palestinian conflict. then a look at the syrian refugee crisis. here's a look at american history tv on c-span3. next week president obama will give his last state of the union address. it will feature four state of the union speeches by former presidents during their last year in office. on saturday it's president jimmy carter followed by president ronald reagan. and on sunday, president george h.w. bush's state of the union followed by bill clinton. also sunday morning at 10:30, playwright lin manuel miranda accepts the book prize personal achievement award. then on "rewind," we'll look back to the 2004 presidential campaign and a debate among eight democratic candidates in

iowa. >> who we look to replace that man has to have the trust and confidence of the american people, and it has to be on matters spoken in public and in private. private promises and public statements for the american people being the same, and it has to be for all our people. >> for our complete weekend schedule go to cspan.org. next the head of the small business administration, maria cron trer contreras-sweet is questioned about problems at the sba. the government recently found management problems and recommended changes. the small business administration is chaired by steven shav its in ohio. >> i call this meeting to order, and i want to welcome back maria contreras-sweet. i think everyone here wants the same thing, and that's to serve america's small businesses the best we can. those of us up here on the dias

have a stand. our constituents let us know how they're doing all the time and on an ongoing basis. as a head of an agency, i often worry too often you hear from your own folks and other washington bureaucrats. that's the only explanation for why the 69 gao identified concerns and problems haven't been addressed. yesterday wasn't the first time these issues have been raised. yesterday we heard some pretty serious concerns, both by members of this committee and from our gao witness who testified here yesterday about the management of the sba. administrator contreras-sweet, since you weren't with us yesterday, i'll recap those briefly with you, although i'm sure your staff has probably already given you a rundown. i told the gao witness yesterday that this kind of reminds me of

being a parent. if your teenager's room is a mess and they have stuff thrown all over the place, let's say there's 70 items thrown on the floor, 69 to be exact, and they only pick up seven of those items, you don't look at the 62 remaining on the floor and raise their allowance for having made some progress. the ongoing problems that the sba as gao identified span the entire breadth of the agency, from information technology and security to staff management issues, from disaster response to fraud in lending and contract programs, it's a safe bet that small businesses in our districts on both sides of the aisle are paying the price for your agency's failures. what we have here is a failure of confidence in the sba, and unfortunately, for good reason. before this hearing is over, i hope to hear a commitment from you to resolve as many of these

problems as possible by june 30. and i mean this year. i do appreciate how accessible you have always been to members of this committee, and i request that your office start providing monthly updates to our staff documenting your progress. if i were you, i would start with these i.t. and cybersecurity deficiencies. that's what worries me the most, and i'll tell you why. we've seen the irs hit, the state department, opm and even the white house hacked. small businesses trust the sba, your agency, with their information, oftentimes sensitive information. they don't want their neighbors or the u.s. government to have access to. yesterday the sba told us this information is not adequately secured, and that cannot continue. i want to make this simple. we are not asking you to defend the sba, we are asking you to do your best to fix it. and i would now yield to the

ranking member for her opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for holding this important hearing. as the only agency in the federal government charged specifically with helping small businesses grow and succeed, the small business administration is critical to our nation's overall economic health. all of its functions serve to strengthen and preserve the foundation of our economy. for small businesses to fully reap the benefit of sba's program, it is important for the agency to operate efficiently, effectively, using tax dollars wisely. one of the most important roles of this committee is conducting vigorous oversight of the sba and its activities so we know the agency is serving small businesses well while spending taxpayers' dollars wisely. yesterday the committee heard from the government accountability office as it

described a management report requested by myself and former chairman. the gao testified about a wide range of frankly very troubling challenges, many that we have persisted for years. i do fully recognize that many of these problems took root before administrator contreras-sweet's tenure. and furthermore, she has demonstrated a commitment to addressing them. with that said, there is still much work that needs to be accomplished in terms of addressing gao accommodations. with only 15 out of the 63 recommendations closed, there needs to be more attention not just to check the box but to improve the agency. with that said, i understand that frequent changes in political leadership create real difficulties for management. that is not an excuse, but rather a reality of the environment sba functions.

so here you are, miss contreras, in the hot seat. you are the administrator, and you will be asked to respond for 64 recommendations that have been made not only under your leadership but for previous administration. and i feel optimistic of your commitment to tackle those issues, and we are here to discuss with you how do you intend to execute those recommendations? first, the agency's complex organizational structure may be impeding its ability to perform its mission effectively. yesterday it was raised time and time again that sba's operation,

our silo, resulting in inefficiencies and duplication. there also continues to be significant information technology problems as well. the agency has yet to implement more than 30 recommendations made by the. this race has concerned about whether sba data insists them. standard operating procedures are also in need of updating. 74 of these provisions require revision, and 31 is should be counselled while another nine still need to be. >> yet we will not in her et a time frame as to when all of these will be accomplished. these are just some of the long standing issues raised in, where

there is always room for improvement, i was heartened to hear that sba has accepted most of the gao's recommendations, and i look forward to learning how the administrator is instituting change. i recognize that as a political appointee, she is in a difficult position to often having to answer for her work with her predecessors as well as the korean officials that may drive decisions. with that i would like to thank the administrator for being here, i know your schedule is busy, so as always, we appreciate it. i yield back. >> if i'm rating this, we put down how much each of us talks. if we need a little leeway, i'll

give you a little more as long as we keep it in house. we'll go back and forth between republicans and democrats, of course. i'm not going to go into a long explanation of how the administrator is. she's a 24-year-old of the contreras business suite. we recognize you this morning, and you're recognized for five minutes or perhaps a little bit longer if you need it. thank you. >> let me just thank you and ranking member velasquez and all the members of the committee for engaging in the work and giving me this opportunity to testify before you today. it's nice to see you. i'd like to open quickly with the fiscal year of 2015. it was one of the most

successful years in our administration's history. under our flagship guarantee program extending a whopping $23.5 billion in gross approvals. this represents a 22% increase in the number of loan approvals to prior last year. a 23% increase in their dollar value compared to 2014. these gains matter because fda data shows that conventional small business lending has only returned to 84% of pre-recess n pre-recessionary levels. filling those gaps in the marketplace was the very purpose for which sba was created. we made notable progress giving loans to businesses with the greatest accessible capital. the dollar value of our loans was up year on year, 23% to women, 23% to minorities and

