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Luetkemeyer: A Discussion with SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Small Business is holding a hybrid hearing with SBA Administrator Guzman titled, "A Discussion with SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman."
Ranking Member Luetkemeyer's opening statement as prepared for delivery:
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for calling today’s hearing.
Administrator Guzman, thank you for joining us in person this morning to discuss the current small business landscape. As you very well know, small businesses across the country have been facing a multitude of challenges, many of which have been caused by the overreaching grasp of the federal government. The Small Business Administration is tasked with assisting these struggling firms, especially in the wake of the pandemic. However, month after month we have witnessed quite the opposite coming from this Administration’s SBA and other agencies.
Treasury Secretary Yellen, who is legally required to testify before our Committee, continues to ignore us. It appears that she has time to do many events – even on the campaign side – and meet with a variety of people, but she still refuses to fulfil her legal duty to testify before this Committee. Secretary Yellen’s inability to appear before us is an insult to small business owners across this nation. She is blatantly turning her back on a sector of the economy that produces nearly two out every three new jobs and contributes just under half of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. Small businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups are an essential factor to America’s economy, and she refuses to testify. It is unacceptable.
However, we are glad that you are here representing the primary and sole federal agency that was created to defend and protect small businesses. It is no secret that the nation’s smallest firms are still working tirelessly to recover from the ever-changing and overreaching state and local shutdown orders during the pandemic. If it wasn’t bad enough, now they are facing some of the strongest economic headwinds in recent memory with Biden and the Democrats’ massive spending agenda.
As Members of this Committee, we hear from small business owners every day. When we are back in our home districts, we visit their storefronts and listen to their stories. Unfortunately, the reports coming from Main Street U.S.A. are far from positive.
Prices are soaring at the sharpest rate in over 30 years. Supply chain disruptions are making it nearly impossible to obtain goods and products. Americans are refusing to get back to work because the government is paying them to stay home, creating a labor shortage crisis. Main Street is facing a looming vaccine mandate requirement for their already-depleted worker pool. And now, small business owners are being threatened with increased taxes due to the trillions of dollars this Administration plans to spend at the expense of middle-class Americans.
These are monumental issues that deserve a full and comprehensive discussion. You can look at some of the recent small business surveys, and they show the exact same thing. The top issues small businesses are struggling with today are the severe economic conditions that they face. Take for example the Job Creators Network Monthly Monitor Poll – inflation is the top challenge reported by small business owners. Or the NFIB Jobs report that shows 49 percent of small business owners cannot fill the open job positions that they have. These are fundamental and core issues to our country’s distressed small business landscape.
I ask that you put yourself in the shoes of a small business owner for a moment. Your inventory is low because your products are stuck on a ship that is sitting off the coast of Los Angeles; you are forced to raise prices during the critical holiday season; and you can’t find any workers. With all these issues combined, I don’t see how small businesses can be successful.
And what have we heard from this Administration as a response? You plan to force through trillions of dollars in spending paid for on the backs of small business owners. As a reminder, a recent study from the left-leaning Tax Policy Center found that this administration’s far-left spending spree would raise taxes on middle-class Americans by 30 percent. Additionally, instead of allowing our small businesses to operate independently, this Administration is imposing more mandates and regulations. So the question remains – who is actually standing up for the nation’s job creators within the Biden administration?
The Small Business Administration has a duty to defend these small business owners. I plead with you to listen to them and hear what they have to say. These men and women are not asking for new programs so they can receive a direct loan from a federal agency. They want commonsense, pro-growth policies that will provide them with the ability to run a well-rounded, efficient operation – free from the hand of government. Administrator Guzman, if you took the time to hear from small businesses in urban, suburban, AND rural areas of the U.S., you might learn a lot.
Today, I look forward to having a conversation on all of these topics, and we expect our questions to be answered. Before we begin, I must note that simply saying that the agency will get back to us in writing will not stand. I would like to ask for unanimous consent to enter into the record the more than 60 “Questions for the Record” that Republicans submitted to Administrator Guzman after appearing before our Committee in May and the more than 60 “Questions for the Record” that Republicans submitted to Associate Administrator Mark Madrid after his appearance before our Committee in September. I will note for the Record that we have NOT received an answer to ANY of these questions thus far.
And it isn’t just our questions during Committee hearings that go unanswered. My colleagues have asked numerous questions posed to you on behalf of their small business constituents, and they do not receive any responses. One of many examples – questions about Economic Injury Disaster Loans go unanswered. If it is your desire for this administration to be a direct lender, why is your current direct lending tool such a disaster? Not only is EIDL a black hole when it comes to customer service, but it is also riddled with fraud according to the SBA Inspector General.
I will say it again. The SBA, which pushed through approximately $1 trillion dollars over the last 18 months, better wake up. You ignore and refuse to answer Representatives’ questions that are sent to you on behalf of their small businesses. You have refused to implement countless recommendations from the Inspector General. And your actions do not match what small businesses say are the top concerns facing their operations.
The over 32 million small businesses across the United States deserve better. Main Street U.S.A deserve answers.
