Joni Ernst

Okay. So, you--and you are saying here today you will not be seeking loan forgiveness as SBA for EIDL loans under $100,000.

I would rather not revisit that.

These final rules threaten to drastically change the SBA's flagship small business lending program.

We need to protect the taxpayers against fraud. We want to make sure that the dollars are going to those small business entities that are truly deserving and need those resources.

So, yes, I don't want you to leave Mr. Shoemaker, or Shoemaker, without feeling you have gotten a fair shot at discussion today.

I would rather not revisit that.

Okay. So, you--and you are saying here today you will not be seeking loan forgiveness as SBA for EIDL loans under $100,000.

It is really disheartening to many of us on this committee, as we saw in a bipartisan manner, where numbers of our committee members raised issue with the proposed rules.

These final rules threaten to drastically change the SBA's flagship small business lending program.

It is really disheartening to many of us on this committee, as we saw in a bipartisan manner, where numbers of our committee members raised issue with the proposed rules, and it shows that the Administrator and the SBA was not working in…

We need to protect the taxpayers against fraud. We want to make sure that the dollars are going to those small business entities that are truly deserving and need those resources.

Okay. So, you--and you are saying here today you will not be seeking loan forgiveness as SBA for EIDL loans under $100,000.

I would rather not revisit that.

So, yes, I don't want you to leave Mr. Shoemaker, or Shoemaker, without feeling you have gotten a fair shot at discussion today.

These final rules threaten to drastically change the SBA's flagship small business lending program.

I hope that this has been a one-off situation, but I think it is encouraging many of those institutions to go back and relook what their practices are.

I do want to thank you as well for the letter that was sent back to Chairman Cardin and I.

Fraud in ineligible firms were supposed to be flagged and recouped on the back end through the forgiveness process, yet the Biden administration has forgiven $754 billion, or 92 percent of all PPP loans.

A critical commitment I received from Mr. Syed is to prioritize fraud detection and prevention, which is among the greatest obstacles facing the SBA.

A primary focus of the agency should be to aid in the recovery of the more than $100 billion in fraudulent and improper loans made through the SBA COVID relief programs.

That raises concerns with me because we have had that 40-year moratorium.

But we do not want to conflate the 504 program with our 7(a).

I would love some follow-up. My staff had sent questions about Express several months ago...

Will the final rule eliminate our credit analysis, the control and management affiliation test...

Congress did not authorize a permanent change to larger 7(a) loans for affiliation or underwriting criteria because of COVID programs.