Programs.''
  In that report, they estimated that $36 billion of the $1.2 trillion 
in small business pandemic relief money was obtained fraudulently. The 
criminals and the fraudsters had a payday on the American public.
  That level of fraud, highly significant in these programs, is 
absolutely astonishing. It also absolutely reflects the

[[Page H5911]]

years-long repercussion of the 2020 decision that the ranking member 
spoke about earlier to loosen the antifraud protections in an effort to 
fast-track pandemic relief. Well, I hope we are learning from our 
mistakes.
  It is clear that we have to do all that we can to return all of the 
money stolen from the Federal Government and bring the fraudsters and 
the criminals to justice.
  This bill, which I am proud to co-lead with my colleague from Florida 
(Mr. Bean), ensures consistent reporting, regular reporting on progress 
toward the goal by requiring the Inspector General of the SBA, who has 
come before our committee on a number of occasions, to issue a report 
to Congress every 3 months, every 90 days, which includes the total 
dollar amount of small business pandemic relief funds that were made 
and the number and the type of fraud in both the new fraud cases and 
the suspected fraud cases, as well as the number of fraud cases that 
have been resolved to date at the conclusion of that 90-day period. We 
wanted to make sure we were regular in finding the money and reporting 
the money.
  Again, I thank Ranking Member Velazquez, Chair Williams, and my 
colleague, Mr. Bean, for their work on this measure. We do want our 
money back, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

                              {time}  1615

  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, while much of the focus today has been 
about pandemic fraud, we must also be mindful of the stellar work that 
the SBA did to help small businesses stay afloat throughout the 
pandemic. Distributing more than a trillion dollars in economic aid was 
a tall order for a small agency.
  Today, we are seeing the fruits of their labor. Small businesses have 
been recovering with unprecedented speed and success, and more 
Americans are launching small businesses than ever before, with more 
than 14 million new starts since January 2021.
  Once again, I thank Representative Bean and Representative Mfume, and 
I urge my colleagues to support this measure, as amended.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, with an estimated $200 billion 
outstanding in potentially fraudulent COVID-19 EIDL and PPP loans, 
there has never been a more critical time for legislation like H.R. 
4666.
  I thank Representative Bean for his work on this bill, and I urge my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join our committee in 
demanding answers to where this money is and how to rightfully return 
it to the American taxpayers.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4666, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the 
ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a 
quorum is not present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________