Congressional Record, September 29, 2021 — Senate

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Congressional Record, Senate, page S6751, September 29, 2021. Under Afghanistan, McConnell says General McKenzie and General Milley testified under oath yesterday that they agreed with keeping 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, and says the President publicly misstated the advice received from top generals. In executive session the Senate takes up the nomination of Jessica Lewis to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Political-Military Affairs) and the clerk reads the nomination of Robert T. Anderson to be Solicitor. Cardin announces a unanimous consent request on the nomination of Dilawar Syed to be Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration, citing the need at the agency as a result of COVID-19.

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“Congressional Record, September 29, 2021 — Senate.” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-09-29-crec-2021-09-29-pt1-pgs6751-6-a930446e0f/, SHA-256 81985d9cf3424cf77068de651943be7f1fd7707bd741095dd11819620458f8ef.

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September 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6751
AFGHANISTAN understand how to protect America for Warnock Whitehouse Wyden
Warren Wicker Young
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, now the long term. At this rate, they will
need all the tools they can possibly NAYS—27
on a completely different matter, yes-
terday, under oath, General McKenzie get. Barrasso Grassley Paul
Blackburn Hawley Sasse
and General Milley both confirmed f Boozman Hoeven Scott (FL)
they also agreed with the commander Braun Hyde-Smith Scott (SC)
on the ground. They agreed we should CONCLUSION OF MORNING Cassidy Johnson Shelby
keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. These Cotton Kennedy Sullivan
BUSINESS Cruz Lankford Thune
top generals gave President Biden ex- Daines Lummis Toomey
actly the advice the President told the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning Ernst Marshall Tuberville
American people he had not received. business is closed.
NOT VOTING—3
To be very clear, the Commander in f Blunt Crapo Moran
Chief gets to make the final decision,
no matter what the advisers suggest. EXECUTIVE SESSION The nomination was confirmed.
But he needs to own his decision. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
The President publicly misstating --- the previous order, the motion to re-
what advice he got from his top gen- consider is considered made and laid
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR upon the table, and the President will
erals is corrosive to the civil-military
dynamic that keeps America safe. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under be immediately notified of the Senate’s
The military did their job. They gave the previous order, the Senate will pro- action.
their best military advice. It was re- ceed to executive session and resume f
jected. So they saluted and executed consideration of the following nomina-
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
the order of the Commander in Chief. tion, which the clerk will report.
That is the way it is supposed to work. The senior assistant legislative clerk The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
But having rejected their advice, the read the nomination of Jessica Lewis, clerk will report the nomination.
President doesn’t get to claim he never of Ohio, to be an Assistant Secretary of The legislative clerk read the nomi-
received it, nor does he get to claim, as State (Political-Military Affairs). nation of Robert T. Anderson, of Wash-
he has since tried to pretend, that the Mr. MCCONNELL. I suggest the ab- ington, to be Solicitor of the Depart-
only alternative to his botched retreat sence of a quorum. ment of the Interior.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
was sending 10,000 soldiers back to Af- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
ator from Maryland.
ghanistan. clerk will call the roll.
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—EXECUTIVE
That is a false choice. We have heard The senior assistant legislative clerk CALENDAR
directly from the two senior military proceeded to call the roll. Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, in a few
officers in the chain of command, as Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, I ask moments, I am going to make a unani-
well as the President’s principal mili- unanimous consent that the order for mous consent request in regard to
tary adviser, the Chairman of the Joint the quorum call be rescinded. Dilawar Syed to be the Deputy Admin-
Chiefs. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
Everyone with an ounce of common istrator of the Small Business Admin-
objection, it is so ordered. istration.
sense knows President Biden’s botched VOTE ON LEWIS NOMINATION Let me give you a little bit of back-
retreat was not the extraordinary suc-
Under the previous order, the ques- ground on Mr. Syed’s nomination and
cess the President claimed. As General
tion is, Will the Senate advise and con- why I am using this unusual process to
Milley acknowledged, it is more accu-
rate to describe the withdrawal as a sent to the Lewis nomination? advance the nomination to the floor for
strategic failure. Mr. SASSE. I request the yeas and floor consideration.
