▶ 0:18:24Chair Ernst: Today's hearing is to consider trump's nominee to lead the small business administration, kelly loeffler. I would like to welcome you here today and thank you for your willingness to serve, senator. I am delighted to welcome the committee's new ranking member, senator markey. He has been an esteemed member of the committee for nearly 12 years.
▶ 0:18:49Chair Ernst: We both recognize the importance of our nation's small businesses and innovation and promoting national security particularly through the sbir sttr program and I am excited to continue the bipartisan working relationship of our committee be or what I would like to welcome back are returning members and provide a warm welcome to all of our new members to the committee, sanders curtis, justice, hosta, and shift.
▶ 0:19:19Chair Ernst: I expect a very productive term where we focus on the most pressing issues facing small businesses including tax and regulatory relief to ensure entrepreneurs thrive. Just to give a quick run of show, I am going to make a brief opening statement, then I will turn to the ranking member, ranking member markey to do the same.
▶ 0:19:43Chair Ernst: Following that, we have senators scott and britt who will introduce our nominee, then administer the oath that is required, followed by opening statement and questions from our members alternating between each side. I now recognize myself for five minutes for purpose of an opening statement.
▶ 0:20:08Chair Ernst: Senator, welcome to the committee and thank you for your willingness to serve in this role, I appreciate the time you spent meeting with me and my colleagues prior to this hearing. I want to take a minute to recognize some of your family here supporting you today, first your husband, jeff, thank you for being here, next your brother, brian, and his family who understand traveled to washington, d..c.
▶ 0:20:35Chair Ernst: From their farm in illinois and also your parents, don and linda, watching their -- watching the hearing from their home in florida today. Thank you for joining us to this important hearing.
▶ 0:20:52Chair Ernst: As a former member of this body, you understand the importance of the senate's advice and consent process and I appreciate you have fully embraced the committee's standard, yet extensive vetting of your experience and background in advance of today's hearing and our upcoming vote on your confirmation. As a successful businesswoman, it is abundantly clear that you truly understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
▶ 0:21:17Chair Ernst: Throughout your distinguished career, you have risen through the ranks at multiple companies due to your many -- you determination and grit and started many successful business as yourself, most importantly you understand what it means to overrun by washington's bureaucratic overreach and that government must get out of businesses' way so they can thrive.
▶ 0:21:43Chair Ernst: The committee has received several letters of support for senator loeffler's nomination be a good the mission of the sba is to aid small businesses to ensure economic prosperity and free competition. Traditionally, administrators programs and services fall into three main buckets, counseling, contracting and access to capital.
▶ 0:22:06Chair Ernst: While sba was once characterized as a smaller industry, programs made sba a household name as the agency received a whopping $1.1 trillion in taxpayer funding to assist small businesses during the pandemic.
▶ 0:22:26Chair Ernst: With that funding came big responsibilities, and our main concern is the prior administration failed to live up to its mission be made to get the sba back in shape and that will require strong leadership. The biden administration turned a blind eye to covid fraud until it was his refusing to properly collect outstanding debt and fraudulent funds, which has huge implications to the taxpayer.
▶ 0:22:56Chair Ernst: Reports of an -- reports have indicated $18.6 billion worth of idle loans in fiscal year 2024, not once during the biden administration was the sba able to provide an accounting of their loans receivable and loans guarantees, which meant the government accountability office has not been able to even issue a financial audit of the agency since fiscal year 2020.
▶ 0:23:30Chair Ernst: Sba completely mismanaged and misinformed congress regarding its disaster loan account, resorting in a shortfall lasting 66 days, an on acceptable file for the disaster victims in north carolina, south carolina, georgia, virginia and florida.
▶ 0:23:48Chair Ernst: I appreciate once the account was funded, sba staff worked around the block, including over the holidays, to get the money up to disaster victims, but I did -- I do not ever -- want to see that situation unfold again. While sba is failing, it appears the workforce continues to stay at home. While it is more than 200,000 square-foot headquarters and sits empty.
▶ 0:24:16Chair Ernst: Even if everyone did show up to work in person, the sba building space would still be only be 67% utilized which is a complete waste of taxpayer money. That is why I introduced a bill to relocate 30% of the headquarter's workforce to the district offices across the country and cut 30% of office space. The sba has been completely out of touch with the real challenges of entrepreneurs.
▶ 0:24:46Chair Ernst: All the biden administration simultaneously let sba employees to stay home, they also added positions in washington, D.C., while stripping offices in iowa, new hampshire, utah and other states.
▶ 0:25:01Chair Ernst: I would like to work with you on ways to ensure sba is effectively utilizing its personnel and ensuring small businesses in all parts of america are able to access sba programs if they need to be I detailed these concerns and others regarding the mess you have to clean up from the biden administration and potential things you will encounter on day one of the new administration.
▶ 0:25:29Chair Ernst: I asked unanimous consent to enter this letter into the record. Without objection, so ordered. In iowa, main street is in trouble and I hear from my colleagues that this is true in states across america, small businesses are the lifeblood of our rural communities, and for too long under the biden administration, they have been crushed with redtape and woke program requirements with no one caring about how that affects the day-to-day operations.
▶ 0:25:59Chair Ernst: I see a great opportunity for the trump administration and you to revitalize small businesses that america -- in america. I look forward to your testimony. I now recognize ranking member markey for his opening statements. Congratulations to you and welcome, everyone.
▶ 0:26:25Chair Ernst: I would like to take a moment to welcome the newest members of the committee on the majority, senators curtis and justice and husted, senator shift from california, I look forward to working with you, I extend my sympathies to you and the people of california. It is devastating to see the horrific damage caused by recent fires in your state. We stand with you in these challenging times.
▶ 0:26:55Chair Ernst: But unfortunately climate disasters like those in california and that damage that was caused by hurricane milton and hurricane helene in a three week period in september and october of last year cost $500 billion worth of damage.
▶ 0:27:19Chair Ernst: That is more than half of the defense budget of the united states, the damage caused by three storms in a very brief period of time and I -- and that is not counting the other damage it caused. We must invest in long-term solutions to keep communities safe and provide resources for small business in places such as california and southeastern states to recover and adapt and innovate.
▶ 0:27:46Chair Ernst: I was looking forward to this hearing to discuss work on behalf of america's 34 million small businesses including more than 722,000 small businesses in massachusetts, we have 7 million people in massachusetts and 722,000 small business, that is our state's identity, small business. But we find ourselves in a new reality.
▶ 0:28:14Chair Ernst: Programs in government can be cut at a moments notice with her cryptic two--- a cryptic two- page memo. Leaving families wondering if the government is open for business. Can a person open a beauty salon and get her money on schedule? Yesterday we heard different conflicting answers out of the white house.
▶ 0:28:44Chair Ernst: I can only imagine if that uncertainty -- imagine what that uncertainty does for a business trying to meet expenses. Unacceptable. Can't allow a plumber or child care provider in every town of america, someone that I have spent their entire life working for someone else and is ready to invest in themselves, to question whether the government will keep its word and stand behind them.
▶ 0:29:11Chair Ernst: Apparently, we also live in a new reality where more than a dozen inspectors general can be fired without notice or cause, in clear violation of the law that requires a 30 days' notice. The inspector general at sba was illegally fired by president trump on friday night while he was at dinner with his wife.
▶ 0:29:37Chair Ernst: The inspector general has earned bipartisan respect for his candor and meticulousness and tireless work ethic over 34 years of service. And because of his work, he was elected to chair a governmentwide counsel of inspectors general. Having independent oversight at sba is more important, given the breadth of its work.
▶ 0:30:03Chair Ernst: I might adhere under his leadership as sba's inspector general, he collected $9 billion in covid related fraud. Just for the record. He got fired on friday night illegally without prior notice. Our job in this committee is to support small businesses and create a marketplace that will bring a smile to the U.S.
▶ 0:30:39Chair Ernst: We believe in capitalism but we also believe in fairness. I want to ensure every enterprising kid with a million dollar idea has the chance to fairly compete in the marketplace. We can promote innovation and competition by strengthening programs like sbir or the small innovation research program and sttr, the technology transfer program which helped bring many innovative ideas to life.
▶ 0:31:05Chair Ernst: In massachusetts, small businesses have won more than $8 million in sbir awards and $22 million in sttr grants, I want to work together with chair ernst to strengthen sbir and sttr and keep them competitive and build on the small business broom that was created under the
▶ 0:31:39Chair Ernst: Biden-harris administration. We set a record 21 million new business applications. More than $1.2 trillion in loans and grants to more than 13 million small businesses -- 13 million. And a record amount of federal contracting dollars for small businesses including small disadvantaged businesses. We need to keep that momentum up. I am looking forward to this next couple of years, senator loeffler. Thank you for joining us today.
▶ 0:32:07Chair Ernst: I know we share a belief of access to capital in underserved areas is vital and I look forward to hearing your vision for america's small businesses. In particular I am eager to hear how you plan to promote competition, innovation and job creation. It's an absolute critical part of our economy. As we know, a vision without funding is a hallucination.
▶ 0:32:34Chair Ernst: We just have to make sure that we keep these programs intact, protected and flowing for everyone. Thank you, adam chair -- adam chair.
▶ 0:32:45Chair Ernst: Next I would like to recognize senator britt from the great state of alabama to introduce our nominee. You are recognized.
▶ 0:32:54Senator Britt: Thank you, it is an honor to be here with you today to introduce my friends, she has president trump 's nominee to be administrator of the small business administration, former united states senator kelly loeffler.
▶ 0:33:13Senator Britt: A prolific job creator, an entrepreneur and quintessential american success story, kelly grew up on a family farm, became the first in her families are in a college degree, and worked her way up to the highest level of business. She joined intercontinental exchange went head over 100 employees and spent nearly 20 years building it into a global powerhouse and fortune 500 company.
