Assisting Small Businesses Not Fraudsters Act (Executive Calendar)

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Assisting Small Businesses Not Fraudsters Act

Mr. President, you see, over 1.2 million Hoosiers are employed by small businesses. As you look across our Nation, small businesses are the backbone of our modern economy. In fact, the way to grow an economy is to figure out how to get more people to start businesses and to grow those small businesses into larger businesses. Our Federal small business programs exist for that purpose--to help hard-working entrepreneurs grow their businesses and to create more jobs. They don't exist to reward those who have defrauded taxpayers. That is not why they exist. Unfortunately, during the COVID pandemic, some individuals exploited emergency Small Business Administration relief programs for personal gain. Their actions diverted resources away from legitimate small businesses in Indiana and across the country. They undermine confidence in these important programs, and they undermine confidence in government at a time when confidence is already low. The principle behind my bill is quite simple. If someone is convicted of defrauding the Small Business Administration through certain COVID- era loan or grant programs, then that individual should not be eligible to receive future financial assistance from the Small Business Administration. It is that simple. They should not be eligible if they are a fraudster. Likewise, businesses controlled by those who are convicted shouldn't be eligible for future SBA assistance. This is the essence of the Assisting Small Businesses Not Fraudsters Act. It should not be--I would imagine it is not--controversial. This is something everyone should enthusiastically support. I would add that this bill only applies after a criminal conviction in order to ensure due process. Honest, hard-working entrepreneurs and small business owners shouldn't have to compete with convicted fraudsters for Federal opportunities. Every taxpayer dollar lost to fraud is a dollar that cannot help legitimate small businesses expand, hire workers, or invest in their futures. Chair Ernst's Protecting American Taxpayers Act advances that same goal across government by strengthening accountability, protecting taxpayer dollars, and ensuring Federal programs work as intended. I urge all of my colleagues to support this package and my Assisting Small Businesses Not Fraudsters Act. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana. Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, just 2 years ago, we were a land of open borders, crime was surging across the country, and fraud was rampant. But today, the borders are secure; crime,

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murder rates--a 100-year low; and fraudsters are going to jail. That is why today I am rising to support the Protecting American Taxpayers Act. For years, Washington accepted fraud as the cost of doing business. The government wrote the checks, the fraudsters cashed them, and hard- working Americans were left to foot the bill. Those same hard-working Americans knew intuitively that was driving up their cost of living. But those days are coming to an end. Under President Trump, we have seen historic momentum to root out waste, fraud, and abuse across the Federal Government. For the first time in a long time, Washington is shining a flashlight on the billions of taxpayer dollars disappearing through fraud, improper payments, and outright criminal activity. Now Congress has the responsibility to finish the job. The American people are asking a simple question: If Washington knows where the fraud is, why aren't we stopping it? And they are right to ask. Today, an estimated $1.4 billion is stolen from taxpayers every single day. That is money that should be strengthening our military, supporting our veterans, protecting Medicare and Social Security, or reducing the debt we are leaving to our children and our grandchildren. Instead, it is ending up in the hands of organized fraud rings, scam artists, and criminals who have learned exactly where the holes in our Federal Government are. We are already seeing what happens when the Federal Government makes fraud enforcement a priority. In one of the largest healthcare fraud takedowns in our Nation's history, Federal prosecutors charged hundreds of defendants accused of submitting more than $6 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and other taxpayer-funded health programs. And the best part? People are finally going to jail. Investigators uncovered transnational criminal organizations, fraudulent medical equipment schemes, and providers accused of billing the government for services that were never provided. These weren't bookkeeping mistakes; they were sophisticated efforts to steal billions from the American taxpayer. The truth is simple: Fraudsters follow the money, and for too long, Washington has rolled out the welcome mat. This legislation finally starts closing that door. The Protecting American Taxpayers Act is projected to save taxpayers $240 billion--that is $240 billion--by preventing fraud before it happens, recovering stolen taxpayer dollars, and ensuring criminals are held accountable. It doesn't just respond to fraud after the fact; it helps stop it before another billion dollars walks out the door. One piece of this package that I am proud to see included is my WALZ Act--W-A-L-Z, the WALZ Act--named after, you guessed it, a certain Governor who allowed fraud to run rampant in his State. The idea behind it is about as simple as it gets: Don't pay first and ask questions later. Kansas families don't do business that way. Small businesses don't do business that way. If you are remodeling your kitchen, you don't hand the contractor every penny before a single cabinet is installed. If you are hiring someone to fix your roof, you don't write the check before the work is finished. You pay after the job is done. Yet that is exactly the opposite of how Washington has too often operated. For years, the Federal Government has pushed billions of dollars out the door up front with little accountability and then acted surprised when criminals disappeared with the money. My WALZ Act simply says: Federal payments should be made as reimbursements after--after--the services have actually been provided. That one simple reform closes one of the biggest loopholes that have allowed billions of taxpayer dollars to be stolen before they ever get the chance to disappear. But this package doesn't stop there. It claws back unused COVID funds, strengthens Treasury's fraud detection systems, extends the statute of limitations so pandemic fraudsters can't simply run out the clock. It protects our veterans from scammers. It combats emerging AI- generated fraud and gives law enforcement stronger tools to hold criminals accountable. Taken together, these reforms represent one of the strongest anti-fraud packages Congress has considered in years. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle spent years responding to every problem the same way: throwing more money at it. We believe the first question should be: Where is the fraud? Where is the waste? Where is the abuse? And how do we stop it before asking taxpayers for another dime? This administration has created real momentum for the first time in years. We are not just talking about fraud, we are finding it, prosecuting it, and putting criminals on notice that stealing from the American taxpayer has consequences. People are already being held accountable, and more need to be. Congress should build on that momentum by giving law enforcement and Federal Agencies the tools they need to keep fraudsters out of our programs and behind bars where they belong. So let's not waste this opportunity. Let's make these reforms permanent. Let's close the loopholes once and for all. Let's protect the taxpayers who fund the government. Let's send a clear message that the era of easy money for fraudsters is over. I urge every one of our colleagues to support the Protecting American Taxpayers Act. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moreno). The Senator from Louisiana.

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