Providing Website to Report Fraud Relating to Certain Covid-19 Loans
Floor Speech
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.
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.
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.
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