Like you, I am an immigrant from South Korea, and I can tell you that America has also opened the door for me for, you know, a better future for me and my family now.

I hope we can work together to preserve that American dream for all Americans, but especially for small businesses to prosper and succeed because small businesses are the backbone of our economy.

Unfortunately, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses survey, small business owners, their expectation for better business conditions over the next 6 months are at their lowest in nearly 50 years.

I am concerned that the administration is moving away from SBA's core mission which is to help small businesses prosper and protect their interests.

Well, it seems that we have a clear case study on the effectiveness and efficiency of the successful public-private partnership versus direct lending.

Thank you, Chairman Crow. I want to thank you for holding this hearing, and I want to thank all of our witnesses for testifying today.

I want to talk about the recent report of the Office of the Inspector General that some loans totaling $66.4 billion that SBA did not meet the 90-day statutory requirement to remit the forgiveness payments to lenders.

Small businesses that you represent are facing many economic headwinds with supply chain disruptions, record-setting inflation numbers, and increase in gas prices.

I am proud to have introduced the bipartisan H.R. 6450, the SCORE for Small Business Act of 2022.

I am pleasantly delighted to hear that your father served in the Korean War.

However, I am confident that we can work together to empower small businesses with resources to address the skills gap.