We have now heard confirmation nays. We all know the tremendous need at
from our top military officers that the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a the Small Business Administration as
terrorist threat in Afghanistan is al- sufficient second? a result of COVID–19. We worked to-
ready growing. And relying on over- There appears to be a sufficient sec- gether, Democrats and Republicans,
the-horizon counterterrorism leaves us ond. and created many new programs to
with much less ability to do anything The clerk will call the roll. help small businesses. We created the
at all about it. The senior assistant legislative clerk Paycheck Protection Program, both
What a debacle. We face a greater called the roll. the first—and we modified it—and then
terrorist threat from Afghanistan than Mr. THUNE. The following Senators a second round. We created the Eco-
we did before we withdrew, we have are necessarily absent: the Senator nomic Injury Disaster Loan and Loan
less intelligence about that growing from Missouri (Mr. BLUNT), the Senator Advance Program and the Targeted
threat, and we have fewer tools with from Idaho (Mr. CRAPO), and the Sen- Grant Program.
which to combat it. This administra- ator from Kansas (Mr. MORAN). We provided for the Shuttered Venue
tion gave our enemies in Afghanistan The result was announced—yeas 70, Operators Grant Program, we estab-
everything they wanted and got less nays 27, as follows: lished the Restaurant Revitalization
than nothing in return. [Rollcall Vote No. 390 Ex.] Fund, and the list goes on and on and
So, Mr. President, I know some of my YEAS—70 on. All this created new programs and
colleagues want to unilaterally declare responsibilities for the Small Business
Baldwin Hagerty Padilla
an end to the War on Terrorism. Ah, if Bennet Hassan Peters Administration. And we did this to-
only it were that easy. But the terror- Blumenthal Heinrich Portman gether, Democrats and Republicans, in
ists aren’t through with us. Booker Hickenlooper Reed order to advance the needs for small
Brown Hirono Risch
I hope my Democratic colleagues will Burr Inhofe
businesses during COVID–19.
Romney Over $1 trillion of funds were admin-
think twice before they compound the Cantwell Kaine Rosen
failures in Afghanistan by trying to Capito Kelly Rounds
istered by the Small Business Adminis-
narrow or repeal the 2001 authorization Cardin King tration as a result of our initiatives.
Rubio
Carper Klobuchar
for the use of military force. I, for one, Casey Leahy
Sanders And our constituents had tremendous
will strenuously oppose any further ef- Collins Schatz needs. Tens of millions of small busi-
Lee
Schumer
forts by the Democratic administration Coons Luján nesses have benefited from what we did
Cornyn Manchin Shaheen
or this Democratic Congress to take to help them through COVID–19.

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Cortez Masto Markey Sinema
away any more tools or authorities Cramer McConnell Smith I know that every one of our offices
that our military servicemembers and Duckworth Menendez Stabenow has gotten numerous inquiries from
intelligence professionals need to keep Durbin Merkley Tester small businesses as to how these pro-
Feinstein Murkowski Tillis
our country safe from our enemies. grams were stood up, whether they
Fischer Murphy Van Hollen
At some point we will have a dif- Gillibrand Murray Warner could qualify, concerns about their ap-
ferent administration that will better Graham Ossoff plications being filed promptly, the

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S6752 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 29, 2021
lack of funds, the need to replenish Again, we thought, now, at last, we members at this time decided to block
funds—the list goes on and on and on. will be able to move Mr. Syed’s nomi- the quorum.
That put tremendous demand on the nation. But now the Republicans found As a matter of fairness, as a matter
Small Business Administration, and we a new reason to block his nomination. of the needs of the small business com-
were pretty tough on the Small Busi- Committee Republicans announced munity in our States, as a matter of
ness Administration to get these pro- that they would withhold a quorum on the integrity of this body to have a
grams up and running because we knew the vote because Planned Parenthood process that has some degree of respect
how desperate it was for our small affiliates received loans under the Pay- for the nominees who go through the
business community. check Protection Program. nomination process, I am going to
Now, the Deputy Administrator’s job As one of the negotiators of the make a UC request that the nomina-
is to oversee the day-to-day operations CARES Act—and this was Democrats tion be put on our calendar, like any
of the Agency. That is the position we and Republicans again working to- other reported nominee, subject to the
are talking about for Mr. Syed—the gether; negotiated this with Senator action of this body.
