Prohibiting Individuals Convicted of Defrauding the Government From Receiving Any Assistance From the Small Business Administration

Floor Speech

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Mr. ALFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because the Small Business Administration and the Biden administration have continuously failed to take action to prevent this type of fraud that happened during COVID-19, ripping off you, ripping off me, ripping off everyone in this room, and ripping off the American taxpayer.

The SBA's Office of the Inspector General has estimated that at least $200 billion in COVID relief money given by the SBA ended up in the wrong hands of fraudulent actors. We believe it could be well up over $600 billion. Roughly 20 percent of that money intended to help small businesses went to the wrong people, and SBA Administrator Guzman refuses to testify before our very committee about these losses.

These losses must never happen again, Mr. Speaker, and Chairman Williams' bill addresses this by doing what the SBA is not willing to do right now, and that is to hold these fraudsters accountable and make sure they are unable to steal from us again.

I proudly support Chairman Williams' bill, H.R. 5427, which prevents anyone who is convicted of defrauding the SBA's lending programs from getting any future financial assistance from that agency.

We cannot live in an America that allows criminals to defraud taxpayers and hardworking small business owners especially during a time of need.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5427.

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