103% to veterans. our number of loan approvals was up by 29% -- again, i just said that. these successes would not be possible except for the swift work of your committee. due to our record-breaking year, sba rose up to our statutory lending cap 60 days before the end of our fiscal year. at the urging of our stake holders, in less than a week -- i want to repeat that -- in less than a week you passed a $4.5 billion increase. your leadership allowed entrepreneurs across the country to continue to access the recquisite capital they need to start repair and grow their businesses. sba also shattered our record for small business investment under our sbic program. we grew our portfolio by 10% to

a record $25 billion. in fy 16, the 7a, the 504 and the sbic program share an important, common thread, and i know you'll appreciate this. all these programs are expected to operate at zero subsidy this fiscal year. thanks to this committee for working across the aisle to include in the omnibus bill the permanent restatement of the 504 refinancing authority and an increase in sbic's family of funds limit. both of these policy changes will inject much-needed capital into our small business ecosystem. another priority for the sba is federal contracting. the u.s. government awarded an all-time high of 24.99%, well over our governor mandate of 23%, supplying 350,000 american

jobs. we reached a precedent of small business jobs to aging and veterans. we earned a record year investment and a record year in contracting with no taxpayer subsidy needed to maintain this momentum. this is the context in which our hearing takes place today. let me take this opportunity to acknowledge the government accountability office for helping to confirm the areas of shared concern and for offering constructive suggestions to address them. from my first days in office, i have prioritized the need to modernize sba operations enterprisewide to respond to the technological, the demographic and the globalization changes that are transforming our small business economy. to that end i agree with many of the recommendations and appreciate the opportunity to address them to fully bring m, .

chairman, the sba into the 21st century. my banking experience will be brought to bear to make sure you feel comfortable and the american people feel confidence in our systems. whether it be the enterprise management board that i've established and all the other systems i've put in place. we've implemented a number of litigation measures that i'll get into later. but my background starting three businesses also impressed upon me the importance of optimizing roy, return on investment, when putting precious taxpayer dollars to use. we have to take every measure to use those dollars wisely based on the best available data. in july of 2014, i established an impact evaluation working group charged with initiating and refining program evaluations for entrepreneurial development programs. i've held numerous meetings with key resource partners, our spdc's score, vets and so on,

expressing the importance of collecting meaningful metrics. we're currently performing in-depth training programs across the agency. this includes the most comprehensive assessment of the sbic program in our history in collaboration with -- yes, i wanted to make sure you had confidence so we went to the library of congress to do this work. our report is due out this spring. we've also made significant strides in addressing the information technology challenges included in the ga report. in fact, we're well under way with a major upgrade of our i.t. systems. it starts with the comprehensive structure of the modernization to give our systems greater capacity, transparency and reliability. we're in the final stages now of moving our entire e mail system into the cloud for more security, reliability and capacity. we're investing in mobile technology recognize that go our sba field staff must go beyond the walls of the federal offices

and go to consumers and to small businesses where they are. we also watch projects to modernize our lending and contract systems to reengineer our disaster credit management system, something i care deeply about. this entire modernization agenda complements our work for platforms, bringing advancement of things such as modernization, digital signatures -- yes, i said e-signatures -- and on-line management to the customers we serve. these are talents that have encouraged bankers to come back to sba in many instances or to expand their lending. we've taken important steps on our human capital management efforts. i'm proud to work alongside the thousands of hard-working, dedicated public servants at sba and our resource partners. i'm committed to ensuring that the agency has the talent

required to effectively service america's entrepreneurs. we're currently crafting a comprehensive work plan which will include both a skill cap assessment and a gap enclosure plan. we've taken steps to address the sba's aging work force not just unique to sba but across the federal government a challenge. as a launch of the veteran sba program, i understood we wanted to offer employees to make decisions, create openings so we could begin to fill those competency gaps. sba is organizing our presidential management fellows program to increase our impact. we're working with our veterans, we're attracting more peace corps to our programs, and -- i know you're going to love this -- we installed the first ever chief learning officer at sba. i have been on the job for 20 months and i'm proud of the progress at this time, but the truth is that i couldn't have done this without your commitment, and i'm grateful for your support.

as a result of your leadership and the daily efforts of our dedicated staff, i inherited an agency highly leveraged, operating effectively and focused on advancing and fulfilling our statutory mission. again, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, in the eating, and i think the record of our historic achievements speak to that. there is always room to improve, and that's what we're here to talk about today. so yes, i am committed to working with you to improve the services and give small businesses the agency that they deserve and that taxpayers expect. thank you. >> thank you very much, and i'll yield to myself five minutes to begin the questioning. madam administrator, as i mentioned in my opening statement, the gao witness yesterday testified that sba's i.t. security, the i.t. security, leaves the central information of small businesses and their owners vulnerable to hackers, to theft, to fraud. yet the sba has failed to

implement more than 30 of the office of the inspector general's recommendations leading to i.t. security, leaving small businesses and individuals exposed. what's being done to address these problems? >> i think that's a fair question. technology drives more and more of our lives, from our microwave to our cell phone, so it has to be a central part of our strategy at sba. just as an example, to show you the progress i've made since i arrived, and the last time i was here, you asked me about the loan management system. that is the main body with which we interact with our lending partners, an important function and working its way through. i committed to you that i would get that done and that is -- to say that we are now off the main

tram and we have a come pat sfibl. it's a wonderful achievement that even many fortune 500 companies don't achieve and many in government. i'm proud that sba has achieved that. >> i'd like your commitment to resolving the outstanding gao recommendations by june 30 and having our staff believed on that progress on a monthly basis. do i have that commitment? >> i commit to you on a regular basis and we'll work with godspeed to make your deadline. >> let's get it done. >> mr. chairman, i was able to touch the pope while he was here, so i'm hoping it infused me with the ability to -- >> you got closer than i did, then. let me move on to another question. when the gao interviewed your district personnel so they could do their review, your folks

insisted on having a lawyer present. now, when this came up yesterday, when the gao was here, trent kelly, a member of this committee who happens to be a former prosecutor and district attorney himself made, i think, like people speak up like your folks did, it often means they have something to hide. >> what made the decision th that -- at the request of the former chairman and the ranking member. so this was a bipartisan request. >> again, i did not know that was happening, i wasn't briefed. if you ever met our district staff, i got to tell you, nothing sbintimidates these people. we go out, there's lawyers in

the room, and they still tell me of the problems and challenges. >> shouldn't you know who in your agency gave an order like this that interrupted with the gao's effort to conduct an investigation. we all get a paycheck. the taxpayers donwill pay for i. we shouldn't have to lawyer up. >> i have no idea if it was the reverse, the reciprocal. i will look into it and get back to you. it could have been some of the employees felt intimidated by an investigation and maybe wanted someone in their presence. but i understand what i did get briefed on was the i.g. in particular said he had independent ability to follow up through e-mails and was able to get the information. and clearly by this report you can see nothing is being hidden. >> it should take until june 30 to find out who made that

decision, so get back to us soon. the gao review of the sba stated, and i quote, in the december 2015 report, we found that the sba has not resolved many of its long standing management challenges due to lack of sustained priority attention over time. gao went on to say, this raises questions about the sba's sustained equipment to addressing management challenges. in other words, dealing with the sba's shortcomings, deficiencies and failures apparently isn't just a priority to some of your folks. it's a priority to this. you've indicated that you're willing to do that. i appreciate that, we're willing to work with you, so it can serve the needs of america's small businesses all across this country. >> with great lament, when i read the report that these issues had begun in the '90s and

some even as far back to the 0 '80s. so i appreciate that i've been and with the good lord, your progress is this is the meat. it's effective. sometimes it's not pretty and it should be prettier given our documentation and processes. but when you think in our history we were able to make a match.com. the point is seriously that -- >> just for the record, i know nothing about it. >> i just want you to know that with that system we are now able to get dates for prospective borrowers, but this date is with the lender. 22,000 people have already been

connected in just a few short months. that's a remarkable, sba won! where we are now introducing a new platform with our lenders. . but i want you to know that the work is getting done. >> thank you. my time has expired. just to we view the number one. we need to do our best for them. i'll now. i would just like to enter into the record as a matter of clarification. in fact, sop 4072. it is a requirement -- an illegal counsel to be present when district stuff is being interviewed. and so here it is.