Deputy Administrator of the Small RUBIO, Senator COLLINS, and Senator
Business Administration. Before I make that unanimous con-
SHAHEEN. Let me explain to my col- sent request, with Senator PAUL’s in-
Over 5 months ago, the Small Busi- leagues how nonprofits are treated
ness Committee, under my leadership dulgence, I know that Senator PADILLA
under the Paycheck Protection Pro- would like to make a comment. If he
as chair, had a hearing on Mr. Syed’s
gram. would be willing to allow Senator
appointment, and we discovered during When the SBA considers whether or
that nomination process that he is ex- PADILLA to speak next, and then I will
not a business qualifies as a small busi- make my unanimous consent request.
tremely well qualified to assume these
ness, it considers affiliation. Generally,
responsibilities. He has spent decades I yield the floor.
affiliations exist when one business
building and developing and scaling The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
controls or has the power to control
successful small businesses, as well as ator from California.
another or when a third party controls
his advocacy for underserved small Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I want
businesses. or has the power to control both busi-
nesses. Control may arise with owner- to join Chairman CARDIN in calling at-
The hearing, I thought, went ex-
tremely well and that we would have ship, management, or other relation- tention to the unacceptable obstruc-
no difficulty advancing his nomination ships or interactions between the par- tion by our Republican colleagues who
to the floor of the U.S. Senate. But ties. are doing nothing other than playing
after his hearing, my Republican col- The CARES Act requires that non- political games with the confirmation
leagues requested information from the profits eligible for PPP loans abide by process.
Small Business Administration about the same affiliation rules that are ap- Dilawar Syed is an outstanding and
his loans that he took out as a small plicable to small businesses. highly qualified nominee to serve as
business owner. It was a reasonable re- The fact is that the Planned Parent- Deputy Administrator of the Small
quest. On June 8, I helped arrange to hood Federation of America does not Business Administration. Mr. Syed
supply that information to the mem- exercise control over its member orga- brings decades of experience as a busi-
bers of the committee, and they re- nizations because it does not have com- ness leader and entrepreneur in a num-
viewed his small business loan applica- mon management. Each member orga- ber of fields. He is a dedicated public
tions, Mr. Syed’s small business appli- nization is its own independent, not- servant who helped guide President
cations. for-profit, tax-exempt organization Obama’s support of Asian-American
There was one thing that was pretty with its own independent board of di- small business owners in the wake of
unusual about that in that even though rectors that is solely responsible for the great recession, and he has served
he was qualified to receive forgivable the hiring and retention of its CEO. as the founding chair of the California
7(a) loans under the Paycheck Protec- Planned Parenthood Federation does Entrepreneurship Task Force.
tion Program, he decided to repay the not have the power to remove CEOs or He has earned support from business
loans because he said he didn’t need directors of its individual member or- groups and on both sides of the aisle.
the government to pay on a forgivable ganizations. Notably, the U.S. Chamber of Com-
loan. He took exemplary action, and This type of federated structure is merce enthusiastically announced
after the review, I believe all my col- common in the nonprofit world and is their support for his nomination, citing
leagues were satisfied that his arrange- the reason why nonprofits such as the his very impressive background.
ments with the SBA were exemplary. YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs also
In June of this year, two of our Re-
Next, the Republicans decided to qualify for PPP loans.
The SBA must apply its affiliation publican colleagues joined the Demo-
move to a different target. They ac-
rules in a uniform way, and it is wrong cratic members of the Small Business
cused Mr. Syed of being anti-Israel bi-
to ask the SBA to do otherwise for po- Committee and voted to send Mr.
ased, which was completely, com-
pletely unfounded. litical or ideological reasons. There is Syed’s nomination to the full Senate
The American Jewish Committee no reason why Planned Parenthood for confirmation. But, today, Repub-
wrote our committee to say: should be singled out for receiving PPP licans are refusing to allow the Senate
The unsupported accusations that some- loans, which I must remind my col- to vote on his nomination. In so doing,
how Jewish businesses or those with ties to leagues were created to help keep they are also obstructing the work of
Israel may not fare as well under Syed’s Americans in their jobs during the pan- the SBA itself—work that has never
leadership in the Small Business Adminis-
demic. That is the reason for it. That is been more critical.
tration has no factual grounding. Indeed, he As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
has specifically disavowed support for the why we included nonprofits.
