Ben Cardin

The President is challenging us to do better as we build back better.

So having a mechanism to deal with equity capital, under our supervision, would certainly be a tool that could help deal with that.

So you are used to this. You are a real pro at this.

To invest more equitably, we need more diverse managers in the existing program.

Despite the success of the SBIC program, it is underutilized.

SBIC funds have provided more than $100 billion of funding across 200,000 financings to small businesses, creating more than 3 million jobs in just the last 20 years.

I want to thank our colleagues, Senator John Hickenlooper and Senator Jim Risch for their leadership on this issue.

According to information I have, only 5 percent of the funds go to companies owned by women, veterans, or minorities.

We should expand the program and fully utilize it to get more capital invested in small businesses.

I am concerned about their safety. Is there more aggressiveness that the international community can be in order to protect the safety of the protesters in Belarus?

We will very much look to you for advice as to how we can protect the people of Belarus.

The protesters in Belarus are extremely brave people. They are out in great numbers protesting against their government.

I applaud the leadership of our Committee in pushing the issues on PFAS.

My concern is that, it may have worked well for West Virginia, but Mr. Chairman, we need some national direction to hold those responsible accountable, whether it is private industry, or whether it is the Department of Defense.

Our first order is to make sure we have the safety of our communities.

Well first, congratulations on your child. A boy, I understand?

I agree with Chairman Menendez. He and I had similar views on the JCPOA and President Trump's decision to leave the JCPOA.

I would just add in multinationalism, the Organization of American States, the OSCE, and other international organizations where the United States leadership can play a critical role to focus those organizations in addition to the United…

It certainly reflects the commitment that we have a value-based foreign policy.

The press statement for your FY 2022 budget says it includes a significant increase to resources to advance human rights and democratic values.

I certainly agree with Senator Menendez, our Chairman, that we welcome the budget that has been submitted for our foreign policy issues.

I appreciate that. It also helps us, if we then have the information we need to impose sanctions, such as Global Magnitsky, by having that capacity in each of our missions.

I was particularly pleased by your statements here about your commitment to good governance.

I introduced the Global Learning Loss Assessment Act with Senator Boozman to encourage the U.S. to play an active role in mitigating this educational crisis before it's too late.

So let me take you up on your offer of keeping us informed.