it's part of the sop. i would like to ask the administrator, i would like to recommend to you that you start with 40002 to remove barriers for gai. and you could be updating it to know that there is no intention or gao in the business administration. with that said. >> will do reforms when this committee offered me when i was in 1928. i heard the gao's answers

yesterday but i would like to hear your answers as well. >> how has your son being listened, number one, i learned that we actually had promulgated an we put the rig in and out. when we created a round table. what they said is that the idapt, the immediate disaster assistance program. >> so what is the timeline for doing so? >> i'm just saying we, and i would deploy to start using it. when you ask a bank to over 10 years, it's something not attracted to them, especially because it has a low interest

cap. somehow we have to make it more attractive. in the spirit you want, i wanted to show you the office of disaster does supply loans, and we already did a collateralized $20,000 loan that is new being misdemeanor in new york. and so many people, businesses, who qualify for those long to be able to apply. if you see these and think there needs to be some legislator fix. let's get this program. up and running. >> we can't wait until the next all-dale disaster strike and come back here in the same position asking the same --

didn't want to a lie on hearis a. that's out and available, and as soon as we get that normal comment we'll respond back to you on what those remedies might be. in the interim i'm also pushing forward on the edap and the padap to make sure a-- disaster assistance is something very, very important to the date of this. i went to the state of north carolina to meet with nickie haley when she was experiencing here's. we a dozen individuals in germany to determine the. >> once's declare a disaster, we' we've.

>> i want to congratulate you on many successes, including the. the cdc is up to 10%. we need to update those sops. because if the agency as to how the program is said to operate, that will impede the success, and for businesses to be able to get the assistance that they need. so what are you doing so far and what do you plan to do to further address the sop problem? i didn't want to impress upon you that you provide a report every month, but i want a commitment that tells us that you are really -- you're going to do everything you can.

because then the administration would be in place a year and a half from now, and we need to see what type of energy and resource that you're going to put into place. and if there is a lack of adequate resource for your agency to do the work, we need to know so that in the next budget submission, it's included that you need more funding. >> gentlelady, your time has expired, but i want to make sure we do want monthly progress on the issues gao has set out in its review. >> i understand, sir. this is a complete review and overall of a department's way of operating. some of these are inches tall. this is an important body of work, and i want you to know

that we have completed more sops in the 20 months i've been than the prior five years combined. to show you the momentum in which i'm taking this so seriously, because i'm working hard to make up lost time, but i also wanted to have is institutionalized so that this work is someone that's been harnessed and seized. we already have 30 more sops that are monumentally. just know i take those issues seriously for the institution of our legacy. >> the gentleman from new york is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, gentlemen. i appreciate this hearing. with due respect, i'll say right up front, i'm a little disappointed so far in the approach of the hearing in terms

of the responses. the chairman set a tone, i think, at the outset that we really want to work together going forward identifying all the deficiencies and the shortcomings. but, you know, the opening said remarks i certainly appreciate how you've pointed out what you did with the resources to support small businesses. i want to state that clearly and sincerely. but the focus here is on improving what our very disturbing findings from the gao. towards that end, my colleague from new york, mr. hanna, leads a subcommittee, and they did, i think, very strong work on behalf of the american people with regard to procurement reforms. this was incorporated into the national defense authorization act in 2013. but yet among the findings of the gao, there has been no

action taken. the law was very clear that action was to be taken within six months of the implementation of that law. so my question to you is, you know, what explains why nothing has been done on this score? do you disagree with us on what was done? and if you do, it would have been nice to know that before now, but if you do, why has nothing been done? >> first of all, let me thank you for your service. i know you're an admirable veteran and i really salute the work you've done in particularly difficult zones in our world. but let me just speak to if i haven't shown or exhibited the level of seriousness with which i take this work, i apologize. but let me just say, when i looked that up just to see the momentum, because i thought that i should stress this to you, under prior administrations, like in 2002, for example, there had been one debarment.

in 2003, one. in 2004, zero. under my term, i've already completed 47 of these just to show you the momentum with which i'm approaching this work. so please don't under estimate the commitment i make to you. i came from the state of california. in california i had 42,000 employees to work with in one state. do you know here to the ranking member's question, i have fewer than 2,000 employees. so in procurement, we have to partner, and we work very closely with our strategic partners. if you just took the air force alone, do you know that the air force has 22,000 captains? 2200 captains, just captains alone. again, i have fewer than 10,000 employees across the agency, and yet we're managing a portfolio of $120 billion, the most complex system of networks.

we are procuring -- we are redirecting 23% of the largest procure in the world to small businesses successfully. and yes, we are pushing to debar because i don't want any fraud, waste and abuse. i can tell you when i started my own personal business, i couldn't get certified as a woman-owned business. i couldn't confirm that i was a woman-owned business. so for me to show we are doing those procurements are important, but also to make sure we get rid of people who don't deserve to be in the program and are abusing the program and taking contracts away from people who deserve them. so i'm up against energy department officials, our small business advocates are in those places where people don't like them to be because we are sharp elbowing them to make sure every appropriate small business opportunity goes to a small business. >> so thank you and appreciate the passion that you're bringing

in the leadership to the organization. one quick follow-up on that, then. as the chairman mentioned, we're going to be anticipating reports, monthly reports. i would hope that in the first one we'll see an official response to the implementation of this fy-13 national defense authorization act as it relates to the requirements we levied on the sba. i have very little time remaining. let me just say that from my experiences leading formations, one of the things that concerns me is the level of turnover in the sba, and so we're not going to have time for you to respond, but also for the record, i would like to know from your vantage point as the leader, what are you doing to ensure continuity in terms of transition periods when you -- so really, two points. one is are you taking any executive action to lessen the turnover. and two, given those realities, what sops do you have in place to ensure that when new folks

come on board that there is a good and effective transition? mr. chairman, i'm sorry i'm over and i yield back. >> the gentleman's time has expired, but if you can give a brief answer, and we'll be receiving our reports so you can go more in depth, but if you can make a brief response. >> to me one of the most important things is to show people what their job is, to give them clarity of purpose and to reward them appropriately, and to provide an environment where they're well resourced, their scope of work is clearly defined and they're well resourced, as i said. to that end i put in the first ever sba chief learning officer. i've upskilled the chico functions in our office where now i have somebody who actually has the theoretical and the practical experience. i'm holding town halls. i'm visiting every district office to learn of these -- you know, what the challenges are across the country. but let me just say, across the government, we have an aging work force challenge that we