▶ 0:33:43Senator Britt: She went on to found back and as ceo and first employee of, she took the company public in just three years, since leaving the senate in 20021, she devoted her time to running a voter registration nonprofit.
▶ 0:34:01Senator Britt: The most striking and impressive part of kelly loeffler's story is this, she gave a successful career in the private sector to serve in the senate and donated every single page while she was here to charity.
▶ 0:34:15Senator Britt: Now that she's made the decision to serve the american people once again, when confirmed, if confirmed, which I believe you will be, an strongly hopefully in a bipartisan fashion, with her signature selflessness, she will once again donate her salary to charity. Kelly is the perfect choice to lead the sba. And I want you to understand why this matters to me.
▶ 0:34:41Senator Britt: First off, 99.4% of the businesses in the great state of alabama are small. So what you do matters. I am the daughter of two small business owners. I have seen the struggles of my parents first hand.
▶ 0:35:01Senator Britt: When people get in these rooms and create big partisan regulation, -- burdensome regulation, they had the -- t hey hit the little guy the hardest. Have a proven track record in delivering efficiency, accountability and results driven leadership and she wants to empower every entrepreneur with the resources and support they need to pursue what they believe they can.
▶ 0:35:28Senator Britt: In closing, I want to say I have absolute confidence in kelly's ability to strengthen our main streets and figure out how we get capital to underserved communities and how we roll back red tape and let people do what they do best, job creators soar and achieve the american dream. Helping small businesses thrive like never before is what I am confident she will do.
▶ 0:35:54Senator Britt: Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak to each and every one of you and thank you for giving her the utmost credence because she is who we need in this role as an excess sba administrator -- the next sba administrator.
▶ 0:36:13Chair Ernst: Next we will have senator scott. You are recognize.
▶ 0:36:23Senator Scott: It is my honor to be here today to introduce president trump's nominee for the small business administration, Mrs. kelly loeffler from the great state of georgia. Her past like mind to success and the U.S. identified all odds. She is standing before you because she loves the lord, she has an amazing work ethic, and frankly loves her country as much as anyone I've ever met.
▶ 0:36:54Senator Scott: Small business in rural america run to her family. I love the story of her family. She's a fourth-generation farmer. Her grandfather got an eighth grade education. Her father, a high school education.
▶ 0:37:10Senator Scott: She worked so hard, that literally her hard work and strong value system made her the first college graduate and later she earned her mba -- her story is frankly a story of remarkable success and one we should all be thankful that america continues to create all across the country.
▶ 0:37:31Senator Scott: And one of the things we often time thing -- often times think of in the american dream is homeownership. Having someone to be the administrator of the sba who understands and appreciate small business, having a passion for people like that, you were at the top of the food chain in business but I prefer the part of your story that starts with a woman working her way at minimum wage jobs and
▶ 0:38:05Senator Scott: Working her way up that ladder. We spent so much time talking about the top of the ladder that we forget that most of us had to climb that ladder rung by rung and you have done a marvelous job of doing that. In the U.S. senate after being appointed in georgia, during the pandemic, we work closely on relief for families and businesses across the south.
▶ 0:38:33Senator Scott: We fought to improve access to the cares funds to keep main street life. You and I fought together to stop bad actors from taking advantage of fraudulent loans and backed president trump's efforts to move supply chains from overseas, cut regulations, lower taxes and empower american entrepreneurs to succeed, by the end of your term, you had best half a dozen bills -- passed half a dozen bills until I am
▶ 0:39:04Senator Scott: Delivered relief funds to georgia, to employees and small businesses. Kelly's career has been nothing short of amazing. Proving that the american dream can be achieved through hard work, faith, with the right leaders in place. Kelly loeffler is the right leaders are put in place as the administrator -- leaders are put in place as the administrator of the sba.
▶ 0:39:32Senator Scott: Her track record is what we can have great confidence sba will return to the gold standard under her leadership. I will stop there with my prepared remarks and simply say that, as a small business owner for 15 years, I have great confidence in your ability to do the job.
▶ 0:39:52Senator Scott: My fellow members of the committee, I hope that you will hear her out, I am also asking you to vote for her because it is time for us to right the ship and focus on the underserved communities around this country and make sure that every single zip code in this nation has strong, powerful small business es, because without small businesses, we will have high unemployment, low in
▶ 0:40:23Senator Scott: -- low enthusiasm.
▶ 0:40:23Chair Ernst: Thank you for that kind introduction. I will know the vote -- note the vote has started. If you would like to vote now, please do so. If you rise, Mrs. loeffler, we will swear you in. Raise your right hand. This is the tradition to swear in our nominee. We are swearing in today kelly loeffler to be administrator of the sba.
▶ 0:40:55Chair Ernst: Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> yes. >> should you be confirmed as administrator, requested to do so? Are you willing to provide such information as requested by any such committee? Thank you. You may go ahead and take your seat.
▶ 0:41:25Chair Ernst: You are now recognized for five minutes to provide your opening statement to the committee.
▶ 0:41:38Mrs. Loeffler: Thank you, chair ernst. It is a distinct honor to be here today. Chair ernst, ranking member markey, and members of the committee, it is a great honor to appear before you today as president trump's nominee for administrator of the small business administration. I am as humbled to be here today as I was serving alongside many of you in the U.S. senate. And I have appreciated the opportunity to meet with nearly every member of this distinguished committee in recent weeks.
▶ 0:42:08Mrs. Loeffler: I am especially grateful to president trump for entrusting me with the privilege and responsibility of serving america's 34 million small businesses. There is no stronger advocate for these job creators than our president. And I share his commitment, if confirmed, will work tirelessly to make small business great again. I want to thank my incredible husband, jeff, and my wonderful family and friends who have joined us here today in person and via broadcast.
▶ 0:42:39Mrs. Loeffler: Most importantly, I give all thanks and glory to god. As someone who has spent my life working in small businesses, starting them, growing them, or helping them succeed, I know that small business is big business for america. They comprise 99% of all businesses, they create two out of every three new jobs, and employ nearly half of the private sector workforce.
▶ 0:43:06Mrs. Loeffler: They are the opportunity and innovation engines that drive prosperity and growth, and they power the american economy as much as the american dream. In his first term, president trump made historic strides to empower job creators and job seekers alike, driving small business formation and a blue collar boom.
▶ 0:43:27Mrs. Loeffler: And through historic tax cuts, trade deals, and deregulation, his agenda created seven million new jobs, delivered historically low poverty, and record employment for minority communities. His first term accomplishments were so great, that following the 2024 election, small business optimism recorded its largest jump since 1980 -- more than two months before he even took office. Small business is in my dna.
▶ 0:43:59Mrs. Loeffler: I grew up as the fourth generation on our family's farm in illinois. My wonderful parents, don and lynda, didn't have degrees, but they had faith and grit. They worked relentlessly to sustain our farm and small trucking company, risking everything to provide for us while navigating volatile commodity markets and complex regulations, facing countless day-to-day challenges.
▶ 0:44:22Mrs. Loeffler: It is where my midwestern work ethic was ingrained, working in our soybean fields and waiting tables at local restaurants -- preparing me for a lifetime of starting and growing businesses. I became the first in my family to graduate college and later earned my mba. I became the only cfa ever to serve in congress. Since then, I helped grow a start up into a fortune 500 company. For 10 years, I co-owned a wnba team.
▶ 0:44:52Mrs. Loeffler: I later launched a financial technology company as the founding ceo and first employee. I recall managing budgets in excel spreadsheets, hiring my first team member, and working with regulators as much as I recall ringing the bell when two of those companies went public. In the senate, I strongly supported president trump's historic agenda and pandemic response.
▶ 0:45:21Mrs. Loeffler: Having spent years as a small business owner, I made it my mission to serve as their voice. I spent much of 2020 delivering relief, traveling the state and -- the state of georgia and meeting with main street entrepreneurs like eric and rachel from dockside seafood in savannah, who were struggling to navigate their ppp application. The loan we helped them get didn't just save the restaurant, it saved the jobs of 35 georgians, and I am proud to say that they are still in business today.
▶ 0:45:47Mrs. Loeffler: No matter the business, the challenges are consistent -- from managing inflation and capital, to hiring a skilled workforce and weathering uncertainty. Job creators in the last four years have faced rising demands to comply with new rules, often drafted with unknown cost and consequence. This regulatory complexity crushes growth, picks winners and losers, and denies opportunity to those who dare to dream of a better future.
▶ 0:46:15Mrs. Loeffler: If I have the honor of being confirmed, I will leverage my decades of business experience to champion america's entrepreneurs. We will cut red tape and modernize the agency while restoring the accountability and transparency that taxpayers deserve. I will crack down on fraud, with a zero-tolerance policy, while shifting sba's focus from washington, D.C. back to main streets across america.
▶ 0:46:42Mrs. Loeffler: And if confirmed, I will collaborate across government and the private sector to deliver efficiency and results. Importantly, we will responsibly and urgently meet the challenge of disaster relief. I am committed to serving all who are impacted, from north carolina to california, to hawaii.
▶ 0:47:09Mrs. Loeffler: Each taxpayer dollar entrusted to sba should have an economic multiplier effect -- delivering productive capital to grow manufacturing, strengthen rural communities, create jobs, and develop critical technology, like ai and chips. I believe we must continue to empower entrepreneurs from all walks of life, including women and veterans. Above all, the sba's founding mission needs urgent restoration, empowering small businesses and growing our economy.
▶ 0:47:35Mrs. Loeffler: That is exactly what the america first agenda does -- by ending inflation, cutting taxes, unleashing american energy dominance, slashing regulation, and reining in fraud, waste, and abuse across government. In the last four years, small businesses have lost ground -- burdened by inflation, big government regulation, and uncertainty that threatens the very existence of main street.
