I think that technical assistance will be very important. We do have a resource problem, but we also have a management issue.

In many respects there are less barriers to entrepreneurship than there is to employment, so it is an area that we really can expand opportunity.

Small businesses want tax fairness, and for them that means simplicity, easy to understand.

I thank you for your efforts there. We need to identify those who have hepatitis C.

I share those concerns. I think the SBDC program, as well as the field offices, play a critical role on outreach to the small businesses that do not have the resources to figure these things out.

Well, we share with you the view that it should be made permanent.

I appreciate your visits to Maryland. We know it is easy on your travel budget when you visit our State.

Thank you for your leadership and your willingness to engage this Committee, members of the Senate, as well as stakeholders on making these important decisions.

The SBA needs to be efficient and serve America's entrepreneurs. It does not need to be making risky bets on the taxpayer's dime.

You know the challenges we have there.

The one area that I hope we will continue to work on is returning citizens, criminal justice-impacted individuals.

The reform of the OPTN process will save lives. We lose 17 Americans every day awaiting an organ transplant.

Tell me how you are going to target those funds, particularly to the underserved communities that have had the challenges in the past in dealing with lead poisoning in their homes and their schools.

I just really want to applaud the efforts that have been, at least in my state of Maryland we have gone from one Women's Business Center to four Women's Business Centers.

We appreciate those funds being made available. We also appreciate your budget that increases the Bay Program directly by $100,000.

There are few things that are more corrosive of democratic systems than corruption.

Be mindful of this infrastructure or structures that are available to implement this in transition.

We are the wealthiest Nation in the world that spends the most of any nation on drugs, and yet we have important drugs that are in short supply here.

I think never in our history have we had so many global challenges in which the work of the State Department can be critically important for us achieving our objectives.

We are extremely concerned about what we hear from small businesses in regard to compliance with the tax laws of our country.

Are you working to make the implementation of that law as smooth as possible, so that we can see some progress?

I want to move on to another bipartisan bill that passed in the last Congress with overwhelming support for retirement savings: Secure 2.0.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act requires that R&D costs be capitalized and amortized over 5 years for domestic costs.

The guidance from the IRS is absolutely critical in regard to the allocation issue.

Brazil is certainly a very important strategic partner for the United States.