have to address. and so i've gone with my chief of staff to try to recruit more people. we're holding job fairs across the country. just in the short time i've been there, i've hosted ten job fairs. i've reached out to the peace corps and our veterans to try to attract more skills and competencies of discipline, entrepreneurship and perseverance. and i think it's beginning to pay off, sir. >> thank you. >> the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. >> good evening, mr. chairman, ranking member. i really want to thank maria contreras-sweet for being here, and just sitting here listening to your answers in the first couple questions has really restored, you know, my passion for small businesses and what this agency is doing. i had the opportunity to work with her when she was secretary of california business transportation and housing agency, and as the

administrator, what i've really appreciated is your district staff, victor parker and you both have come to my district, and we've held round tables and we've toured small businesses together. the chairman's opening comments, and all we hear is from our own constituents about some of their problems, i think you've actually heard the problems yourself because you've been on the ground, you've been in our small businesses, and while certainly this hearing is about the recommendations that we're trying to get responded to and reformed and in the administration, it's clear that your record year of lending to small businesses, investing in contracting is really what i care about. i know maybe the priorities on this committee are maybe a little bit different. but that's my priority, because that is what i always heard, was, you know, access to capital and federal contracting.

and you're certainly addressing those previous weaknesses in the agency. and it's clear that the sba has been around since 1953, and many of these issues that were pointed out in the gao report have existed long before you and long before this administration. but -- and whether or not you can address every single one of them by june, i don't know, but i have no doubt that you're going to try, and that's important to you. but one of the issues that -- in the report that was important to me, and i understand it's also a priority for you, is the women-owned small business program. this is, of course, a program that allows woman-owned small businesses to compete for federal contracts. unfortunately, one of the things we found out was there were problems verifying the eligibility of the applicants,

resulting in contracts being awarded to men. yikes. but i know you're working on this. can you tell us where you are in the process of making sure that those contracts indeed are being awarded to the women-owned businesses? >> thank you. as you know, when i arrived, we were -- you mandated that we achieve a 5% goal with woman-owned small businesses. to my great lament, we had not reached a 5% goal for contracting with women. women are 50% of the population. i think it should be something that should be achievable. and so we came to you again, and i was delighted that congress has given us a brand new tool, sole source authority, where we have now the ability to begin to certify businesses so that we can take out any fraud, waste and abuse, and so we're now -- i

just published the anthem to get the proper feedback to make sure we're following the right procedures and practices and not just implementing something willy-nilly. i'm pleased to tell you already we've got that out and we're already beginning to get comments, and we're going to formalize them and create a process for certification that will assure the people understand that a woman-owned business, what that is, that we have the standards set and we have people trained to be able to certify them. >> thank you. i appreciate that, because certainly in l.a. county, we have more women-owned businesses than any other county in the country. we're very proud of that, and we know that for me that's a priority in this committee, is that clearly we are supporting the women-owned and minority-owned businesses in my county for sure. so i appreciate your work on that one concern and recommendation. >> but you've been a stalwart on

behalf of women not only for the state of california but for our country. thank you for your leadership. >> the gentlewoman yields back. recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'll yield back my time. >> the gentlelady from american samoa who is the chairman of the subcommittee on health and technology, miss ratawagner, is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and ranking member. considering the offices built that may not provide redundant roles in close proximity, was there any thought given to the u.s. territories? can you explain your rationale? >> i'm sorry, the rationale for what? i'm sorry. >> let me give you the question again. the u.s. territories. >> yes. >> the question was, considering

the recent new offices built that may or may not provide redundant roles as other offices in close proximity, was there any thought given to the u.s. territories? >> yeah. i heard the question. i was trying to understand. are you saying that we're building offices? i was just trying to clarify. >> i think so. >> because i'm not aware that we're building an office there. i'm trying to understand the context of the question. let me just say that i would be delighted to sit down with you to understand if you are not getting the service levels that you deserve and that you expect to come back to you with a plan. >> thank you, madam administrator. next, what functions are performed by personnel in the agency's regional offices? >> what are the personnel functions? >> yes. what are the functions performed by the personnel? >> oh, i see. >> in the regional offices. >> thank you, thank you. what we have at headquarters is

policy offices, and so you'll have, for example, the gcbd, the office of general contracting and business development. you'll have an office of capital access. so we have the various offices that operate the various programs and staff and line functions. in the district offices where the magic all comes together. so there in the district office you will have a lending relations specialist. you'll have a business opportunity specialist working alongside an eds, an educational development service specialist, and all these people work together to create a sense of community, to provide the full complement of services that our research partners need and entrepreneurs need and our lending partners and local governments. i'll give you an example. we have a challenge today where while we can be a program provider, we also want to be a voice for small business. so one of the challenges that we found in local communities is that they're the ones that license small business

formation, and in many instances, capital formation. so we launched a program called start up in a day. start up in a day is where we go into the city to make sure they can put on on-line responses so that small businesses can start their business in a day without having to go through a labyrinth of regulation. so they execute on programs such as that. >> have you examined whether those functions could be performed by other personnel either at headquarters or in the district offices and thereby provide full-time personnel for functions such as an increase in the number of procurement center representatives? >> honestly, having been an entrepreneur and a community banker, i have thought about that, and it was a tough call for me. you know, i could convene and have everybody centered and headquarters in washington, d.c. and not connected to community, but i decided it was more important to be embedded in the community and a part of the community and understand what

those nuances are in each neighborhood. and i think that the numbers prove that that's working well. >> thank you. you do not have a chief information officer, 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? i appreciate that you've got a chief learning officer. >> yeah. the chief learning officer is more of a learning -- you know, more of a human resource function, i should say. but what i did is i went to silicon valley. i wentreel, i went to the east coast to try to find a really thoughtful, successful person who knows how to procure and execute. . i really want to say that i have the top level of advice. so i have a strong person who's been a dedicated employee of sba as the acting and i would now

put in what i call a chief design officer -- digital officer, excuse me, that is working with us to fully compliment that team and fill it in. we're getting candidates and going to places to find the right people. attract top technology talent because of salary structure and compensation in government compared to the private sector. >> i think you do need a chief information officer. >> agreed. >> the gentle lady is correct. in fact, by statute, it's required. so we urge you to get that done, please. we'll now move to the gentle lady from new york who is the ranking member of the agricultu agriculture, energy and trade subcommittee. >> you skipped a card. >> sorry about that. i was given the wrong card here. ms. lawrence? >> did you get here when we started, though?