▶ 0:48:01Mrs. Loeffler: President trump's proven agenda will restore the small business economy, marking a return to "made in america" -- with a golden era of prosperity and growth. At the sba, that means meeting today's dynamic challenges alongside america's entrepreneurs, not by sitting in washington or working from home. We will honor their jobs by doing ours. Small businesses are the risk takers, job creators, taxpayers, innovators -- and the provider of first jobs to former waitresses like me.
▶ 0:48:35Mrs. Loeffler: They represent the best of american free enterprise. Like president trump, I have signed the front of a paycheck. We both understand that there is nothing "small" about small business. Chair ernst, ranking member markey, and committee members, thank you for your dedication to small business. I welcome your questions and would be honored to earn your support to serve as the next administrator of the small business administration. Thank you.
▶ 0:49:06Chair Ernst: Thank you for your testimony. We move -- before we move to questions, we have received several letters of support for senator loeffler's nomination and I asked for support to enter into the record the following letters for support, they end up bankers of america, independent women's forum, job creators network, national association of development companies, national retail federation, small
▶ 0:49:37Chair Ernst: Business investor alliance, small business and entrepreneurship council, national association of government guarantee lenders, international franchise association, national restaurant association, georgia public policy foundation, governor of georgia brian kemp, association of women's business centers, economic and community development institute, U.S. like chambers inc. And the national small business association. Without objection, sordid. -- so ordered.
▶ 0:50:15Chair Ernst: At this time, we will move onto questions. I recognize myself for five minutes of questions. Senator loeffler, in our conversation, you made it clear given your time in the senate, you understand the role of congress, you denoted given your business experiences, you view us as your board and taxpayers as your shareholders with responsibilities to all of us to ensure the sba moves forward in the right direction.
▶ 0:50:45Chair Ernst: Unfortunately, the biden administration did not share this view. I repeatedly requested information and those requests were ignored or fumbles. -- fumbled. Can you commit to provide the -- what the committee requests in a timely matter?
▶ 0:51:04Mrs. Loeffler: I look forward to a collaborative and responsive relationship.
▶ 0:51:07Chair Ernst: I think that is essential to a good partnership between congress and small business administration and our constituencies. That is who we serve. Thank you for that. Last year sba failed to alert or provide the committee with information before the agency ran out of funding for its disaster assistance program.
▶ 0:51:29Chair Ernst: Can you commit to more transparent, timely and forthright dialogue between the sba and this committee should you become administrative?
▶ 0:51:39Mrs. Loeffler: Absolutely. This should never happen again under my watch. It will not. We will work to make sure we have all the controls in place.
▶ 0:51:49Chair Ernst: Thank you for that answer be or what I would like to move on to your goals and vision for the agency. It is actually important that we write size -- right size the sba and get it on a clear course to deliver his mission. Within your first 100 days as administrator, what would be your primary goals and objectives to get the sba back on track?
▶ 0:52:11Mrs. Loeffler: Thank you for the question. I, too, enjoyed the time we spent together with you and your staff. Your leadership of this committee is critical. I appreciate the work you've done to date.
▶ 0:52:28Mrs. Loeffler: I look forward to working with this entire committee to the aims of restoring the small business administration to serving small businesses and supporting economic growth in this country, that is our northstar. We must have accountability at this agency. It's in dire need of restoration. That starts with shoring up the financial situation.
▶ 0:52:54Mrs. Loeffler: The fact that this agency has not been able to pass an audit for four years is a disgrace. We must make sure we are accountable to taxpayers and the programs are solvents and working towards the aims of serving small businesses.
▶ 0:53:11Mrs. Loeffler: Obviously we will get our financial house in order and do it quickly, and we are going to do that in addition to making sure the programs are working for small businesses and taxpayers, we know the core 7a loan program is in need of oversight in terms of understanding the rising the and defaults. We will take a hard look at that.
▶ 0:53:33Mrs. Loeffler: We will make sure the disaster funds are resourced and accounted for and there are no more situations where americans in a crisis are faced with months of not having disaster relief. And finally we are certainly going to get his agency back to work. I am grateful for president trump's rapid action through his executive order to return to work.
▶ 0:53:58Mrs. Loeffler: We will make sure we have people that work -- at work committed to the success of small businesses that have a heart for small businesses and a sense of accountability to taxpayers.
▶ 0:54:08Chair Ernst: Thank you so much for that. As you talk about the audit, we need transparency within the small business administration. And hearing that his music to my ears. I began my elected career representing the taxpayers of montgomery county as their county auditor and I am excited I know that you will follow through on that commitment.
▶ 0:54:40Chair Ernst: I also serve as the chair of the senate doge caucus and we have a public mandate and rare opportunity to expose and rollback programs for what they truly are, multimillion dollar boondoggles.
▶ 0:54:55Chair Ernst: Sba's not immune to this which provides extraordinary opportunity to streamline and disrupt the bureaucracies and their status quo, will you commit to examining programs to root out fraudulent afters -- a ctors?
▶ 0:55:12Mrs. Loeffler: This is critical, we are over four years as covid, the last administration took a pass on hooting out front in these programs -- rooting out fraud in these programs. We must make sure we go after those that want to defraud the government. We will have a zero tolerance policy toward fraud. But also toward waste and abuse. We will route that out within the agency and those that seek to exploit the program.
▶ 0:55:43Chair Ernst: Thank you very much. At this time, I will turn the gavel over to senator curtis while I go vote and I will recognize ranking member markey for your questions.
▶ 0:55:54Ranking Member Markey: Thank you very much. On monday night, president trump's budget office issued a memo that directed agencies to cut off all federal spending. Outside of payments to individuals. They issued this order even though the spending was authorized and appropriated by congress and intended to benefit the american people.
▶ 0:56:22Ranking Member Markey: S my first question is very straightforwardoo -- do you believe this action by the president to cut off federal funding authorized and appropriated by congress was lawful?
▶ 0:56:33Sen. Loeffler: Senator, I disagree with the premise of your question because the money will certainly -- wasn't certainly with regard to the agency's discretionary in many cases but I agree with president trump's decision to stop wasteful spending. It resulted in a landslide victory that many americans were waiting for relief against excessive government spending --
▶ 0:57:03Ranking Member Markey: He chose all programs, he did not freeze programs that had waste, fraud and abuse, he froze all programs, do you think that is lawful he can freeze all programs?
▶ 0:57:11Sen. Loeffler: With all due respect, I completely disagree, not all programs were frozen at all, he specifically in te all, he specifically in the -- in the omb called out illegal dei programs and programs that were linked to the great new deal that picks winners and losers. I think americans breathed a sigh of relief it would be out of this government.
▶ 0:57:35Ranking Member Markey: On the next day, omb did put out a statement saying funds for small businesses are not subject to the order. He did not single out these programs initially. They were under this cloud of freezing all programs. It had to be clarified. That is good for small businesses. But only for now.
▶ 0:58:00Ranking Member Markey: This uncertainty -- the cloud placed over the head of small businesses across the country, that could return at any moment be is a dangerous precedent -- at any moment. It is a dangerous precedent the president said. I hope that you will hold president trump to upholding the law.
▶ 0:58:23Ranking Member Markey: If president trump asked you to do anything illegal or unconstitutional in your role as sba administrator, would using -- you say no?
▶ 0:58:33Sen. Loeffler: The president is not going to ask me to do that and I will not create a hypothetical situation here. I will faithfully uphold the law and president trump is fighting for americans.
▶ 0:58:44Ranking Member Markey: The president has already acted illegally twice in the last five days. He fired the inspectors general, that was illegal under the law, he froze all funding on monday night, that was also against the law. So it is not as though he won't ask you to do something illegal and unconstitutional, he's been doing it all weekend this is the first week. Let me move on.
▶ 0:59:12Ranking Member Markey: Sen.
▶ 0:59:14Loeffler: If I could just for the record note, these were not illegal actions, I support the president's actions, it's in his right to select the members of the executive branch, he is certainly in the right to stop wasteful spending.
▶ 0:59:25Ranking Member Markey: The president violated a statute -- by firing the inspector general. It requires a 30 days' notice. He does not have the ability to be aching.
▶ 0:59:43Sen. Loeffler: I believe there is precedent as in the range of the executive.
▶ 0:59:52Ranking Member Markey: Overall, massachusetts has received 26,000 sbir and stir grants, $9 billion in funding, and I strongly believe in these programs and their potential for supercharging our economy, as those programs have in massachusetts and states all across the country.
▶ 1:00:17Ranking Member Markey: When I met with you, you mentioned the sbir award should be awarded on a merit basis. I agree wholeheartedly that merit drives innovation. Will you commit to working with me on the committee to ensuring any sbir, str effort retains a merit process and does not limit innovation?
▶ 1:00:44Sen. Loeffler: Absolutely, ranking member markey. If confirmed, I look forward to working with you -- I know we have a lot of common ground in support of small businesses, particularly the sbir, research program allows the U.S. to be at the forefront of biomedical and other types of national security related technology research and innovation. It is so important to this country. Thank you.
▶ 1:01:13Ranking Member Markey: Think you. -- thank you. >> I yield five minutes to myself. I am so pleased to have you with us, senator, we will call you senator for now.
▶ 1:01:27Ranking Member Markey: I really appreciated the connection we made about small businesses in our own lives and your family's lives, we can all identify the statistics in our states, over half of all employees in the state are small businesses, it is such an important part of our economy. Yet they often lack resources.
▶ 1:01:55Ranking Member Markey: They don't have some of the advantages that larger businesses have. One of these, we discuss when you were in my office, how to best hook up the resources of your administration with those small businesses in our state, you offered to come up to our state generously, I'm getting a yes for that. As part of that, not just you coming out, but helping educate my small businesses is about was available to them, and how they can access those -- we look forward to your visit.