The partisan, unnecessary, and un- wrote back in April, ‘‘It is essential for
boycott, divestment, and sanctions move-
ment, which seeks the dissolution of Israel. conscionable inaction of our Repub- SBA’s senior leadership team to be in
. . . AJC rejects the charge. lican colleagues shows no concern for place to deliver on the agency’s
They go on to say it is un-American, the millions of small businesses still COVID–19 small business emergency re-
the charges that have been made, and I relying on SBA support to survive lief responsibilities.’’ Again, critical.
agree. COVID–19 and rebuild their future and Mr. Syed is ready to serve with dedi-
My colleagues had the right to ask that would benefit greatly by having a cation and skill as the SBA pursues its
questions for the record, and they did. confirmed Deputy Administrator to mission of supporting economic growth
Mr. Syed responded to those questions work on the day-to-day operations at for entrepreneurs and working fami-

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for the record, again repeating the fact the SBA. lies. He is also ready to make history
that he has been against the Boycott, One last point, if I might. The Small as the highest ranking Muslim official
Divestment, and Sanctions movement Business Committee reported out Mr. in any Presidential administration,
and that he has worked with companies Syed’s nomination by a bipartisan and our Nation’s hard-working small
in Israel and, in fact, visited Israel in vote, but due to a technicality, another business owners urgently need his lead-
order to promote the relationships. vote was required, and the Republican ership.

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September 29, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6753
My Republican colleagues who are sponsible for the Agency’s day-to-day minishes our credibility to tell our ad-
playing these political games to ob- operations and involved in all policy ministrators to administer these pro-
struct this nomination are also block- decisions, including the PPP program. grams fairly for all constituencies. And
ing resources needed by their own con- The Biden administration has contin- to deny Small Businesses of America a
stituents. ued to obstruct congressional oversight confirmed Deputy Administrator dur-
Let’s end this, and I urge the Senate of the illegal Planned Parenthood ing these extremely challenging times
to swiftly confirm Mr. Syed. loans, and the nominee has refused to for small businesses does not hurt Mr.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- provide to the committee a commit- Syed; it hurts the small business com-
ator from Maryland. ment that he would take action to re- munity.
Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous con- cover the funds that are being dis- I thank Mr. Syed for his willingness
sent that the Committee on Small bursed illegally. to serve, and I hope we can find a path
Business and Entrepreneurship be dis- The Republican members of the forward because this debate has noth-
charged from further consideration of Small Business Committee have con- ing to do with his qualifications or why
PN231, the nomination of Dilawar Syed tinued to make it clear that we will he should be confirmed.
to be Deputy Administrator of the not allow a vote on this nominee to With that, I will yield the floor.
Small Business Administration; that at occur until the Small Business Admin- Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President.
a time to be determined by the major- istration takes action to recover the il- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
ity leader, in consultation with the Re- legally disbursed funds to the big busi- ator from Hawaii.
publican leader, the Senate proceed to ness known as Planned Parenthood. Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise
its consideration; that there be 1 hour I object. today in strong support of Dilawar
for debate on the nomination equally The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Syed’s nomination to serve as Deputy
divided in the usual form; that upon PADILLA). Administrator of the Small Business
the use or yielding back of time, the Objection is heard. Administration.
Senate vote without intervening action The Senator from Maryland. I have a letter of support from the
or debate; that if confirmed, the mo- Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, let me Congressional Asian Pacific American
tion to reconsider be considered made just repeat a comment. I know Senator Caucus that I would ask unanimous
and laid upon the table with no inter- HIRONO is on the floor, and I want to consent to have printed into the
vening action or debate and the Presi- give her an opportunity to speak on RECORD.
dent be immediately notified of the this, but let me make this clear. There being no objection, the mate-
Senate’s actions. The affiliate rules that are used by rial was ordered to be printed in the
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there the Small Business Administration are RECORD, as follows:
objection? exactly the same for a for-profit or a SEPTEMBER 14, 2021.