>> yeah. >> all right. i've been -- go right ahead for five minutes. >> i want to thank the chair and the ranking member. i want to say, madame administrator, your response to the questions have been -- i'm used to speaking to our department heads and leaders in our government. and it's refreshing to have an administrator who has been able to answer with a proactive response to these questions and concerns. so i want you to know that that's refreshing and i appreciate it.

in addition to that, it is important that we have department reviews. we, as a government, need to look at those areas. but our commitment and our focus should be on how do we move forward. so, with that, i want to say i'm very encouraged by your leadership. >> i wanted to follow up with something that i'm very gna passionate about, and that's women-own women-owned and minority-owned. so if you want to say how did we grow our economy? it was on the women-owned and minority-owned businesses in america. so we should be very committed

and very focused in that area. the majority of businesses have been in health care and social systems. how has the sba encouraged women and minorities to open businesses in technology, manufacturing and the engineering industry. >> that's a very, very important question. we have to make sure that we're moving forward in terms of america's work force. and so i appreciate where you're going. let me just give you two broad answers. one is that just to make sure that we're getting more people who traditionally have not been given access to capital, we've taken some very aggressive steps. we have zeroed out fees almost under $150,000.

credit unions, they willingly agreed to enter into a partnership with sba in an unprecedented way. instead of having people knock on the door for a bank and another bank and another bank, what i wanted to do is put up this program that i call link. it is where a prospective borrower answers some simple questions and then is connected to an institution. the last time i was in this room, it was a woman sitting in this audience who said that as a result of link, she was able to take a very low-rate loan and make it a more attractive loan and, as a result, increased her cash flow and is now growing. those are the kinds of stories i get across the country. the second point about making certain we're getting people in the tech, in the stem fields,

which you allude to is we've launched a program we call invater. it's an outreach initiative. but what i want to do is say to women who we don't see in silicon valley and doing the scale-ups at the same weight. so invat her is spelled h-e-r, the last three letters to reach out to women to say hack, disrupt, invent, change industries. you, too, can be in cyber security. you, too, can be in precision medicine. we need to get women in the-traditional fields. so this effort of rolling this out is getting women engaged. we had last year a hundred various competitions. so i'm proud of that progress. but, again, we will continue to do it. and we invite you to come in and participate this women's history month in march where we'll be convening the winners of those competitions. >> thank you so much.

before my time roll out, i also wanted to comment on how you're addressing standard operating plans. >> i want to make sure that we're supporting you for the actions you take. when you identify that there are areas that the government could support the small business administration, that we're giving those on a regular basis. thank you. as i've stated earlier, we've closed 14 sops, more than four

times in the prior four yearings combined, as i said. we have an additional 41 pending and working collaboratively with the gao. so the momentum is strong. and i do commit to you that we will double what we did last year. thank you. >> the gentle lady's time has expired. recognized for 5 minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> madame administrator, i've got just a couple questions. one of them is on the line of the cio. and i know you've been there for 20 months. this is a critical position. i understand that someone is overseeing this position as an assistant. would we believe that that person would have the same responsibleties as the cio would? would they respond to your expectations? would that continue to be when the cio is hired from a future date? would they still continue to

respond in the coo or would they come to you? >> that's a fair question. let me just say, the operations, we have a deputy administrator who is sort of, if you will, i don't want to use the term, but you could say the chief operating officer. it is generally the way it's operated. so this person reports in through that function and it's working -- this person has been hugely successful. you know, i just had him present at an entire town hall. i want to tell you that few people in our agency, you know, enjoy these when we put them on. but we think there's important ways for the administration. he's allowed us to put on the cloud. to make that move.

he's getting now, laptops for our fields operations people so that they can go to participate. >> i understand day-to-day operations, but there are going to be decisions that have to be made by you or be on your doorstep. so i just want to be sure that that's clear when a cio is hi hired. the 69 items, and you being 234 there for 20 months and these items coming up after that. seven items being clear up.

there must be prioritization and you must start working on the issues that you think are number one through number, in this case, 69. would you say that any of these items are not on that list? there are some of them, and just by one of your statements, that you say that some of these might not be needed. could you explain? parts of these or any of these issues that might not be needed or that you might not want done. >> you know, i track these. i just want you to know that i track them and i received this report on a regular basis. and what i tell you is i've

dissected them, and i know you have, too. we're working through them, as i mentioned. but i'm doing that. in other words, i think they're all important and they're all vital. but i'm prioritizing. so, for example, the disaster. there were two that were disaster oriented. and we pushed those out as a priority. so i'm going through and sifting. >> basically, what i want to get to is that we have a prioritization of basically one through 69, we're going to knock these items out. and, lastly, we have an ageing work force in many industries. but there's probably no more difficult industry than the i.t. area in this country. it is very difficult to get them into government jobs, as i understand, the pay is not as good.

what kind of policies, what are you pushing for so that we can get these young 20 to 30-year-olds that know up-to-date i.t., up-to-date software. >> well, thank you. i'd like to have if you would, the budget the ge had. you know, too bad you're not going over to a hip happy place. i feel their pain, do you know what i'm saying? so we are, we're really trying to reach out to peace corps types, to veteran types, i'm going to college fares. we're traveling to the coast as well as the middle part of the state to, if you will, brand sba.

and, to that end, we're working through millenial channels. i just retained a fabulous producer and very popular gentleman who is now doing video spots with me and placing them out in different industries. i partner with anybody who is willing to amplify the opportunities at sba. more important and to the point is that i write the correct job description so that we're not just hiring the same people again. that's what i've undertaken as a priority is to make sure that the job description speaks to the future. and then, when they come in, for example, the pmfs i have right now, i'm giving them very limited training budget. i give them rotational opportunities. >> and i appreciate that and i know my time has expired. >> now the gentle lady from new york. i apologize for the mix-up before.

>> that's okay. thank you, madame administrator for being here today and also for all of the work that you've been doing traveling throughout the country to various districts and hearing directly from small businesses about their problems and concerns. i, too, echo the sentiments in appreciating your passion, enthusiasm and great efforts while being administrator. my question is in response to the gao recommendation, the agency has said it's currently restricted from collecting data from resource partners or that the abc doesn't have adequate systems for some programs, which makes program evaluations difficult. can you explain how these restrictions a and the lack of adequate collection systems are conducting evaluations and what

efforts can congress undertake to help remove any data collection restrictions and help sba collect important data from the resource partners. >> i think data collection is fundamental in assessment and tra teejic planning. so i'm pleased that in each of my outreach efforts, just stop me if i'm using too many acronyms, i apologize. i don't like jargon so i don't need to do that. but our resource partners say they are collecting rich data. but there's a natural screen in how much they give to us. so we've reached agreement on 10 measure that is we can agree on about encounters, capital formation, business start, con

tracting, those kinds of things. so that data is collecting, it's mined and it's utilized. and then we get qualitative data. we also work on focus study groups and interactions and round tables that i've hosted with you around the country and with the chairman and the ranking member and others. but my disapointment, if you will, in a way in which you could help me, is that for me, a critical data point would be a unique identifier. i'm not trying to invade privacy. it could be any numeric number. it could be part of an alphabet. but, for me, when someone says that they've served a hundred people in a day and then, you know, i don't know if that's something that came in twice in that one day or if that's 100 different people. and so i think a unique identifier would be very useful in being able to attract

longitudinally what our efforts are. sew that's what i'm very seriously looking into. i've discussed this with our resource partners and i feel they're more amenable than others. but with your help, we can get there. >> and my last question is about human capital management. i know pushed upon this a little bit from yesterday's hearing. we talked about how the report identified challenges that the agency wanted, which was the need to prioritize in the area of human capital. do you agree and what is being done. >> yes. i just wanted to mention to you that more to the point about your prior concern is that at the agency, we've put together an interagency evaluation so that all the program heads are not just working with our resource partners, but also what measures mattered to them so that they're mining the correct data and we can build proper

evaluations to be responsive to what we're addressing here today. with respect to human capital, we talked about the district offices as the congresswoman from the islands mentioned earlier. our teams, because we have one of the best leverage factors around, again, understanding that we're only fewer than 2,000 employees leveraging these kind of numbers for the world and the kind of thing that is we do, we do leverage. they have five or six employees. and when we host a conference with 500 people, it's a lot of lifting. in any instance that we can take a serious look at the structure, meaning size of sba, i think it would go a long way. >>. >> thank you, i yield back.

