On the recordFebruary 16, 2011
I rise today, with my colleagues, Senator Collins, Coburn, and Brown of Massachusetts to discuss an amendment to the S. 223, the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act. Currently this bill contains language which adjusts for inflation the personal net worth cap in the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program. This would expand the net worth level established by the SBA in 1989 from $750,000 to approximately $1.4 million. Our amendment aims to strike that language from the bill. In March of 2010, the Government Accountability Office, GAO, issued a report detailing extensive fraud within the 8(a) program. The report revealed that 14 ineligible firms received $325 million in sole-source and set-aside contracts even though these firms were not eligible for the 8(a) program. As ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I take very seriously our committee's responsibility of vigorous oversight and am concerned with efforts to expand the SBA's 8(a) program when these issues have not been fully vetted through the regular order in the Small Business Committee.
