Various Measures

Small Business Administration OversightHouse Small Business · 2026-02-11 · 119th Congress
The House Small Business Committee met to mark up three bipartisan bills addressing waste, fraud, and abuse at the Small Business Administration: a conflict-of-interest certification requirement for SBA loan officers, codification of the SBA's Office of Native American Affairs, and creation of a whistleblower awards office to help recover fraudulent pandemic loan funds. Begins at 1:05:41
Transcript
Highlights

Title

Markup of three bills on SBA fraud prevention and Native American affairs

Purpose

The House Small Business Committee met to mark up three bipartisan bills addressing waste, fraud, and abuse at the Small Business Administration: a conflict-of-interest certification requirement for SBA loan officers, codification of the SBA's Office of Native American Affairs, and creation of a whistleblower awards office to help recover fraudulent pandemic loan funds. All three bills were ultimately ordered reported favorably to the House by recorded votes of 24-0. Begins at1:05:41

Who spoke

Chairman Williams (R-TX)1:05:41: Opened the markup describing the three bills as targeting waste, fraud, and abuse at the SBA1:06:06; cited a case of an SBA loan officer who tried to approve over $500,000 in loans to herself and relatives1:16:11; presided over consideration and votes on all three bills throughout the hearing.

Ranking Member Nydia Velázquez (D-NY)1:08:08: Voiced support for all three bipartisan bills1:08:08; said SBA's administrator has "egregiously ignored" congressional oversight letters and requests for meetings1:09:20; later noted roughly $1.2 trillion in pandemic relief was dispersed and urged full funding of the OIG's budget request1:14:241:15:13; said the OIG has more than 130,000 actionable fraud leads on its hotline1:34:30.

Rep. Muser (R-PA)1:10:26: Sponsor of HR 7401, explained the bill requires SBA loan employees to certify no conflicts of interest1:10:40; cited former loan officer Raina Barrett's guilty plea for seeking over $550,000 in fraudulent COVID relief funds1:11:12 and a second officer, Atala Williams, charged in January for approving fraudulent loans for a share of proceeds1:11:12.

Rep. Goodlander (D-NH)1:12:12: Co-sponsor of HR 7401, called conflicts of interest "a cancer that undermines public trust"1:12:29 and described the bill as a common-sense, bipartisan measure to catch problems on the front end1:12:54.

Rep. Morrison (D-MN)1:18:38: Sponsor of HR 7396, said Native-owned businesses employ over 300,000 people and contribute over $33 billion to the US economy annually1:18:38, with nearly 4,000 native-owned businesses in Minnesota alone1:19:05.

Rep. Alford (R-MO)1:28:18: Spoke in support of HR 7412, citing a Kansas City case where three men were indicted for allegedly obtaining more than $447,000 in fraudulent PPP loans using false payroll records1:28:40.

Rep. Stauber (R-MN)1:30:32: Supported HR 7412, saying Minnesota uncovered billions in fraud tied to organized fraud rings and criticized weak state oversight1:30:501:31:11.

Rep. Olszewski (D-MD)1:26:00: Co-sponsor of HR 7412, described authoring a Baltimore County efficiency review that identified over $771 million in potential taxpayer savings while serving as County Executive1:26:26.

Key moments

HR 7401, the Small Business Lending Fraud Prevention Act, would require SBA employees processing loans to certify no conflict of interest and recuse themselves if one arises1:10:40.

Rep. Muser cited former SBA loan officer Raina Barrett's guilty plea for seeking more than $550,000 in fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds for herself and family1:11:12.

HR 7396, the Native American Entrepreneurial Opportunity Act, would codify the SBA's Office of Native American Affairs, which supports roughly 2,000 small businesses daily and oversees an industry generating $86 billion in sales annually1:20:271:20:53.

HR 7412, the Put America on Commission Act of 2026, would create an SBA Office of Whistleblower Awards funded entirely by recovered fraudulent funds and civil penalties, paying commissions to whistleblowers whose tips lead to convictions1:23:531:24:39.

Chairman Williams said the SBA's Office of Inspector General estimates over $200 billion in taxpayer dollars — nearly 20% of all pandemic funding — went to bad actors through PPP, EIDL, and other COVID relief programs1:24:12.

Williams cited a CBO estimate that similar legislation from the last Congress would reduce the deficit by $108 million over 10 years1:25:33.

Rep. Alford cited a Kansas City case of three men indicted for allegedly obtaining over $447,000 in fraudulent PPP loans using false payroll records1:28:40.

Ranking Member Velázquez noted she led efforts to extend the statute of limitations for fraud in the EIDL and PPP programs, and said the majority of pandemic fraud occurred in the first nine months of the pandemic during President Trump's first term1:33:291:34:09.

All three bills passed by recorded vote 24-0: HR 74011:39:52, HR 73961:40:45, and HR 74121:41:28.

Metadata

CommitteeHouse Small Business
Chamber / CongressHouse · 119th Congress
Date2026-02-11
TypeMarkup
Witnesses
(none listed in event metadata)
Videoyoutube
Transcript108 caption blocks · 4,979 words · 1:41:59 runtime
EventCongress.gov 118964