>> thank you, gentle lady yields back. the subcommittee on agriculture, energy and trade. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you, madame administrator, for being here today. i think frequently, one of the most often complaints is that government is unaccountable. and yesterday, in the gao representative's testimony, one of the things that struck me the most was the gao perceived a break down in communication at the sba that employees don't have forums in which they can express their frustrations, perhaps their views on how things can be done differently. do you perceive that there's a

culture at the sba where em proi yees don't feel that freedom to express their views, to share their concerns and to share perhaps their contributions with regards to how the sba could be run more efficiently, more effectively and more competently. >> i think communications is foundational to running an effective organization. and so, you know, there are formal and informal processes. sometimes people communicate more standing by the water fountain than anything else. we have to make sure that we're communicating because the absence of communication does challenge an organization. so just to show you, first and foremost, we start with an annual, strategic meeting, one time where we bring the entire

field operations together with the heads of program offices and we have a full interaction for a three-day setting to set priorities and to talk about execution and accountenty and time frame and so forth. that's number one. number two, i'm on the phone or my chief of staff on a weekly basis, every district director and, in many instances, the triple d, the dep day district director are engaging with us. on a daily basis. i have to tell you that people are drawn to this because it tells you exactly what's gone on any given day. and i visit district offices, the program offices visit district offices. and then i hold round tables. so we have informal, formal and

then we have special, as-needed events like town hall. so we don't wait for those. if we need to have a special town hall, we engage in that, too. i've got to tell you again, these are people who are fighting for success every day and i don't see them being shy about communicating. >> madame administrator, sometimes communication only flows from the top down. you were comfortable that at the agency right now, there's an environment in which employees from the rank in file to those in leadership positions can express their views, their frustrations, their joys with their superiors. and really what i think is essential for the competent functioning of any organization. you feel comfortable today. do you think there could be improvements? do you find any validity in the concerns expressed by the gao

with regards to communication within the sba? >> well, if the gao stated that somebody must have said to him that there was a challenge, and so i have to take that seriously. there's no question i have to take that seriously. again, my reality is that they accept fully a town hall. i take people out to lunch and say what's going on? i say tell me what your day is going -- i get e-mails from people. so i feel that if the gao is making this comment and i look into it, then it must be a challenge. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from new york is recognized for five min you wills. >> very well, thank you, mr. chairman. and i thank our ranking member. i want to thank the administrator and just say to you i want to thank you for a number of things. one, for being engaged on the front lines of the small

business marketplace and being a visible change agent. i can attest to the fact that you have been out across this country. you were in the ninth congressional district meeting with small businesses. and i think that that is refreshing in and of itself. you're dealing with an agency that has challenges. there's no doubt about that. but i think you have demonstrated here today through your testimony the passion and drive that you have for the small business system across our nation. and you've displayed at today's hearing a response to the challenges of the 21st century sba. i appreciate the innovative and creative approach that you're taking to doing more with less. one of the things has not been really drilled down on and really struck me in this conversation today is the fact that you have 2,000 employees

for the united states of america and its territory. when you think about the numbers of small businesses across this nation, you're doing a man's task. but what i've been impressed with today is your commitment to meeting these challenges head on. an that's critical. i believe deed, you're able to lead that legacy for whomever would be next in your shoes. that would take us a long way in making sure that the 21st century sba is meeting all of the goals that we have for small businesses in our communities across this nation. the one thing that i'd like to do, because i think i've heard the answers that i need to hear today with respect to the recommendations of the gao, and i feel assured that you're paying keen attention to those recommendations, is that i want to encourage you to look at how you can do more engagement with

small business echo system in the u.s. territories and the district of columbia, strengthening them, quite frankly. i use the example of puerto rico because of the challenge that they're facing ek notchically. there's going to be a need for small business. and to the extent that we can be a part of helping them to stabilize the marketplace or the ground for small business will go a long way as families struggle with the climate that has been created due to the challenges that puerto rico is facing overall with this economy. so, having said that, if you'd like to respond, that's fine. if not, go to it. i'm convinced you are focused like a laser on what needs to be done.

i want to encourage you to keep up that stride. >> thank you. >> i yield back. >> thank you. >> may i respond? >> oh, i've got a response. >> i just wanted to again, compliment you on the out reach that we did in your district. and i thought it was really superb. so thank you for venaling such a stellar group of people. but i think you raise an important point. that is that we have a program called the hub zone program, the historically under-utilized business zone program. and so i traveled to puerto rico to meet with the governor, to meet with the communities and local officials to understand the rate of debt that every puerto rican is assuming, lose large. it is a serious issue. i have some tools. so i wanted to deploy those tools that we had. so we went there, again, with our contracting relationships. we went in to say a couple of things.

we said that we want to make sure that we're bringing corporations in to procure from the small businesses here. we want to make sure that the federal government is showing up here. we put on a conference of about 30 major procurers to focus on puerto rico. for small business, even when they get a contract, what happens is sometimes it takes government too long to pay. so we have to look at, you know, the minutia on some of those things. so we've launched two programs and one is called supply or pay, which is where we say to large corporations, we'll pay you in two weeks if you pay small businesses in two weeks. and a quick pay program, which is we pay small businesses in two weeks if they're doing business with the federal government. it's giving people more cash flow to be able to grow their business. >> thaurng, mr. chairman.