▶ 1:02:24Sen. Loeffler: Thank you. I am excited about visiting utah and having you in the scented beer but I appreciated meeting with you and your staff in the basement office. It's a great way to start. >> I think we talked about, had a small business before we came here, my father was a small business owner, my grandfather was a small business owner, my daughters and children have small businesses, and one of the things that I don't think america realizes is most of these small businesses struggle
▶ 1:02:55Sen. Loeffler: Just to keep the lights on, right? It is hard, paycheck-to-paycheck, they don't have a lot of money to do a lot of things other people do, part of that is they don't have the money for lawyers and attorneys to deal with the excessive regulations that sometimes we can put on them from washington, D.C. and as a result I believe regulations are disproportionately hard on small businesses, so share with me for a minute what you can do to light in this burden and how we make sure here in washington that we are not the biggest problem for small businesses.
▶ 1:03:27Sen. Loeffler: Thank you for recognizing that vital issue to america's 34 million small businesses, men who have fewer than nine employees. In answering your questions, you have someone that if confirmed will understand what it is like to have a small business, to worry about meeting payroll, let alone paying the bills for the small business, particularly with the setbacks that they have had in the last four years, losing about 10% on
▶ 1:03:59Sen. Loeffler: The top line revenue, while seeing costs increased by 20% due to inflation, so small businesses have lost ground. The sba can be a way of helping small businesses combat was been a tough four years.
▶ 1:04:14Sen. Loeffler: If we deploy the resources appropriately and prudently, so the small businesses who need it most have access to that, to be through capital or through technical assistance or other ways of supporting entrepreneurship in this country, which is so vital to our advancement on a global stage, but also within our local communities, these are the businesses that sponsor the softball teams and the businesses that provide that first job.
▶ 1:04:42Sen. Loeffler: They are the ones that never work from home, they show up in turn out -- and it turned out, with commitment to their customers and that is what we will do at the sba. >> appreciate that. Look forward to working with you on that. As a sister to that would be federal policy in general. We will be talking about tariffs in the upcoming days.
▶ 1:05:03Sen. Loeffler: These are disproportionately hard on small businesses and we had this conversation in my office, I would love to invite you to work with the administration and the senate as we move into a world where tariffs are a reality to figure out how to help small businesses accommodate better to those tariffs, things like a different runway and time frames, can you just comment on how we can deal with small businesses and what might be one of the most difficult
▶ 1:05:34Sen. Loeffler: Challenges?
▶ 1:05:34Sen. Loeffler: If I have the honor of being confirmed, I will be a voice for small business, but let me assure you there is no bigger small business champion than president trump -- he will make sure that small business has a voice at the table, but he will also look at the data and not the hyperbole that sometimes happen at the media, president trump was successful in implementing tariffs in his first term but also successful at keeping inflation right around the 2% mark, which is really, some fact
▶ 1:06:11Sen. Loeffler: That the media always overlooks -- facts that the media always overlooks. That is something that I know firsthand from president trump he is their biggest advocate.
▶ 1:06:28Chair Ernst: Thank you, senator curtis, for manning the chair. I now recognize senator hirono.
▶ 1:06:33Sen. Hirono: Welcome. As part of my response ability as a member of this committee and other committees on which I serve, I will ask the following to initial questions of all nominees coming into the committee, so I will ask you, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?
▶ 1:06:59Sen. Loeffler: No, senator. >> have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement regarding this kind of? >> Sen. loeffler: no, senator. >> during the pandemic, did you oppose planned parenthood receiving ppp loans for ideological reasons, even though other nonprofits were eligible for loans, is later determined by sba's on inspector general?
▶ 1:07:27Sen. Loeffler: Lastly, the president fired the ig without proper notice as required by law. It's clear that president trump believes he can do whatever he wants. As the administrator, should you be confirmed, would you commit to implementing sba programs in a fair and impartial manner?
▶ 1:07:48Sen. Loeffler: Senator hirono, let me first say I hope we are able to meet, I've requested several meetings, I keep the people of maui in my prayers, I know they are still struggling to the disaster that occurred about 18 months ago and I hope that we can work together, but let me correct, with all due respect, the premise of -- both the premises of your question.
▶ 1:08:13Sen. Loeffler: I objected to the planned parenthood receipt of covid relief loans because they did not fit the parameters, because of their affiliation.
▶ 1:08:25Sen. Hirono: You do know that the ig said, to the contrary -- took a contrary position. Can you be fair and impartial, being the administrator of the sba for so many small businesses across our country? A simple affirmation you can do so is what I'm asking.
▶ 1:08:48Sen. Loeffler: I will faithfully uphold all of the laws.
▶ 1:08:51Sen. Hirono: The thing is as I mentioned was president trump, the laws that he lives are the ones he likes and the ones he does not like he considers them to be illegal -- but I will move on. As a senator, you cosponsored the resolution recognizing the a U.S.
▶ 1:09:11Sen. Hirono: Capitol police officer who was brutally attacked during the january 6 insurrection, who later died as a result, last week the president issued blanket pardons for the january 6 insurrectionists, including those responsible for attacking officer brian sicknick, do you agree with the president's decision to pardon these violent offenders, yes or no?
▶ 1:09:33Sen. Loeffler: I strongly support the president's pardon of these individuals who were denied due process. It is time to get past political persecution in this country. That's what americans voted for.
▶ 1:09:50Sen. Hirono: They were not denied due process because they were tried and found guilty and some of them even admitted their guilt. I am disappointed that you agree that these violent -- basically criminals -- should be pardoned. Let me get to the lahaina wildfire. In 2023, lahaina experience wildfires that devastated the entire community including schools, homes, businesses and more, he said that recovery -- k ey to that recovery has been the federal family of agencies which includes fema and sba.
▶ 1:10:29Sen. Hirono: Last week, the president proposed eliminating fema and said, let the states take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen. I have seen the devastation in lahaina and the role fema and sba played in the recovery, they have provided hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to help lahaina recover. It would be a huge mistake to eliminate sba's role in disaster response and relief and have states fend for themselves.
▶ 1:11:00Sen. Hirono: Do you agree with the president's recent comments that states should be left to fend for themselves during and after national disasters? That's another yes or no question.
▶ 1:11:11Sen. Loeffler: I disagree with the premise, the president strongly supports disaster relief, he was on the ground lastly in north carolina -- last week in north carolina. I mentioned in my opening remarks, we support the continued relief there.
▶ 1:11:25Sen. Hirono: So you support the involvement of the sba in recovery.
▶ 1:11:30Sen. Loeffler: And the president has been clear that individual assistance will not be paused.
▶ 1:11:35Sen. Hirono: I am glad you do and that you support the continuing important role of sba. When you were running for U.S. senate, you -- time flies.
▶ 1:11:51Chair Ernst: Time has expired.
▶ 1:11:54Sen. Hirono: Are we having a second round?
▶ 1:11:57Chair Ernst: We can have a second round.
▶ 1:11:59Sen. Hirono: I will certainly submit questions for the record.
▶ 1:12:02Chair Ernst: Thank you, senator. Next I will recognize senator budd for five minutes of questions.
▶ 1:12:12Sen. Budd: Thank you, chair, congratulations on your nomination, thanks to your family and friends for being here and for leaving your role in private work twice to serve our country. Thank you for what you are willing to do. Your state and my state and several others have gone through quite a lot since late september, with hurricane helene.
▶ 1:12:41Sen. Budd: In the moments where I was not in western north carolina myself, I was able to see -- I was able to look up and see a television, it was you standing there with president trump, committing that if you were reelected, he would provide support, he is left up to that, he's been back to western north carolina -- he has lived up to that, he's been back to western north carolina.
▶ 1:13:02Sen. Budd: One of the things that we saw was the sba under president biden failed to notify congress in a timely matter about the depletion of the disaster relief fund and did not fulfill the reporting requirements along the way. If confirmed, how would you ensure timely and accurate reporting to congress about account balances and funding needs and how would you address the transparency failures that we saw during the biden administration?
▶ 1:13:34Sen. Loeffler: Thank you for this important question, senator, let me assure you my prayers are with the people of western north carolina. I know the president was there recently. It is truly the -- he is truly the rebuilder and chief as many private enterprises are in your own state, my prayers are with the people of georgia and all impacted.
▶ 1:14:05Sen. Loeffler: On october 15, when congress was shocked by the news that despite assurances two days earlier, the disaster relief funding had run out, now, in business, this would never be tolerated. We see examples of this everywhere within this agency that I know we are all trying to get our arms around and make a quick correction on.
▶ 1:14:27Sen. Loeffler: You have my commitment we will ensure that disaster relief funding is there for hard-working americans when they need it and I look forward to your feedback on how the response has been so that we can strengthen the program and having the transparency so that this committee is routinely apprised of the status of the agency across all vectors that we are serving the american people in.
▶ 1:14:53Sen. Budd: Thank you for that. So the sba disaster loan program is critical in supporting small businesses, as you mentioned in a few of your earlier remarks. Also being there to support communities in crises. We have recent disasters, like hawaii or for us, helene, that revealed shortcomings in the sba management.
▶ 1:15:18Sen. Budd: These have led to funding shortfalls like transparency, administrative inefficiency that hindered timely disaster response and recovery. People of western north carolina, north georgia as well, felt these failures firsthand when they needed assistance to most. Instead they were left waiting because of the sba mismanagement during a time of dire need.
▶ 1:15:43Sen. Budd: Will you commit to working with my office and this committee to address these shortcomings and ensure the sba is prepared to respond effectively to the needs of western north carolina and others?
▶ 1:15:56Ms. Loeffler: Absolutely, you have my commitment.
▶ 1:15:59Sen. Budd: The numbers pace -- have it -- paint a troubling picture for small businesses. There was a survey in 2024, the intuit quickbooks small business index. It says small business employment declined 51,000 jobs, and it also said revenue fell on average about $12,000.
