[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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