The Senator from Kentucky. nonprofit, and there are lots of small Hon. BEN CARDIN,
Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, reserving businesses that have a big name next Hon. RAND PAUL,
U.S. Senate, Committee on Small Business & En-
the right to object, this motion is an to them that are eligible for the pro- trepreneurship, Washington, DC.
attempt to get around the ruling that grams under the Small Business Ad- DEAR CHAIR CARDIN AND RANKING MEMBER
the SBA has that Planned Parenthood ministration before COVID–19 and after PAUL: As members of the Congressional
is, indeed, a small business. This would COVID–19. The affiliation rules have Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC),
allow illegal funding of Planned Par- been in the SBA for a long time, and I which is comprised of 76 members of Con-
enthood affiliates through the Pay- read them into the RECORD earlier in gress, we write to strongly endorse the swift
check Protection Program. my comments. confirmation of Dilawar Syed, who has been
Let’s be very clear. Planned Parent- nominated to serve as Deputy Administrator
What they cannot do is pick and
of the U.S. Small Business Administration
hood is not a small business; Planned choose who they like and don’t like. (SBA). He has decades of experience in busi-
Parenthood is a big business. This is That is not how you administer a pro- ness, entrepreneurship, and public service,
not my allegation; this is a ruling from gram. making him extremely well-qualified for this
the Small Business Administration. So, in the nonprofit world, I gave the position.
The Small Business Administration example of the YMCAs—a pretty big AAPI small businesses have been espe-
ruled in May of 2020 that Planned Par- name but, the truth of the matter is, cially hard hit during the COVID–19 pan-
enthood was a big business, not a small they are all independently operated, demic. In fact, according to a report by the
New York Federal Reserve, the Asian Amer-
business, and ineligible for the PPP and the national YMCA cannot dis- ican community not only experienced the
program. The program was intended for charge the CEO of a local YMCA. So we largest drop in entrepreneurship during the
small businesses. The current ruling judge the qualifications based upon the pandemic, but while other communities of
from the Small Business Administra- local activities. The same is true for a color saw a rebound in entrepreneurship as
tion is, they are ineligible because they lot of affiliates on for-profit compa- the pandemic continued, that rebound had
are a big business. nies: big chains that are independently yet to happen for AAPIs. Mr. Syed has a long
This program was intended to sup- owned and not controlled. They can history working with all communities, but
port small businesses across the coun- qualify for these funds. has particularly strong ties to the AAPI
community, having served as a Commis-
try that were forced to lock down dur- I can tell you a lot of organizations
sioner on the White House Commission on
ing COVID–19. However, the Small that are related in the faith commu- AAPIs. At this pivotal moment for AAPI
Business Administration, despite hav- nity to an umbrella, but they are not small businesses, having Mr. Syed’s back-
ing previously ruled that they were in- controlled, so, therefore, the affiliate ground represented at SBA is critical.
eligible, that they were a big business, rules allow them to apply independ- Mr. Syed, an immigrant who has embodied
has now unlawfully approved nearly ently for these funds as long as they the values of hard work and ingenuity, has
$100 million in taxpayer funds to can qualify. built and scaled businesses with major im-
Planned Parenthood. On June 30 alone, We knew that developing this pro- pacts in technology, healthcare, and business
services. He has shown incredible prowess as
the Small Business Administration ap- gram. We didn’t want to change the af- an entrepreneur in business growth and de-
proved four new loans to Planned Par- filiate rules because that would have velopment. For example, as President of
enthood despite a clear determination been wrong. Freshworks, a customer service software
by the Small Business Administration So what my colleague is requesting is company, Mr. Syed grew the company from a
that these entities are ineligible. So we just—would be illegal for the adminis- few dozen customers to thousands of small
have a great contradiction here. They tration to say that we are not going to and medium businesses across the U.S. Dur-
say they are ineligible. That is the ex- select a particular group because we ing his tenure as Commissioner on the White

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isting rule from the Small Business Ad- don’t particularly agree with what House Commission on AAPIs, Mr. Syed ac-
tively worked to connect entrepreneurs in
ministration. Yet they are still giving they are doing or how they operate. underserved regions to the SBA and Depart-
them money. That is not how the rules work. That is ment of Commerce. From serving as the
This nomination is for the position of not what you are allowed to do. founding chair of the California Entrepre-
Deputy Administrator of the Small So I regret that my colleague has neurship Task Force to spearheading rapid
Business Administration, which is re- raised these objections. I think it di- response engagement during the COVID–19

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S6754 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 29, 2021
pandemic with the state’s most vulnerable Ms. HIRONO. In the midst of the pan- slow the process so that this adminis-
small businesses to increase awareness of demic, what is normally a very bipar- tration can have people in place who
critical programs like the SBA’s Paycheck tisan small business committee, Re- can actually do the job to help the
Protection Program, Mr. Syed has consist-
ently helped empower and uplift our nation’s
publicans are blocking Mr. Syed’s nom- American people—enough is enough.