thank you madame administrator for being here and answering questions. >> i, too, am encouraged by the fact that it seems like you want to fix all of these things. and i'm very encounselored by that. that being said, i've found in whatever walk of life, whether it be district attorney or pros cueing a motorcade or whether it be work for greys, which was a department store, i've often found that priorities are so important and i've heard a lot of talk about what you've done. and i'm very impressed with that. i'm also very grateful for your response to mississippi to the recent tornadoes who allow several district lives in my district. i hope you'll keep a check on checking on my folks and making sure that sba does all they can,

the disaster relief in mississippi, which has been declared a federal emergency. so i guess my question is, have you prioritized the 62 of the 69 gao objectives that you've had. have you prioritized those. and if so, going back to college, per cpm and those things, you can do some things simultaneous. do you have an overall strategic plan? further, this is a person who has a rose pinned on them to accomplish this. and the suspense or deadlines are a plan of action for each of those 62 that have not been accomplished. furter more, you've got to get the cio hired i think in order

to address the issues appropriately. so i would encourage that you do the same thing that the ig pointed out. >> thank you. a lot was stated in that. again, let me just say that as i mentioned earlier, that i looked at them, prioritized with them. rated them if you will and started with what i think is the priority. that's what i'm doing. you're right. some you can achieve until the other is complete. >> that ice why i went to the library of congress to study that. it's why we put in an evaluation program for six different items here. and we'll continue to do that work. but let me just continue to

share with you that process does matter, as you say. i started three different businesses and i left my small business to do something here. if it's not enduring, then what was the point. that's why i'm here in a cleej yal fashion. to make sure that the next person will be in not so many months. >> let me tell you, i came in with a whole different attitude that i'm here now. i think you've got some opportunities. so if you don't put in writing, i can tell you as a commander, if it's not written, it doesn't matter how good the organization is. the second thing, you talked a lot about sops. sops are so important.

they've got to be current. they've got to be active and applicable. i hear you saying you're putting 41 sops in the follow up attraction. how many of the old sops and the due pliktive sops have you taken out of action because when people are confused, it's just as important to do away with the old as it is to enact the new. i'd like to hear if you address the depliktive or otherwise. >> again, one of the last businesses i started was a community bank. i have to tell you.

you know, the 80/20 rule. thank you. >> the gentleman's time has expired. ms. adams, who is ranking member in the investigations oversight is recognized for five minutes. >> i'm going to skip asking

about the implementation on the recommendations. we've already asked about that. i'm going to assist the sba in moving more expeditiously. >> i very much appreciate the question because absolutely there are budgetary constraints. to travel, to have somebody to travel, i have to put them up. i'm trying to be more per diem to use local tools. i'm putting people in clusters, whether they're doing mentoring. i'm trying to do what i can with what i have. but if you want to have a serious confers about the budget, i start in california. i have 14 different budgets, highway patrol, dmv, cal-trans.

it was a challenge to run them. i have a you neek opportunity that most people don't have and that is to create a department. it's still operating as one of the better government-run programs in the state of california. but it was an entirely different thing to start with a clean slate and say this is the talent, this is the court competencies that i'm after. it is a little more nuanced than it is to just start from fresh. i'd be delighted to engage in that conversation. that requires a thoughtful conversation that you deserve. the lack of program evaluations without evaluations, sba lacks critical evaluation ensuring the validity and effectiveness of

goals and strategies as well with both new and existing programs. for example, sba has, for many years, conducted an annual client survey who evaluates the effectiveness of training programs. so are there any plans to survey sba loan recipients to determine if the sba loan guarantee programs are declined. and if not, why not? >> i can just give you an example of some of the data points that we're receiving. business starts, revenue growth, job creation retention, new markets, which ones are exporting, contracts are acquired, innovation milestones, the usefulness of the services and, most important, customer satisfaction. so these are metrics that we are tracking. as i mentioned earlier, i'm interested in a unique identifier so that i can track the person longitudinally. i think that's really a vital point.

so, again, that's on the specificics of our public to understand what they're using. what we're also doing is trying to understand where the entrepreneurs are. so i understand that we're in federal government space and, to my disappointment, things are coming to the sba for entrepreneurial support. that's why i've deployed our team and to find them these innovation hubs. the growth accelerators that are spawning across the country and we're learning there, too, what millenials need that might be different from our women, veterans. these are market segmentations. with the advent of technological evolution, we're not able to do much more targeted digital marketing to people. i'd like to have that kind of capacity and how to discern we are actually fulfilling the

customer satisfaction and to compete in an ever-globalized economy. >> thank you very much for your responses. and, again, that you think for your services. i yield back. >> thank you. the gentle lady yields back. chairman of the subcommittee on oversight regulations is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chair. i, too, am excited and grateful for your energy and your passion in which you're trying to accomplish here. but, still, i have concerned. i'm concerned about what i've read. i'm concerned about what i've heard and what i've seen. this agency is the council to assist and protect small businesses. they're supposed to act in a manner that is efficient and nimble like our small businesses are.

so i think it's $30 billion in small business financing. this is large numbers concerning yet. we have serious challenges out there with this administration. this is troubling for the economy. vital in that growth. and has been assistant in that growth and economy. that shows how important this department is. but with these concerns that the gao has, i have a couple questions here for you. what is the simple impact on the sba utilizing the outdated sops. another question i'd like to go

is ask you, you've been here 20 months. whier why is the average -- what's going on. >> you know, i thought as i looked at the chart, i was really intrigued by the gao's report and how far back it went and, you know, two things is, and i did a little research one evening because it was just interesting to me personally. and so i saw in some instances, the administrator was -- you have to have certain skills to be an entrepreneurship. we're a victim of the political process with every administration. you have a new appointment. and, generally, people take a four-year run and then leave and then you bring in the second bench. so i hope i'm not the second bench. >> it appears to me that you've

been the longest here. and i appreciate that success. >> so what you said is sba is an effective valuable and critical organization in our country. i just met a young man named kevin who said after $150,000 loan, he was able to go to a company underarmor. with a low bid of help, they were able to build an international global marketplace. >> i'd like to ask a question, though. do you have a succession plan in place? >> yes. so to that extent, i'm not just meeting with our political appointments. it's on a weekly basis to

inculcate and to view the entire organization down to the bowels of the organization. you write it for institutional purr potss. utilizing what is the impact of small business utilizing the out dated sops. do you believe there's a major impact here? >> i think, since we have so many different vehicles -- >> i'd just like a yes or no. >> okay, sir. yes, we are reviewing the sops, as i mentioned. the ones that i mentioned as i'm addressing them faster than any administrator in the last few years, we're making good progress. and i will continue to address that work. >> also, in your testimony, you stated that it requires senior management to be directly responsible in ensuring and

viewing if dissemination of the sops. >> they're required, sir, standard sops. we have already overhauled, for example, the disaster one, as i mentioned. we've overhauled the sbic one, as i mentioned. this is the kind of work that we're missing. we're doing them. we're undertaking them at unprecedented levels. we commit to reporting the momentum that we're building on.

>> thank you for your service and construction and your rancher. you have a marvelous story. >> he studied well. >> thank you, sir. >> the administrator is not the administrator for nothing. she's doeb her research. this is being broadcast by c-span. so from the tens to dozens of people all across america that are watching this, an sop, by the way, is standard operating procedure. i'm sure they're all wondering what that was. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and to our ranking member. and madame administrator, once again, good to see you. and the opportunity to have you in my district for a small

business round table, not necessarily with me, but with senator corey booker. but it fell in my congressional district. >> we have two, actually. >> so i won't hold that against you. >> you got the podium for quite a while. >>. >> you know, first i want to commend you for moving around the country as you've done during the course of your tenure. it doesn't go unnoticed. you really have spread yourself far and wide across the nation in your efforts throughout this country.

there have been some issues with tension around the senior leadership. if i'm going over something that has already been addressed, please, forgive me. there have been 41 changes in senior level positions at the sba in the last decade. the gao reports that it gave multiple recommendations to increase human capital, specifically it noted the sba still hasn't developed work force plans, conducted skill assessments, updated sops or established training goals. what are you doing to address these human capital issues in senior leadership and the sba regional district offices.