▶ 1:16:29Sen. Budd: That is also the steepest year-over-year decline since the obama administration in 2015. That same time, the 2024 goldman sachs 10,000 small business voices survey revealed 77% of small businesses are deeply concerned about their ability to access the capital that they need to operate reliably. Small business makes up the bulk of our economy. President trump said small business is big business.
▶ 1:16:59Sen. Budd: This level of decline, I imagine you would think as well, is unacceptable. And are you and president trump's leadership, how can we expect to see a new golden age for small businesses?
▶ 1:17:11Ms. Loeffler: Thank you for that question, because president trump is restoring the golden era for all americans by restoring the economy, making our government more safe and secure, and securing wasteful taxpayer spending is not driving up inflation. Inflation is the number one problem not only facing families, but small businesses. They are looking at 20% higher cost on at least 10% lower revenues.
▶ 1:17:40Ms. Loeffler: That's an unsustainable situation for our employers putting it all on the line. Small businesses have my commitment I will have their back.
▶ 1:17:47Chair Ernst: I now recognize senator schiff for five minutes of questions.
▶ 1:17:52Sen. Schiff: It's an honor to serve on this committee and represent california's small businesses, including tech startups, rural businesses, the arts and entertainment industry, and women and minority owned businesses. That number has grown daily and I am proud to represent these incredible business owners, innovators, and hard-working employees. Similar left lower, I appreciate the conversation we had last week.
▶ 1:18:23Sen. Schiff: I think it was last week. Weeks have seemed endless this week. As you know, wildfires and high winds have ravaged california, displacing thousands of families and destroying homes, schools, community centers, places of worship, and countless small businesses. As these fires have impacted the livelihood of innumerable californians, it's crucial california has the support of the federal government to rebuild.
▶ 1:18:53Sen. Schiff: And we must rebuild resiliently. The sba provides disaster assistance for homeowners, renters, nonprofits, and businesses of all sizes affected by natural disasters. I got to see this in operation, visiting the discovery resource centers in los angeles and westwood and pasadena.
▶ 1:19:18Sen. Schiff: Sba was on hand in large numbers to help small business owners and homeowners find what resources were available to them to help them recover and rebuild. I do want to echo the concern raised by my colleague senator markey about the freeze on federal funding. I know there has been a subsequent statement saying the freeze order has been lifted, but not the freeze.
▶ 1:19:48Sen. Schiff: None of us know how to make heads or tails of that. What concerns me is that even if the administration says that help to individuals will not be affected by this, if federal funding to sba is curtailed, that means the sba can't make loans to individuals and small businesses.
▶ 1:20:10Sen. Schiff: At a time when californians desperately need that help, any delay and uncertainty will just add additional injury. I have also been distressed by some of the calls to condition funding to california. California has contributed more to the recovery of other states than any other state in the union.
▶ 1:20:37Sen. Schiff: I want to ask you first of all to recommit to something we discussed privately, that is to ensuring if confirms that all states, not just california, but all states received speedy relief for disaster victims and survivors without regard to whether a state is red, blue, green, yellow, or anything else.
▶ 1:21:00Sen. Schiff: Are you committed to in a colorblind, political affiliation blind, way, making sure sba assistance is speedily provided to small businesses in every state?
▶ 1:21:12Ms. Loeffler: Senator, I appreciated our time being in your office and discussing this important matter. Obviously my prayers are with california, but our efforts will be there as well, as president trump demonstrated by his first official trip. Typically presidents might fly outside the country. He went to california and immediately appointed a task force, getting the very capable ric grenell involved.
▶ 1:21:41Ms. Loeffler: I think the president's actions have demonstrated his support for disaster relief. He has done it effectively in his last term and I will support his efforts and leadership to ensure the people of california have the resources they need under president trump's leadership.
▶ 1:22:00Sen. Schiff: I was grateful the president came to los angeles. I thought if he saw the damage she could not help but be moved and I hope that he was. I am concerned about some statements he made about tying disaster assistance to unrelated border id laws or any unrelated policy matter.
▶ 1:22:20Sen. Schiff: Let me also raise the need, not just with respect to the disaster in california, but I also want to make sure the sba is proceeding with a sense of urgency, that it is efficiently and effectively processing loan applications. I realize the balance is difficult because you have to avoid fraud, and there was massive fraud among some who were applying for covid relief.
▶ 1:22:49Sen. Schiff: We don't want to see that repeated. Nevertheless, we don't want to see excessive delays either. I think firing the inspector general harms the ability to ferret out waste, fraud, and abuse. But are you committed to doing everything you can to provide speedy attention to sba applications while providing safeguards to avoid fraud?
▶ 1:23:13Ms. Loeffler: Yes I am, senator. Thank you.
▶ 1:23:19Sen. Schiff: Mr. chairman. >> thank you very much, senator. On behalf of the chair, I will recognize myself. Senator leffler, thank you for being willing to do this job. As you and I discussed, I loved serving with you, you were a terrific senator and I am glad you are willing to do this job. Let me ask a question or two about the priorities at sba.
▶ 1:23:44Sen. Schiff: I noticed that on day one of his administration, the last president issued an executive order addressing agencies to adopt a broad racial equity agenda and that was a focus of sba the last four years. According to one report, by far the largest program that uses racial preferences in the federal government is the 8a program run by sba.
▶ 1:24:12Sen. Schiff: To be eligible, companies had to show various racial and other characteristics to access funding. A federal court ruled it unconstitutional. Another federal court struck down a similar requirement also administered by sba. Here is my question. President trump has now thankfully with his own executive order said we are going to put a stop to these programs. How do you see him cementing that at sba?
▶ 1:24:38Sen. Schiff: Will you get sba refocused on actually helping small businesses, no matter who the owner is, no matter where they are? There will be no tipping of the scales for some bureaucrat's agenda. We are going to get them stood up, execute the mission of sba.
▶ 1:24:51Ms. Loeffler: Thank you and I appreciate the time we spent in your office discussing these matters. Importantly, president trump's eo overturns a divisive and illegal d.e.I. Program that was spread throughout the government, particularly within the sba. This will allow us to reduce the burdens on small businesses for costly implementation of needless programs.
▶ 1:25:19Ms. Loeffler: Moreover, I think the best way we can serve small businesses is making sba lending available to all who qualify, as opposed to picking winners and losers and pitting americans against one another. You have my commitment we will make that broadly available to all who qualify.
▶ 1:25:36Sen. Hawley: Fantastic answer. Let me ask about another priority. While the last administration's sba was focused on the d.e.I. Agenda, it was not helping people in rural areas, like most of my state. In fy 2020 four, sba made 103,000 loans, only 12,000 to rural businesses. That's just over 12%. Of fda's $56 billion in capital last year, only $6 billion went to rural businesses, just 11%.
▶ 1:26:09Sen. Hawley: You want to talk about inequity, there is an imbalance between urban and rural. We have urban centers in my state as well. I'm all for small businesses in urban centers getting what they qualify for. Would you agree small businesses in rural are extremely important? They are often the lifeblood of the community. In the small town where I grew up, 4000 people rely on small businesses.
▶ 1:26:32Sen. Hawley: What will you do to make sure small business in rural america is a priority, that they are getting access to the funds we qualify for and we are doing everything we can to help small businesses revitalize these communities?
▶ 1:26:44Ms. Loeffler: Not only do I agree, I have lived it. I was raised in a family, fourth-generation small business. My nearest town had 600 people. My high school had eight small towns. Many of my fellow students' parents were small business owners. I saw the hard work they did, the complexity of dealing with increased federal regulation, even back then.
▶ 1:27:10Ms. Loeffler: We have to ensure small businesses in rural communities are getting the support they need. I understand it firsthand and I know we can and will do better because this is an area we can grow in terms of bringing manufacturing made in america again can come back, driven by rural america, and paying attention to people who have been forgotten about. That's what president trump does, remembers the forgotten men and women working so hard in this country.
▶ 1:27:38Sen. Hawley: Fantastic. I welcome your focus on this, I look forward to working with you. Let me ask about fraud and waste and abuse. I think your answers have been heartening. You referenced at the height of the pandemic, congress enacted the so-called cares act to provide necessary relief to millions. We also created a special inspector general to monitor any fraud and abuse in that program.
▶ 1:28:05Sen. Hawley: For reasons that continue to elude me, the last president when he came to office almost immediately limited their remit of this special inspector general, then tried to defund it. Now we find out hundreds of billions of dollars were wasted or fraudulently dispersed or not properly paid back under these programs. Would you agree that we need the special inspector general?
▶ 1:28:31Sen. Hawley: We need that office to be properly funded, given the jurisdictional authority it deserves. Senator ernst has a bill to make sure they get that jurisdictional authority. Would you support that and can you talk to us about the need to be rooting out fraud, abuse, and corruption?
▶ 1:28:48Ms. Loeffler: Absolutely, if come herbed -- if confirmed I look forward to working with this community to act with more urgency, to have a zero-tolerance policy with regard to fraud and making taxpayers whole. We have to get back to that accountability and getting those funds back into taxpayer hands as soon as possible.
▶ 1:29:10Sen. Shaheen: Thank you. Congratulations, senator leffler , on your nomination, and thank you for your willingness to serve. Welcome to your family and friends here with you this afternoon. New hampshire, like that small businesses are the lifeblood of this community.
▶ 1:29:41Sen. Shaheen: Two thirds of jobs are created from small businesses. My favorite statistic about small businesses is they create 16 times more patents than large businesses, so it's critical we provide assistance to ensure they thrive. I heard from one of our businesses in new hampshire yesterday that sells agricultural equipment to universities. They help research feed efficiency to help farmers.
▶ 1:30:10Sen. Shaheen: He was worried that the halt to funding this week, the order that freezes spending, caused him to worry about his businesses. What would you say to that business owner so that they are reassured their orders are going to continue?