small businesses. ination. This is particularly egregious I just say to the Republicans: You
Mr. Syed’s nomination has the support of behavior by Republicans on the com- know, put your votes where your
more than 150 civic, government, higher edu- mittee because Mr. Syed is exception- mouths are. You say you support small
cation and business leaders and organiza- ally qualified to hold this position and businesses; you say you support this,
tions, including endorsements from the U.S. is widely supported by business groups that, and the other thing; and yet you
Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Black Cham- will not let this administration get on
and communities across the country.
bers, National Asian/Pacific Islander Amer- with their job to do what is necessary
ican Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneur- In fact, let me read a paragraph from
ship, Small Business Roundtable, Anti-Defa- the Congressional Asian Pacific Amer- to help small businesses, to help our
mation League, American Jewish Congress, ican Caucus letter that I just men- communities, in the midst of an ongo-
and many others. Upon confirmation, Mr. tioned. ing pandemic. It boggles the mind. I
Syed would become the highest-ranking I am reading from the letter: say: Act like the Senators you are, who
Muslim American in the Biden administra- Mr. Syed’s nomination has the support of were sent here to do your job, and let’s
tion to date, as well as one of the highest- more than 150 civic, government, higher edu- get on with this nomination.
ranking AAPIs. cation and business leaders and organiza- I yield the floor.
However, we are disappointed to see the tions, including endorsements from the U.S. Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President.
treatment Mr. Syed has received from those The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Black Cham-
on the Committee that have held up his con-
bers, National Asian/Pacific Islander Amer- ator from Maryland.
firmation vote, based on false accusations,
anti-Muslim sentiment, and efforts to ham-
ican Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneur- Mr. CARDIN. Let me thank Senator
ship, Small Business Roundtable, Anti-Defa- HIRONO for her comments, and I also
string Committee business unless specific
mation League, American Jewish Congress, thank Senator PADILLA for his com-
conditions on unrelated matters are met.
and many others. Upon confirmation, Mr. ments.
Since June 16, the Committee has made
Syed would become the highest ranking Mus-
three different attempts to consider Mr. I have never gone through something
lim American in the Biden administration to
Syed’s nomination, but each time certain
date, as well as one of the highest ranking like this before, where the Republicans
members have challenged the proceedings or are breaking a quorum after they have
AAPIs.
blocked them from moving forward. On two already voted a nominee for reasons
separate occasions, these members even boy- Republicans have continued to block
this nomination for months. Earlier unrelated to the nominee. It makes no
cotted the proceedings—denying Mr. Syed
fair consideration. Targeting nominees like this summer, they disputed the results sense, and the reasons that they are
Mr. Syed for their faith, ethnicity, or place of a meeting the committee had to ad- using makes no sense at all, since they
of birth, furthers the perpetual foreigner vance the nomination. Since then, they are asking the SBA to violate the law.
stereotype to which AAPIs are constantly We are going to continue. As chair of
have refused to show up for three other
subjected. We stand firmly against the use of the committee, I am going to continue
meetings, including one we held last
these typecasting misconceptions. These tac- to look at every conceivable way that
tics have been rejected by leading civil week, denying the necessary quorum
we can get Mr. Syed confirmed. I think
rights and faith-based organizations and for a vote to be taken.
