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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-F), Rand Paul (R-KY), and colleagues sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen regarding her statutory obligations to testify before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
“As you know, Section 32(b)1 of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (title III of division N of Public Law 116-260) requires the Secretary of the Treasury to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship regarding the implementation of the Act and the amendments made by the Act,” the senator wrote. “The obligations under this provision mandate an appearance from the Secretary no less than 120 days after the date enactment, and twice annually each year thereafter. You are now delinquent on two appearances before this Committee. Not only have you failed to comply with the statutory requirements to appear before the Committee, but you have also failed to provide a response to the Ranking Member’s letter dated May 6, 2021 reminding you of these legal obligations. Again, this is unacceptable.”
The full text of the letter is below.
Secretary Yellen,
We write to follow up on previous requests for you to fulfill your statutorily required obligation to appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. By failing to appear before the Committee, you have been in violation of the law for 352 days. As members of the Committee, we find this blatant obstruction of the law unacceptable and will take additional actions, if necessary, to ensure your compliance.
As you know, Section 32(b) of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (title III of division N of Public Law 116-260) requires the Secretary of the Treasury to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship regarding the implementation of the Act and the amendments made by the Act. The obligations under this provision mandate an appearance from the Secretary no less than 120 days after the date enactment, and twice annually each year thereafter. You are now delinquent on two appearances before this Committee.
Not only have you failed to comply with the statutory requirements to appear before the Committee, but you have also failed to provide a response to the Ranking Member’s letter dated May 6, 2021 reminding you of these legal obligations. Again, this is unacceptable.
SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman is scheduled to appear before the Committee on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. We expect you to appear before the Committee with Administrator Guzman on this date to partially satisfy your outstanding obligations under law. If you are unable to appear before the Committee on that date, please notify Meredith West in writing at Meredith_West@sbc.senate.gov no later than 5:00PM on April 20, 2022 so an alternative date can be arranged for your testimony.
We remain willing to work with you to remedy these violations in a manner that reasonably accommodates your schedule. However, we are prepared to use all tools available to us to ensure your compliance with the law if it becomes necessary.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,