Gil Cisneros Confronts SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler On Moving SBA Offices Out Of Metropolitan Areas

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During a House Small Business Committee hearing last week, Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-CA) questioned SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler about the relocation of SBA offices out of metropolitan areas.

Transcript

00:00Administrator Loeffler, you know, it's finally nice to actually have somebody from the SBA

00:06after so many hearings to actually answer questions about policies that are being put in place.

00:11And the first thing I would like to ask you is if you can name those offices that had zero employees,

00:16I would love to see those. You don't have to give them right now, but you can give them to me back

00:20in a letter that I think that you could address. I would love to hear what offices and what cities

00:23were there. But, you know, you say you were supporting small businesses, but you moved

00:30offices out of six metropolitan areas. People in New York City are now having to travel to Long

00:37Island, which is not easy to get to. You have to go by train or other means in order to get there.

00:43How does moving these offices out of the metropolitan areas where they serve collectively

00:49hundreds of thousands of businesses? How is that supporting small business?

00:55Congressman, thank you for the question. I would like to start by thanking Secretary Noem

01:01and ICE for ensuring that our cities are safe. You saw in a sanctuary city yesterday.

01:07That's not, I'm not asking you about ICE. I'm asking about how you're supporting small businesses

01:11if you're moving the offices out of the areas.

01:13We're keeping small businesses safe after four years of an open borders policy.

01:17Were any of these SBA offices or any of these small businesses under attack or threat? Do you

01:22have proof of that where everything was going on where you needed to move these offices out?

01:26In Denver, we saw a terror attack on the Jewish community by an illegal alien who is in a sanctuary

01:33city. Yes, there are many small businesses in Denver that are threatened by illegal aliens who are-

01:38Again, I would love to see that list of small businesses that have been attacked or threatened

01:42by- We have many stories where you felt that it was needed in order to move these offices out.

01:48But when you, in doing that, you are not only hurting, and this is, you are supposed to be there to help

01:56businesses, support businesses in these areas. And some of these businesses are owned and operated

02:02not only by Democrats, but independents and Republicans as well. And when you move these resources out of these

02:10metropolitan areas, you are making it harder for them to receive these services. So how is this helping

02:18small businesses? How is it keeping them safe?

02:22Congressman, this is not about partisanship. This is about public safety.

02:25Well, I'm talking about right now, whether you, whether or not you move the office out of these

02:30areas, these small businesses are still in those areas. So how does that help these small businesses

02:36if you're moving them out of these metropolitan areas? Congressman, there are resources all over

02:41this country from the SBA. We have 1,000 small business development centers. Do you agree? You've said

02:47numerous times today that you need to be on Main Street where these things are, right? Main Street is not

02:53only in small town America, but it's also in large metropolitan areas. Do you not agree you need

02:59to be where the businesses are? We absolutely are where the businesses are.

03:03Well, how are they, explain why are you moving offices out of these metropolitan areas?

03:08Not only are they unsafe, the offices are not, you are not where the businesses are.

03:13The, the offices are, are not only unsafe, they're in areas that are difficult to get to. They have,

03:19uh, the buildings are inaccessible to small businesses. So moving an office out of New York City

03:23into Long Island is making it more accessible for those small, thousands of small businesses

03:29in New York City. We are going to support regional offices in areas that comply with federal law,

03:34including federal immigration law. I, I, I, you know, I'm mistaken. I'm sorry. I was assuming that you

03:39were the small business administrator, not the, not Homeland Security. We are the voice for small businesses

03:45who want safety and security, and we're going to make sure our resources are. And those small businesses

03:50want resources and help and support. And by moving those resources and help and support out of these

03:55metropolitan areas, you cannot legitimately tell me that you are supporting them. Next question.

04:01Congressman, our loan volume is up 80%. Next question. The FAR Council was rewriting the government's

04:07procurement regulations. Many of the rules are in place because small businesses find it nearly impossible

04:12to compete with large corporations to win a contract. To what extent has SBA been involved

04:19in the rewrite to advocate for small contractors and have you specifically address the potential

04:25elimination or sunset of the rule of two? Congressman, we are working with OMB on the federal

04:32acquisition regulations with the board and ensuring that small businesses once again have a voice there.

04:38We've seen the aims of the program not being met. We think that's a serious problem. As the voice,

04:45as the advocate for small businesses, we have every means and hope. Again, when you're reducing the numbers,

04:51the goals for small businesses, whether it be women-owned, veteran-owned or minority-owned businesses,

04:56how is that helping them and how is that advocating for small businesses when those contracts are now going

05:01to larger things? And with that, I yield back. The gentleman yields back.

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