he is an extraordinary person who will
have no place in our government or our na- The reasons for blocking Mr. Syed’s
serve our Nation with great distinc-
tion. There is no question that Mr. Syed is nomination have changed over time.
uniquely well suited and highly qualified for tion, and I know our small business
First, they were concerned about SBA
this role, and small business owners and en- community needs a confirmed Deputy
loans his company received during the
trepreneurs across the country deserve this Administrator.
pandemic, even though these loans You know, what surprises me is that
standard of leadership at SBA. Continuing to
block his nomination is a disservice to these
were lawful and fully repaid before he our Republican colleagues talk about
business owners and entrepreneurs. was nominated. Then they insinuated their support for small businesses, and
The Deputy Administrator role has tradi- he was somehow anti-Jewish and anti- I said we worked on COVID together to
tionally been focused on managing execution Israel—note the groups that I read that create these programs. President
of SBA’s programmatic mission and day-to- have supported him—despite his wide-
day operations, which includes bringing des- Trump never filled the position of Dep-
spread support in these communities. uty Administrator so this position has
perately needed relief to struggling small And now, they are concerned about
businesses and entrepreneurs across the na- been vacant for a long time.
lawful SBA loans to Planned Parent- We need this position. The small
tion. This position has been left vacant for
over three years and continuing to do so pre- hood Health Centers, something that business community needs this posi-
vents the agency from having a fully staffed Mr. Syed certainly had no control over. tion. So it is my hope that we will find
senior leadership team at a time when the Throughout the last several months, a path forward as quickly as possible to
SBA’s importance in our nation’s economic Mr. Syed has repeatedly made himself get this nomination confirmed. I am
recovery is at an all-time high. available to address any concerns my confident that we will get a strong bi-
Mr. Syed’s impressive background both in colleagues might have about his back-
public service and the private sector in busi- partisan vote for Mr. Syed’s nomina-
ground or qualifications, things that tion and confirmation. Republicans tell
ness and entrepreneurship along with his
leadership in the AAPI community will un-
clearly matter in his ability to do the me they think he is well qualified.
doubtedly be assets in his role as SBA’s Dep- job. So let’s stop using these parliamen-
uty Administrator. We are confident that It boggles the mind that Republicans tary procedures to obstruct. Let’s get
Dilawar Syed is the perfect fit for this role are blocking someone who is the very on with the business of the Senate.
and we urge the Committee to promptly picture of the American dream: an en- I would suggest the absence of a
move forward with his confirmation. trepreneur, a job creator who was born quorum.
Sincerely, in Pakistan and educated in America, The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
Judy Chu, Member of Congress, CAPAC
who understands firsthand the chal- clerk will call the roll.
Chair; Grace Meng, Member of Congress,
CAPAC First Vice-Chair; Kaiali‘i Kahele, lenges businesses have faced during The legislative clerk proceeded to
Member of Congress, CAPAC Freshman Rep- this pandemic. Mr. Syed would be an call the roll.
resentative; Mazie K. Hirono, U.S. Senator; asset to SBA and the businesses they Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask
Mark Takano, Member of Congress, CAPAC serve, our own constituents. unanimous consent that the order for
Second Vice-Chair; Ami Bera, M.D., Member Every day that Republicans continue the quorum call be rescinded.
of Congress; Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Sen- their obstruction, they are doing a dis- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
ator; Ted W. Lieu, Member of Congress, service to these businesses who can objection, it is so ordered.

ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
CAPAC Whip; Al Green, Member of Congress;
least afford this uncertainty and tur- AFGHANISTAN
Pramila Jayapal, Member of Congress; Jan
moil in this moment. Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, yester-
Schakowsky, Member of Congress; Ro
Khanna, Member of Congress; Dina Titus, Mr. Syed deserves fair consideration. day’s Senate Armed Services Com-
Member of Congress; Barbara Lee, Member Republican efforts to block not just mittee hearing gave us disturbing new
of Congress; Norma Torres, Member of Con- this nomination but so many others for information on the President’s Afghan-
gress. the simple reason that they want to istan debacle. Thanks to yesterday’s

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