Aumua and Small Business Committee Address Mismanagement at the SBA through Hearing and Legislation
Washington, D.C. –Friday, Congresswoman Aumua Amata, and the House Committee on Small Business (HCSB) conducted a hearing today on Capitol Hill, regarding mismanagement at the Small Business Administration (SBA).
"It is essential that the SBA properly perform its duties. The nation's small businesses and entrepreneurs deserve to have an administration that supports their efforts to expand our economy and create jobs," stated Amata.
Congresswoman Aumua Amata stands outside the Cloakroom
just off the House Floor before submitting her bill
During the two-part hearing, an official from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told the House Committee on Small Business that widespread mismanagement at the SBA is affecting the agency's ability to provide key services to America's entrepreneurs.
During the hearing, Congresswoman Amata addressed SBA officials on the lack of proper staffing at the agency as stated in the GAO report. "You do not have a Chief Information Officer (CIO), a position I presume that you consider critical to the operation of the agency. Where are you in the process of finding a permanent Chief Information Officer?" questioned Amata. SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet replied that the SBA was indeed in need of obtaining a CIO, and that they were in the process of doing so.
To address further management shortfalls at the SBA, prior to the hearing, Congresswoman Amata introduced legislation that would, "Require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a review of the Office of Government Contracting and Business Development of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes."
The purpose of the legislation would be to ensure that the Office of Government Contracting and Business Development are properly staffed and performing the duties of the administration, while complying with federal laws and regulations.
"The SBA is too important to our small businesses, which make up nearly 80 percent of the nation's employers," said Amata. "We must continue proper oversight of the administration, so that our entrepreneurs and small business owners can get the assistance and guidance they need," concluded Amata.
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