▶ 1:30:31Ms. Loeffler: I appreciate the chance to meet with you and your staff and your leadership in this committee as well. Certainly the facts are that no individual assistance is part of that pause. What the president is rightfully doing is fulfilling his commitment that overwhelmingly americans agree with, to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in spending problems.
▶ 1:31:01Ms. Loeffler: It's not uncommon for presidents to put a pause on agency discretionary funds that could be contributing to the problems we have with debt, with inflation. There is no bigger champion of small businesses than president trump. He has told me personally that small business is big business. He gets it. Small businesses can be assured they will have a champion in me as well.
▶ 1:31:30Ms. Loeffler: Having been raised in a small family business, I know the risks small business operators bear every day, and we will ensure they have a voice in this administration, and they do.
▶ 1:31:41Sen. Shaheen: I certainly agree it's reasonable to review how programs are working and that we all should be in favor of getting rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. That doesn't help anybody.
▶ 1:31:56Sen. Shaheen: I think what's unprecedented about the current situation is the uncertainty it creates first so many of the people who benefit from those programs and the fact it is so broad and far-reaching. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet with you and thank you for coming in and talking.
▶ 1:32:20Sen. Shaheen: One of the things we discussed was the importance of our field offices within the sba, and I was pleased chair ernst mentioned the importance of ensuring we keep people in the field offices and not reduce staff members, because that's where so much of the help from small businesses comes from.
▶ 1:32:41Sen. Shaheen: Can you reassure us that you will focus to make sure the district offices have the support they need and are able to staff up in a way that helps our small businesses?
▶ 1:32:55Ms. Loeffler: Absolutely. If confirmed, I can assure you we will put an emphasis on the field. We have 10 regional offices and 68 district offices. The great aspect of this is we can be out with our entrepreneurs, with our small businesses, not only delivering capital but the support and counseling they need to receive.
▶ 1:33:23Ms. Loeffler: When small businesses have the counseling and mentorship they need, they are more successful. I have heard so many stories from small businesses. I know you hear them every day. Who rely on that extra help to become successful. You have my commitment and I look forward to visiting your state as well.
▶ 1:33:44Sen. Shaheen: Thank you, we look forward to having you come to new hampshire. One of the most important roles you will have is as a spokesperson for small business. I was pleased that president trump continues to maintain the sba administrator as a member of his cabinet. I think that's very important. One of the issues I have been proud to work on that I think we need to continue to focus on for small businesses is helping them access foreign markets.
▶ 1:34:16Sen. Shaheen: Because 99% of markets are outside the united states but only 3% of small to medium businesses do business outside the united states. I was proud to create the state trade expansion program, the step program. I would hope that again you would commit to continuing to support that program and helping small businesses get into those markets.
▶ 1:34:47Ms. Loeffler: Certainly the step program is a very appealing program to understand how we can broaden exports. Small businesses can play a tremendous role. I look forward to working with you and the committee to see where we can broaden the export program and make this more efficient to deliver more wins for small businesses.
▶ 1:35:10Chair Ernst: Thank you. I will recognize senator young for five minutes.
▶ 1:35:15Sen. Young: Thank you. Welcome, senator leffler. It's great to see you here today and congrats again on this nomination. It's good to see your cover -- your husband jeff, a hoosier, fellow investor, behind you as well. When my father heard not only was I elected to the united states senate but was going to sit on the small business committee, I can't tell you how excited he was.
▶ 1:35:45Sen. Young: He perhaps perceived this to be known as the most powerful committee. It is not only -- not always known for that, but it was the most important committee to my dad. When my dad was getting started in the business, he relied on sba support, loans in particular, to help him grow his business. For him this was the most important committee. There is a certain wisdom to that.
▶ 1:36:15Sen. Young: As we travel around to various states, we see most jobs these days are created, not by large enterprises, because those come and go -- they are great for ribbon-cutting sometimes, but it is the smaller enterprises. We can maximize our policies so more people will start these small businesses and they grow into large businesses. That's the key to economic development. Really important post you are occupying here.
▶ 1:36:45Sen. Young: If confirmed, how are you going to work to keep small businesses competitive today and resilient tomorrow?
▶ 1:36:52Ms. Loeffler: I agree with your dad. I couldn't be more humbled by small businesses that empower our local communities, that do create two out of every three new jobs in america. That's incredibly powerful. I think there's a number of things we can do to make small business more competitive. First, respecting small business is about free enterprise, not the government.
▶ 1:37:22Ms. Loeffler: We have to look at ourselves and think, what are we doing within this agency to make it harder for small business to access capital? To access government contracting or counseling? A big part of that is getting everyone back in the office, off the golf course, being aligned with our small businesses where they are on main street and not k street.
▶ 1:37:47Ms. Loeffler: My focus is on the field activity, making sure everyone in the agency is accountable and making sure the programs work for small business.
▶ 1:37:55Sen. Young: I think directionally you are on the right course and that is the most important thing at this point. Do you have any ideas how sba might be modernized and improved under your leadership?
▶ 1:38:08Ms. Loeffler: Certainly I don't want to get ahead of myself. If I have the honor of being confirmed, I would look at the broad range of efficiency, both cost and technological efficiencies that could be gained. I will be looking at informational design, skill sets and training that might be needed to deliver services, to increase our response times to small businesses to bid and we will be metrics driven.
▶ 1:38:36Ms. Loeffler: We will have goals that we will be reporting to the committee.
▶ 1:38:40Sen. Young: I think there are members of the committee, count me in, who want to help you and the administration be successful as it relates to small businesses and the small business administration. One of the things you might consider doing is prioritizing an incentive for new businesses and small businesses to adopt the latest technologies. I just had a great exchange with howard london, sec.
▶ 1:39:07Sen. Young: Of commerce nominee, and emphasized digital trade, which he strongly supports, unlike the previous administration. I think that's encouraging. Related to the small business administration, I found many hoosier small businesses rely on digital tools. About the law does not clearly state if these costs qualify within the 7a loan program.
▶ 1:39:35Sen. Young: If someone wants to buy an ai technology, it's unclear if the law will include that. I have introduced legislation, along with senators rosen, bud, and shaheen, the small business technological advancement act that would promote tools for small businesses. If confirmed, would you be willing to work with me on this topic?
▶ 1:39:58Ms. Loeffler: Absolutely, if confirmed I would be. Ai is at the forefront of both, as president trump said, a wake-up call to american innovation, but potentially as tools for automating small businesses, making them more efficient. Whether it is things like copilots or agents, I support looking into that as a solution.
▶ 1:40:20Sen. Young: Thank you, and I will be submitting a question for the record on another important topic to you and our small businesses about how you intend to address bolstering sba's cybersecurity infrastructure. Thanks so much.
▶ 1:40:35Chair Ernst: Senator coons.
▶ 1:40:39Sen. Coons: Thank you, chair. Thank you, senator and those here to support you. Your predecessor in the previous two administrations I have had a particularly strong admission -- strong relationship with. Secretary mcmahon came to visit delaware several times. My dad said the same thing, to senator young's comment.
▶ 1:41:04Sen. Coons: He started and ran a small manufacturing his news and thought this was the most exciting committee I could be on. It has been in the past a very productive committee. My hope is we will get past two churning out legislation that works with you, that we will appropriately authorize funds and review programs. When we had a chance to meet two weeks ago, one of the programs I brought up was score, which was founded in wilmington, delaware, thus my obsession.
▶ 1:41:37Sen. Coons: I think one of the highest federally appropriated dollar for actual impact programs in history raised more than 10,000 volunteers through score who delivered $4 million per year of free business claim consulting. Score clients returned $59 in tax revenue for every dollar. It needs to be reauthorized. We need to look at it to ensure it is operating well and there is accountability.
▶ 1:42:03Sen. Coons: Would you support score and its reauthorization and work with me to achieve a bipartisan authorization if confirmed?
▶ 1:42:12Ms. Loeffler: I thank you for the time you shared in your office. I was delighted to hear about your dad's sentiments. I agree and I look forward to working with you to review score, see how it can be made more robust, evaluating the program and sharing that data with this committee so we have a collaborative approach to ensuring our efforts are making a difference for small businesses.
▶ 1:42:42Ms. Loeffler: It's definitely had an impact and we want to make sure programs that work are made available to more entrepreneurs.
▶ 1:42:49Sen. Coons: Those 10,000 help more than 300,000 entrepreneurs. A piece of legislation secretary rubio and I worked on for several congresses was to help make sure that sbir grantees actually produce commercial technology. About half of sbir lead to commercial technology but half don't.
▶ 1:43:15Sen. Coons: This would specifically authorize the market share and cost. The sba plays a critical role in coordinating sbir across the whole government. I would be interested in sbir as a program and whether you would help work on reauthorization and ensuring it doesn't just fund endless research.
▶ 1:43:40Ms. Loeffler: Absolutely. I think the small business innovation research grants are critical to solving some of the challenges america has in scaling technological innovations quickly.
▶ 1:43:54Ms. Loeffler: The program gives more runway to these important technological breakthroughs, whether in the area of bioscience technology, ai, drones, mission-critical things for national defense that would not be possible without the support of research institutions.
▶ 1:44:13Ms. Loeffler: I look forward to collaborating with this committee on the reauthorization and reviewing the program for where it can be strengthened to produce more efficient results and to highlighting some of the wins to ensure these are wins that generate a powerful return on taxpayer investments.
▶ 1:44:31Sen. Coons: Another concern I have expressed in previous congresses is the amount of federal contracting money going to small businesses. Small businesses continue to get a robust piece of the total federal pie, 28%, which exceeds the target, but it's for a smaller and smaller number of small business firms. I would be interested in working with you to make sure we are contracting federally as broadly as possible to as many small businesses as possible.
