Rep. Williams champions small business bills

U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Republican who represents Olney, led the House Committee on Small Business in passing five bills that he said are “a step in the right direction” with a bipartisan goal of supporting “our nation’s primary job creators.”

House Resolution 5424, “The Main Street Competes Act,” amends the Small Business Economic Policy Act of 1980 to examine how the competitiveness of small businesses is affected by the enforcement of federal antitrust laws, and for other purposes.

H.R. 5425 amends the Small Business Act to enhance the Office of Rural Affairs.

H.R. 5265, “Small Business Administration Rural Performance Report Act,” amends the Small Business Act to require a report on the Office of Rural Affairs, and a report on the April 4, 2018 Memorandum of Understanding between the Small Business Administration and the Department of Agriculture.

H.R. 5426 requires the administrator of the Small Business Administration to provide a link on the SBA website to allow individuals to report suspected fraud relating to certain COVID-19 loans to the SBA Office of Inspector General.

H.R. 5427 prohibits anyone convicted of defrauding COVID lending programs from ever receiving another SBA loan.

“When COVID-19 hit the United States, the SBA was tasted with taking on an oversized role to help save small businesses and our nation’s job creators,” Mr. Williams said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the SBA failed to properly implement basic guardrails to protect these programs that allowed opportunistic criminals to take advantage of these emergency lending programs. One of the main goals of this Committee has been to find solutions to recoup the stolen pandemic funds for the taxpayers and hold these fraudsters accountable.”