Anthony Gonzalez

They are good Americans. They are hardworking Americans. They are an important part of our economies, both locally and nationally, and they deserve our attention.

Folks, I represent many small business hoteliers in my district, many of whom are first- and second-generation Americans who have worked hard to achieve the American Dream.

Despite repeated requests from Congress, including my own, the MSLP facts released on September 18th state that conditions did not warrant changes to allowing lending to asset-based borrowers.

I can't imagine how you would come up with that.

I see no reason why you shouldn't have access to it.

Chronic underfunding, and lack of focus, in my opinion, from the Federal Government with respect to how we fund our research enterprise.

I think it's obvious that, you know, our research enterprise is being damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic in certain ways.

I'm committed to working with my colleagues to eradicate this despicable criminal behavior and help victims regain their freedom.

This is one area where I think we have done a good job.

If we are not talking about unemployment insurance, if we are not talking about some type of workforce housing, housing for the sick, housing for the vulnerable, then the contact tracing mechanisms really will be limited in scope.

I think a different strategy would probably make sense for them.

It is a marketing challenge, but I would argue that it is an enormous marketing challenge, asking sort of everyday Americans to trust two entities, Big Tech and Government, that naturally we don't trust.

I want to start by commenting--I don't know if this was intentional. I think I have heard a couple of times that maybe we shouldn't be so focused on business bankruptcies, and I just fundamentally disagree with that.

I clearly hope that the Department of Justice continues to investigate these bad actions by bankers and board members across the country.

If it were up to me, and I believe many members of this committee, on both sides of the aisle, a few of you would be in jail today.

You have the auspicious honor of being the first board member, I believe, to testify in front of Congress since Enron.

I think we all know that it's incumbent that Western values, Western democratic values ultimately dictate the standards for that future.

I think that's critical.

It's not good or bad. It's how do we apply it.

You run the bank consistent with the consent orders and the laws of this country. We will create the laws.

I think that sets a very interesting precedent that I hope doesn't become routine, where we are hauling in board members of companies.

The second initiative I would like to advocate for today is the STOP School Violence Grant Program that is essential to the safety of America's students.

Increasing funding for the Missing and Exploited Children programs will help to adequately resource ICAC and NCMEC to effectively combat the spread of online child exploitation.

I request the committee reaffirm Congress' commitment to combating child exploitation as a law enforcement priority by increasing funding for Missing and Exploited Children programs to $105 million in fiscal year 2021.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today about a project that is important to northeast Ohio.