▶ 1:45:02Sen. Coons: As every colleague has referenced, 98% of businesses in my state, even delaware which has a lot of incorporation, are small businesses. Would you work with me to make sure we achieve those goals?
▶ 1:45:14Ms. Loeffler: Absolutely, if confirmed I would like to work with you on that. I do agree this program is vital for small businesses to have awareness of and have access to the program. If the program has become too complex that only a select few can find their way in, that boyd's the program's foundational beginnings. I look forward to working with the committee to ensuring small businesses have a path to success.
▶ 1:45:44Ms. Loeffler: I also want to acknowledge administrator mcmahon and her great work, and I hope we can have the same great relationship working for small businesses.
▶ 1:45:56Chair Ernst: Thank you, senator coons. Senator husted.
▶ 1:45:58Sen. Husted: Thank you, ranking member and my fellow colleagues. Great to join you. And senator leffler, great to join you on your nomination and I look forward to supporting you when your nomination comes to the senate floor.
▶ 1:46:15Sen. Husted: I know you are entering this job at a difficult time in the sense that there have been a lot of questions about fraud and lost money that has occurred during the pandemic. There is an expectation of accountability for every tax dollar we spend.
▶ 1:46:40Sen. Husted: At the same time, time is money and small businesses, particularly in a time of natural disaster. They are considered to make ends meet to keep the business open and they need help from the sba.
▶ 1:47:01Sen. Husted: Give me some insights to the committee and how you expect to balance that accountability and speed.
▶ 1:47:12Ms. Loeffler: Thank you for making time to meet. I enjoyed our conversation and know that small businesses have a champion based on your work in ohio for them. You ask a critically important question about accountability of these programs. Americans are expecting them to be there when they need them. When they are not, it creates another layer of uncertainty in a time of devastation, or at least uncertainty if you are forming a small business.
▶ 1:47:43Ms. Loeffler: Certainly we need to have a review of these programs, what's working, what's not working, and make sure it is data-driven, that we look holistically across the 7a program, the disaster relief program, and understanding what went wrong. If we went outside the parameters and why and what work we might do with congress to strengthen these programs so they are accessible.
▶ 1:48:09Ms. Loeffler: Obviously chair ernst has pointed out rising delinquencies in the 7a loan program, rising delayed payments, early defaults , and these are the types of things that red flags should be put up sooner.
▶ 1:48:27Ms. Loeffler: We need greater accountability in this agency, and we can't find out two days later that when we had assurances there was a disaster fund for hurricane victims, it was actually dry. That's abuse of taxpayer dollars and we need to get to the bottom of it. You have my assurance that if confirmed, we will work to be a steward of taxpayer dollars, to be accountable to this committee.
▶ 1:48:57Ms. Loeffler: We know president trump strongly supports the small business community having the resources they need and efficient manner that respects taxpayer dollars. The 7a loan program, the bread and butter loans that small businesses used to start, is meant to operate at zero subsidy , meaning taxpayers do not fund these programs.
▶ 1:49:19Ms. Loeffler: They should pay for themselves when they operate appropriately and they generally do, but we are in a position right now as this year starts that that may not happen, so we need to investigate that.
▶ 1:49:32Sen. Husted: One more thought. One of the things I always talk to my team about his customer service. How do we serve people well? Are we listening to our customer? What are they telling us and how are we turning that information back to change, enhancements, things like that?
▶ 1:49:54Sen. Husted: I am interested in your thoughts on how to do that and interested in what you learn so we can be better at what we do and serve the customers.
▶ 1:50:06Ms. Loeffler: This is an area I really look forward to getting into. The field operations that sba has could be incredibly powerful to increasing responsiveness to tailoring programs that are more efficient to deliver resources to small businesses in a way that the original formation of the agency's intent was meant to do.
▶ 1:50:30Ms. Loeffler: First of all, getting people back to work, tracking the data and using the feedback loop, looking at how long our case time is open when someone comes to us with a question. How long did they have to wait on the phone for someone to answer? When you are a small businessperson, you don't have any extra time. We need to understand the challenges and complexities they deal with and this agency doesn't need to be one of them.
▶ 1:51:02Ms. Loeffler: We want to be part of the solution, not the problem.
▶ 1:51:04Chair Ernst: Thank you and welcome to the committee. Senator rosen, five minutes please.
▶ 1:51:09Sen. Rosen: Thank you, chair ernst, ranking member markey for holding this hearing. Senator loeffler, when you came to the senate your office was across from mine. Appreciate your service to the nation. You know how this place works and your willingness to serve again. I too have had a great relationship with past administrators under both administrations, because small business matters.
▶ 1:51:36Sen. Rosen: In discussions, we talked about the challenges and resources. Two help them do what is their dream or their idea. Chair ernst and I, we have had a bill out there for a while. It is a bill on childcare because childcare is so important.
▶ 1:52:04Sen. Rosen: This severe shortage of affordable options, they are busy -- they are really financially squeezing families all over this country, urban and rural. It is really a problem for small business and parents alike and creates barriers for people who want to start and grow their business. It makes it difficult sometimes for small business to retain employees because they struggle to find affordable childcare.
▶ 1:52:34Sen. Rosen: We know this crisis demands action and yesterday we reintroduced our bill again, chair ernst and I, the small business childcare investment act. The bipartisan bill will increase -- increase the ability of affordable high-quality childcare for working families by allowing nonprofits -- boys and girls club, ymca, church, mosque, synagogue, even senior centers in rural areas. They have a big commercial kitchen. We could put up childcare.
▶ 1:53:03Sen. Rosen: And so this program doesn't cost anything. It just lets down the guardrail so they have the opportunity. They are nonprofit, they don't need to make a profit. We look forward to getting it over the finish line as quickly as possible.
▶ 1:53:26Sen. Rosen: Can you discuss how you feel about the childcare crisis, how it impacts small business and you are open to expanding sba resources and loans to nonprofits?
▶ 1:53:39Ms. Loeffler: Thank you for the question and I appreciated our time together to hear more about nevadans' needs and how the sba can be part of it. I think childcare is or irrelevant issue in every state -- childcare is a relevant issue in every state. Small businesses, especially given the need to provide childcare for the small business owner or employee.
▶ 1:54:11Ms. Loeffler: I think small businesses can be part of the solution and I would love to work with you and chair ernst to review this potential solution and to look at other ways the sba supports parents and children as they work in small businesses. I look forward to this and the input of the rest of the committee as well.
▶ 1:54:37Sen. Rosen: Something we had a great talk about was our veterans and how they take the things they learned in the military and translate those when they come home. Nevada is home to over 200,000 veterans and over 23,000 veteran owned small businesses. Despite this nevada was without for a long time a dedicated veterans business outreach center until 2023, when at my urging we pushed the administration to have nevada have its first sba boc.
▶ 1:55:13Sen. Rosen: They receive the support they need. We talked about it with your own dad and how he started his business, such a great story. I appreciate you sharing that with me. The sba budget requested an increase for veterans outreach, underscoring the importance of vboc's and helping ease the transition to civilian life. What do you see as the future for veterans business outreach center and how it helps?
▶ 1:55:43Ms. Loeffler: I couldn't agree more. Our veterans need the support of the sba, and if confirmed I would love to work with all of you on how we better support our veterans. My father learned truck driving skills in the air national guard that resulted in our small trucking business. We know veterans have untapped potential that we can help unleash.
▶ 1:56:07Ms. Loeffler: I commit to working with this committee and even across this administration with secretary collins to ensure our veterans have the resources they deserve.
▶ 1:56:16Sen. Rosen: I will submit the rest of my questions for the record but they are mostly on workforce development. We had a good chance to talk about how we train people where they are to give them the skills they need to stay in their communities and build back neighborhoods and diners and all of that wherever they are and how important it is. I look forward to hearing on that with you and working with you.
▶ 1:56:41Chair Ernst: Thank you, senator rosen. We will start a second round of questions. I believe senator markey, our ranking member, has another question.
▶ 1:56:51Sen. Markey: One of the benefits of being chair or ranking member is all the other members leave and they don't even know there is a hearing that continues and we get to ask more questions. Earlier, one of the republican senators ask you, senator, about the d.e.I.
▶ 1:57:10Sen. Markey: Executive orders and mentioned section 8a for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, that it was deemed unconstitutional. It was not deemed unconstitutional. The application process had to change and the program continues.
▶ 1:57:33Sen. Markey: With that clarification, earlier you said, senator, that president trump's executive order overturned d.e.I. Sba programs. Again, 8a for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, it's codified.
▶ 1:57:58Sen. Markey: In your opinion, does an executive order overturned a law that was put on the books by this committee on a bipartisan basis?
▶ 1:58:08Ms. Loeffler: Ranking member markey, thank you for the question. The important thing to note is I support president trump's executive order overturning d.e.I. Programs -- yes, I have committed to following the law.
▶ 1:58:30Ms. Loeffler: We will work with the administration to make sure all americans have access to the programs that exist in the small business administration under the law and will continue to keep this committee updated as to any modifications as we go.
▶ 1:58:46Sen. Markey: So do you believe the law does an fact -- an executive order does in fact overturn a law passed by the house and senate? Is that your conclusion, that president trump is right and all d.e.I. Programs are now removed?
▶ 1:59:10Ms. Loeffler: I have committed to you that I will uphold the law and all the programs, and we will communicate any changes to the programs to this committee.
▶ 1:59:20Sen. Markey: You believe you are authorized to change the d.e.I. Programs because of an executive order? Even though it is statutorily mandated these programs are on the books?
▶ 1:59:31Ms. Loeffler: I support president trump's executive orders and we will ensure we follow the law in the administration of the sba.
▶ 1:59:38Sen. Markey: The small business administration administers a number of programs that aim to level the playing field for people from underserved communities that have faced historical barriers for small business ownership due to prejudice. The programs this committee has put on the books include disabled veterans owned small businesses, women's business centers and 8a business development programs for the disadvantaged.
