[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H726-H727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING WEBSITE TO REPORT 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. 5426) to require the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration to provide a link to resources for submitting
reports on suspected fraud relating to certain COVID-19 loans.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5426
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. WEBSITE TO REPORT FRAUD RELATING TO CERTAIN COVID-
19 LOANS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small
Business Administration shall include on the primary website
of the Administration a link to a website of the Office of
the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration
regarding reporting fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, and
misconduct, and containing a resource for individuals to
report suspected cases of fraud with respect to a covered
loan to the Administration.
(b) Covered Loan Defined.--In this section, the term
``covered loan'' means--
(1) a loan made under paragraph (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)).
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, I rise in support of H.R. 5426, a bill to require the
SBA's administrator to place a visible link on their website to report
COVID fraud.
Last summer, the SBA's Inspector General testified to our committee
that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the SBA distributed more than
$200 billion in potentially fraudulent loans.
The committee was also told that in order to work through all these
cases, it will take more than 100 years of work. That is simply not a
realistic feat, and they need all the help they can get from the
American people.
Reporting fraud in the SBA should be easy for everyday Americans to
do. Our committee now has a direct fraud reporting link on our website,
and the SBA should do the same.
When our committee was researching the need for this bill, we found
that the only link to report COVID fraud redirected users to a
different website that was in Spanish.
Even after we figured out how to correct the language, it was unclear
how to actually report the fraud. This bill will ensure that reporting
fraud is simply one click away.
It should be a top priority of this body to recoup as many of these
taxpayer dollars as possible and in the most timely and efficient
manner possible.
H.R. 5426 is a commonsense bill that will help individuals easily
report suspected fraudulent activity and help the SBA and the OIG
prioritize which potentially fraudulent loans to investigate.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Today we are considering H.R. 5426, which will require the SBA to put
a link to the IG's fraud hotline on its website for whistleblowers to
report suspected fraud.
The good news is that the Biden administration SBA already has a link
to the OIG's hotline on its main landing page, but with this bill, it
will be here to stay.
[[Page H727]]
In July, Inspector General Ware testified that his office has
received 250,000 hotline complaints since the beginning of the
pandemic, and more than 90,000 have been identified as actionable. This
amounts to more than 100 years of investigative casework.
To that end, the single most important action we can take to support
the OIG is to make sure we give them the resources they need to
investigate bad actors.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the efforts of Ms. Van Duyne and Mr.
Landsman to curb fraud, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may
consume to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Van Duyne).
Ms. VAN DUYNE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his support of
this legislation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Small Business Administration
oversaw what has been described as ``the biggest fraud in a
generation,'' doling out more than $200 billion to scammers, foreign
crime rings, and others who took advantage of a pandemic to enrich
themselves.
According to the Justice Department Inspector General Michael
Horowitz, the SBA invited this fraud by failing to implement basic
safeguards to ensure taxpayer funds were going to the right people.
Some of the pandemic aid even went to people involved in transnational
crime organizations.
When government mandates forced small businesses to close their
doors, some resulting in permanent closures, fraudsters were out taking
expensive vacations, buying Lamborghinis, mansions, private jets,
horses, luxury jewelry, and more, all on the taxpayers' dime. While we
work to recover the stolen funds, those criminals must be identified
and prosecuted.
The Small Business Administration not only failed to implement
safeguards to prevent fraud of this scope, but they also failed to
comply with the law originally authorizing the aid, which required the
agency to include an easily accessible link for the public to report
suspected fraud. Instead, the SBA has ignored legal requirements and
made it incredibly difficult to report fraud.
As my colleagues and I highlighted during a hearing last year, if you
were even able to locate the SBA's link to report fraudulent COVID-19
loans--which were buried in their website--where did it take you? As
our chairman noted, it took you to a different website that was written
entirely in Spanish.
The Republican-led Small Business Committee has created a direct link
for Americans to easily report pandemic fraud, and the Small Business
Administration must do the same.
I urge my colleagues to support our bipartisan legislation to make it
easier to report pandemic fraud.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Over the past 3 years, this committee has played an important role in
examining the pandemic relief programs, which helped millions of small
businesses stay afloat in unprecedented times.
While there may be disagreement on the actual estimates of fraud, it
is clear we need to work together to protect the integrity of the SBA
programs from bad actors.
The SBA, under the leadership of Administrator Guzman, has taken
strong steps to root out fraud in the pandemic relief programs and put
strong controls in place to prevent future fraud.
In 2022, SBA established a Fraud Risk Management Board, aligning its
practices with GAO's oversight policies.
A new role was also created, the SBA Special Counsel for Enterprise
Risk, to advise the administrator of fraud and risk management
activities.
The agency continues to work collaboratively with the SBA Inspector
General, the Interagency COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, and the
Department of Justice to recover stolen funds.
I thank Ms. Van Duyne and Mr. Landsman for looking for ways to
enhance the work that the SBA is undertaking to combat fraud, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support
this commonsense legislation from Congresswoman Van Duyne and
Congressman Landsman, and 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. 5426.
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.
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