With that Madam Chair, I yield back.
Ranking Member Luetkemeyer's opening statement as prepared for delivery:
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for calling today’s hearing.
Administrator Guzman, thank you for joining us in person this morning to discuss the current small business landscape. As you very well know, small businesses across the country have been facing a multitude of challenges, many of which have been caused by the overreaching grasp of the federal government. The Small Business Administration is tasked with assisting these struggling firms, especially in the wake of the pandemic. However, month after month we have witnessed quite the opposite coming from this Administration’s SBA and other agencies.
Treasury Secretary Yellen, who is legally required to testify before our Committee, continues to ignore us. It appears that she has time to do many events – even on the campaign side – and meet with a variety of people, but she still refuses to fulfil her legal duty to testify before this Committee. Secretary Yellen’s inability to appear before us is an insult to small business owners across this nation. She is blatantly turning her back on a sector of the economy that produces nearly two out every three new jobs and contributes just under half of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. Small businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups are an essential factor to America’s economy, and she refuses to testify. It is unacceptable.
However, we are glad that you are here representing the primary and sole federal agency that was created to defend and protect small businesses. It is no secret that the nation’s smallest firms are still working tirelessly to recover from the ever-changing and overreaching state and local shutdown orders during the pandemic. If it wasn’t bad enough, now they are facing some of the strongest economic headwinds in recent memory with Biden and the Democrats’ massive spending agenda.
As Members of this Committee, we hear from small business owners every day. When we are back in our home districts, we visit their storefronts and listen to their stories. Unfortunately, the reports coming from Main Street U.S.A. are far from positive.
Prices are soaring at the sharpest rate in over 30 years. Supply chain disruptions are making it nearly impossible to obtain goods and products. Americans are refusing to get back to work because the government is paying them to stay home, creating a labor shortage crisis. Main Street is facing a looming vaccine mandate requirement for their already-depleted worker pool. And now, small business owners are being threatened with increased taxes due to the trillions of dollars this Administration plans to spend at the expense of middle-class Americans.
These are monumental issues that deserve a full and comprehensive discussion. You can look at some of the recent small business surveys, and they show the exact same thing. The top issues small businesses are struggling with today are the severe economic conditions that they face. Take for example the Job Creators Network Monthly Monitor Poll – inflation is the top challenge reported by small business owners. Or the NFIB Jobs report that shows 49 percent of small business owners cannot fill the open job positions that they have. These are fundamental and core issues to our country’s distressed small business landscape.
I ask that you put yourself in the shoes of a small business owner for a moment. Your inventory is low because your products are stuck on a ship that is sitting off the coast of Los Angeles; you are forced to raise prices during the critical holiday season; and you can’t find any workers. With all these issues combined, I don’t see how small businesses can be successful.
And what have we heard from this Administration as a response? You plan to force through trillions of dollars in spending paid for on the backs of small business owners. As a reminder, a recent study from the left-leaning Tax Policy Center found that this administration’s far-left spending spree would raise taxes on middle-class Americans by 30 percent. Additionally, instead of allowing our small businesses to operate independently, this Administration is imposing more mandates and regulations. So the question remains – who is actually standing up for the nation’s job creators within the Biden administration?
The Small Business Administration has a duty to defend these small business owners. I plead with you to listen to them and hear what they have to say. These men and women are not asking for new programs so they can receive a direct loan from a federal agency. They want commonsense, pro-growth policies that will provide them with the ability to run a well-rounded, efficient operation – free from the hand of government. Administrator Guzman, if you took the time to hear from small businesses in urban, suburban, AND rural areas of the U.S., you might learn a lot.
Today, I look forward to having a conversation on all of these topics, and we expect our questions to be answered. Before we begin, I must note that simply saying that the agency will get back to us in writing will not stand. I would like to ask for unanimous consent to enter into the record the more than 60 “Questions for the Record” that Republicans submitted to Administrator Guzman after appearing before our Committee in May and the more than 60 “Questions for the Record” that Republicans submitted to Associate Administrator Mark Madrid after his appearance before our Committee in September. I will note for the Record that we have NOT received an answer to ANY of these questions thus far.
And it isn’t just our questions during Committee hearings that go unanswered. My colleagues have asked numerous questions posed to you on behalf of their small business constituents, and they do not receive any responses. One of many examples – questions about Economic Injury Disaster Loans go unanswered. If it is your desire for this administration to be a direct lender, why is your current direct lending tool such a disaster? Not only is EIDL a black hole when it comes to customer service, but it is also riddled with fraud according to the SBA Inspector General.
I will say it again. The SBA, which pushed through approximately $1 trillion dollars over the last 18 months, better wake up. You ignore and refuse to answer Representatives’ questions that are sent to you on behalf of their small businesses. You have refused to implement countless recommendations from the Inspector General. And your actions do not match what small businesses say are the top concerns facing their operations.
The over 32 million small businesses across the United States deserve better. Main Street U.S.A deserve answers.
With that Madam Chair, I yield back.