▶ 2:00:11Sen. Markey: This program and many others like them are codified in the statutes. Recent actions by president trump seek to rescind the so-called d.e.I. Initiatives. As administrator, president trump's executive order would direct you to terminate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility positions at sba.
▶ 2:00:38Sen. Markey: In light of that, we just have to remember that executive orders cannot change or rescind congressional mandates. We are the article and branch of government. Those redcoats were going down massachusetts avenue and the minute men and women came out to lexington and concord. They were saying no taxation without representation.
▶ 2:01:10Sen. Markey: They already had a king. They could pick a prime minister or president. But they were going to have a house and senate. P.r. Article one in the constitution. Trump may think he can overturn what we do here, but that's what the revolution was all about. About having representation on this committee. You may say you were going to support him and he is the law, but he is not the law.
▶ 2:01:36Sen. Markey: I just want to continue this conversation with you because I think there has to be an understanding that supporting women-owned businesses --
▶ 2:01:44Ms. Loeffler: Senator, I can assure you --
▶ 2:01:47Sen. Markey: Supporting women-owned businesses is d.e.I.
▶ 2:01:51Ms. Loeffler: I never said that. I can assure you I will uphold the law. I was a woman owned business. I had a major 80 minority women-owned business for a decade. I understand the importance. A well-functioning agency is the best way we can ensure there is more access to these programs by a diverse range of communities without picking winners and losers. That's what the american people want.
▶ 2:02:21Ms. Loeffler: That's why president trump won in a landslide, because the american people want fairness and merit brought back. That's what we discussed in your office.
▶ 2:02:29Sen. Markey: But you understand it has to be congress that changes laws, it can't be done by executive order.
▶ 2:02:34Ms. Loeffler: Yes, I will uphold the law.
▶ 2:02:36Chair Ernst: Thank you, ranking member markey. I will make some comments to this discussions as well. We know there are many programs that are codified. They are in law and you will uphold the law. I appreciate that answer. Unfortunately what we did see during the biden administration was through a lot of supplemental movement through the administration.
▶ 2:03:04Chair Ernst: They did put into place different d.e.I. Programs within the sba. The executive order is likely to immediately rollback the biden era d.e.I. Mandates that were supplemental, those that are not legally binding. Yes, I anticipate you will follow the law, senator loeffler, should you be confirmed, and you are well on your way. I will assume your confirmation, not you.
▶ 2:03:34Chair Ernst: There are many things that president biden took within his own action, his own prerogative, within the sba that was not codified nor approved by this committee. We will ensure that you follow the law, senator loeffler, but certainly we can rollback the things that were unilaterally done by president biden in the sba.
▶ 2:04:02Chair Ernst: And I will recognize senator cantwell for five minutes.
▶ 2:04:06Sen. Cantwell: Thank you, chair ernst, and congratulations for taking over the chairmanship. Great to see you there. Look forward really, such a big integration between small businesses in the state of washington and our military. Really great lessons I think could be applied broader to other areas of the government.
▶ 2:04:34Sen. Cantwell: Great to see our new ranking member, senator markey. I am feeling ancient at the moment but it's not that long ago when senator kerry was the chair of this committee, and he brought a lot of energy to the sbir and other important technology startup issues that were a big part of the discussion at that time. Look forward to working with with a view -- with both of you.
▶ 2:05:03Sen. Cantwell: It's good to see my former colleague again. Congratulations on your nomination. You and I had a chance to talk briefly in the office. I wanted to bring up a couple. Do you support the minority business authority?
▶ 2:05:21Ms. Loeffler: Thank you for your time in your office. I enjoyed our conversation. I appreciate that programs at the commerce department runs and see there is potential for collaboration between sba. I really do support working across the administration to ensure our resources are utilized and we don't have overlap in our programs and they are serving americans who need those services the most.
▶ 2:05:46Sen. Cantwell: Will you work with me to make sure the department of agriculture meets this same small business set-aside challenge that dod has so successfully done? In this case, the department of agriculture is not giving our small mills the access they need. Will you work with me to make sure those important sba issues are addressed at the department of ag?
▶ 2:06:16Ms. Loeffler: I appreciate our conversation about your timber business. If confirmed, I would look forward to working with secretary rollins to ensure we have a collaborative relationship. There was previously an mou with the department of agriculture, and hope we can collaborate to support small businesses in that regard as well.
▶ 2:06:41Sen. Cantwell: I appreciate that. One of the reasons we want this infrastructure is if you think about reducing the fuel we need, you need to have the mills in those regions. To get the mills, you need to have the agreement you can give them some supply. Look at the disaster we just saw in california. We already knew this in the northwest.
▶ 2:07:09Sen. Cantwell: We have had our share of big, dramatic fires. There was a border crossing issue in a town that was flooded , and in the town of walden a fire wiped through the town. Over 300,000 acres in wildfires burned just in 2024. How do we make sure we keep politics -- I feel so much politics happened with federal funding in the next few years. How do we keep politics out?
▶ 2:07:44Sen. Cantwell: There was a case on the malden fire where it was delayed for months, a disagreement between the president then and our governor, and it took a new administration -- this was even though cathy mcmorris rodgers and I were working together. How will you help us make delivering disaster assistance urgently without all this noise we are hearing?
▶ 2:08:09Ms. Loeffler: I appreciate the question. Certainly your state has had its share of disaster. You had the bomb cyclone in november and ongoing recovery from that. I think americans were stunned by the implementation of the hurricane response under fema, where they refused to go to homes with trump signs in the front yards. Americans want to see an end to that.
▶ 2:08:39Ms. Loeffler: We should not be politicizing disaster response. That's something we have to restore confidence in, and certainly the sba will be working with the trump administration to restore integrity to the relief efforts.
▶ 2:08:54Sen. Cantwell: I don't know whether the chair has had this issue, but probably because there is disasters everywhere. That is the debate about the way the funding model works currently in taking care of communities who experience disasters. Urban communities because they have density are taken better care of, and rural areas -- although a rural community is a rural community. Sue mass is an example, right by the border.
▶ 2:09:23Sen. Cantwell: If that's not there, I'm not sure we can sustain the border. It would get closed down. Or in the mid town, we had an economy that was devastated. People were like, we are not going to help you because you don't have the same ratio. It's a juggernaut of an economy. Just because it doesn't have density doesn't mean it isn't a big problem.
▶ 2:09:46Sen. Cantwell: The gao concluded rural communities experience disasters differently -- not really differently, they are devastated , they are just not in the same density. As we consider how to make sba loans for vulnerable rural communities, do you think businesses and homeowners -- we want them to return to these areas.
▶ 2:10:09Sen. Cantwell: We don't want to see a community -- in our case, these are communities that sit in close proximity to the cascades but are a huge tourism economy for the whole state. What are your thoughts on how we implement this sba change for our colleagues, to get a better recognition of the economic impact that disadvantages rural communities?
▶ 2:10:34Ms. Loeffler: I would love to work with you on that, to visit your state, understand the dynamics. I grew up in a rural community. I understand the unique characteristics. The heartland lived through tornadoes, hail storms and other devastating efforts together as a community. Often the tv cameras were not there. You are recovering on your own.
▶ 2:11:03Ms. Loeffler: How can we better ensure disaster relief isn't based on politics or a media profile but where the relief is sorely needed to strengthen the economic stability of the tax base, the community, the culture , the people, the generations that live there, and the industry it supports. I would love to work with you on that. .
▶ 2:11:26Sen. Cantwell: Is my time expired? Sorry to go on but those are very important issues and I appreciate the opportunity to ask them and I look forward to working on that with you.
▶ 2:11:38Chair Ernst: Thank you, senator cantwell, and I would enjoy working with you on that as well. In iowa we have had challenges with disaster recovery and the cost to benefit ratio. We have struggled on this for a long time.
▶ 2:11:56Chair Ernst: For the audience, if I could take the chair's prerogative and share with you, we have many disasters, flooding in particular, in iowa, where many restaurants in downtown rural communities are destroyed. The cost to benefit ratio is never high enough for the federal government to provide that level of assistance.
▶ 2:12:20Chair Ernst: However, if a restaurant on an eastern or western coast along the ocean is destroyed, of course the cost to benefit ratio is going to be higher. The cost of the restaurant is much higher. They are the ones likely to receive the disaster assistance, but not those of us in the midwest.
▶ 2:12:43Chair Ernst: A home of one size in iowa is much cheaper than a home on the coast, but it's still someone's home, still someone's business. I think we have a lot of work to do in this area and I would be happy to partner with you on that.
▶ 2:13:00Sen. Cantwell: Thank you. One thing people don't realize is it's also an economy that generates a lot of revenue for your state. It could be a tourism economy, a community that offers something different. If you take that out the middle of your state or wherever it is, because the ratio has not been addressed correctly, we are losing out on that big picture economics.
▶ 2:13:29Sen. Cantwell: We have to get people to realize that that relationship to the state overall should be considered in the ratio.
▶ 2:13:35Chair Ernst: Absolutely. Thank you for that input. A number of issues were addressed today during this productive hearing. Thank you for being here. I want to thank president trump for your nomination to the small business administration. I look forward to working with you upon your confirmation into this position.
▶ 2:14:02Chair Ernst: Because there are no other questions, I again want to thank you very much for your willingness to serve and to be here today and for your family's support of you in this position. We are going to leave the record open until close of business tomorrow, 5:00 p.m., thursday, january 30, for members to submit questions to the record. We will keep the record open two weeks to edit statements, submit letters, and any other relevant materials. Without objection, so ordered.
▶ 2:14:35Chair Ernst: Senator loeffler, we would appreciate your prompt response to any additional questions that are submitted. With that, the committee on small business and entrepreneurship stands adjourned. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]