>> again, i think the continuity is important to ensure that we have continuous program aif he can chewuation. so i'm committed to that work. as i referenced earlier, we are reconstructing many of the job conditions and communication standards. and just generally, the way entrepreneurship is going, earlier, mentioning the importance of being anymoring. and so it is an art form as well as a science, i must say, to be able to be nimble at once and make sure that you're funding sops. and the modernization act and jobs act 2010. and dodd-frank and this is my life, right? to make sure i'm crossing every t and dotting every i.

in response to the globalization of it. it is a challenge. and you want to have the best and the brightest. i must tell you, i was really disappointed. these allegations are valid. i must tell you that each and every day, we're talking half a dozen people. these people have to be diligent and strong communicators and branding opportunities. so it is a very important skill set that we need. the salary structures are somewhat restrictive.

i think that, you know, again, we will continue to atract people to show them that their work is meaningful. people care about compensation. but, more important, they care about the meaningfulness of their work. i'm here to remind them of that every single day. there isn't anything that makes me happier than like the man i just met on my last airplane who said he was an aspiring doctor. he received a $50,000 loan from sba and he became a doctor and is now 72 years old and served our country by providing health care services to america. >> so do you feel the compensation levels there your department may be curtailing your ability to curtail the best and the brightest?

>> the sba structure is not comparable to other cabinet offices. so i would be happy to address that. so, in many way, it's a complex challenge. in many way, i want mobility. you want it to create up. opportunities for the other folks coming in. on the other hand, you want historical framework. these are delicate challenges that i address each and every single day. they're now getting opportunities. that's the good news. the bad news is that now, while i have upward mobility, i've got to find new talent. >> okay, thank you. >> thanks very much.

the gentleman's time has expired. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just wanted to -- i got in a little bit late, but i know you commented on missouri, my home state, which has experienced a weather disaster, recently. we certainly welcome you to come. my only comment would be to spend your time there if you have your folks be willing to respond more quickly. that would be really aappreciabluated. where do you see the sba going? >> so, first, let me just assure you that i deployed my team even

before we've been designated as a disaster in the area of certain circumstances that has to be met. i already have about ten employees already assessing and going out and conducting that study. so as soon as we are given the orders and are able to go, we're now getting there in 24 hours. it's a remarkable achievement. overall, as i mentioned, i traveled to washington to see how we responded there. i traveled to texas, to north carolina to meet the governor i'm trying to understand what the requirements are. as a result, we have put in some important changes. we used to do this manually where we would send out the information of victims of disasters. now, when they come into offices, we have the technology to do it so we can track them better.

>> so we're gibing to be able to deploy the folks to be able to do the work. that's great. the next question i have is in regards to 2008. why are we not i were leapting this, especially in a time like this. >> i think that's the idea. >> a program worth having. i guess that's the first question. >> the financial institutions are having a problem adopting it. they say that it's hard for them to process a $10,000 loan. that, if not repaid, by our disaster program that we do, then they have to advertise it at a very low interest rate.

i'm asking to put them on the record for formal comment as to what we need to do to make them work. >> it doesn't work. he's got two choices. fix it or get rid of it. >> that's the point. that's what we're working with to get the answers. but meanwhile, sir, i think this is important. what we put in is an uncollateralized, $25,00 loan and we're processing them now in seven days. so in the spirit of what we're trying to accomplish here -- >> are you authorized to make direct loans? >> that is what they do. we make direct loans for people who are physically or economically affected by a disaster. so, for renters, as well, it's important to note. this is the only office that makes direct loans. >> that's news to me. last time we had a director in here and she didn't want the

ability to make direct loans, which was interesting. also, with regards to what's going on, all of this information that you're going to be accumulating with regards to the hacks that have been happening with opm and the irs. how are you protecting your data? >> there is -- first, let me just say, to assure the american people, as the term just mentioned, we have other people listening in. the sba operates with financial institutions. they don't join our system until they're assured that their data is protected. >> that begs the question, do you, at the sba, have the same protocols and the same secrecy laws and concerns and protections as the banks are? >> we operate under nist, the national institute of science and technology. we operate under different guidelines, but similar protocols.

so, in that regard, we're working to a rev 4 level. but you're not there yet. >> you said you're working toward it. so, obviously, you're not there yet. >> i want to be honest with you. >> are you sure they're basing concerns about the protection of their information? >> the gentleman's time has expired, but, go ahead and answer. >> again, the fact that the financial institution who review our system and audit our system are comfortable connecting gives me some sew lis. but i have an auditor who comes in to tell us and they found no material weaknesses. i have, none the less, made sure that we have processed -- we've moved our mainframe to a modern -- >> do me a favor. just as a closing thought here,

i appreciate what you're saying. you say we're doing this according to all of these protocols and you have a gao study with getting things done in regards to their assessments of not having to do everything. when you have standard operating procedures that are being called into question, i'm not sure the citizens can have great faith. it concerns me to work on it and i appreciate your comments. >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> i just wanted to say that i promised you lunch the last time if i didn't fulfill my goal and i want you to know that i think you owe me lunch because we are now up and operating. we have several thousand banks that have joined us and it's working. you've got to take a look at it. >> i think the cafeteria is still open. but -- >> 20 minutes from the next meeting. >> in all seriousness, i want to

thank the administrator for her participation today. i certainly appreciate your ensthuz yachl and your energy that you brought to this hearing. i especially appreciate your willingness to do everything within your power to implement the 62 out of 69 gao recommendations that still need to be resolved. my greatest concern is on the it security issue. we have seen the white house, even, hacked. these small businesses give you a lot of sensitive information.

the sba is working in collaboration with homeland security, with the fbi and all of the other organizations, so i want to put confidence into the system. i yudsed to run the dmv. this is something that has to be an effort on going. >> i totally agree with you. there's nothing that brings the comforts of people than dealing with the department of motor vehicles. if there's no further business to come before the committee, we'll add joun. thank you much. >> thank you, sir.

>> as president obama prepares for his state of the union address on tuesday, he released this video on twitter. >> i eem'm working on my state the union address. it's my last one. as i'm writing, i keep thinking about the roads that we've traveled together these past seven years. that's what makes america great. our capacity to change for the better. our ability to come together as one american family and pull ourselves closer to the america we believe in. it's hard to see sometimes. but it is who we are. and it is what i want to focus on in this state of the union address. >> c-span's coverage starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern with real clear politics congressional reporter looking back at the history and tradition of the president's annual message and what to expect in this year's address. and then, at 9:00, a live coverage of the president's speech followed by the republican response by south

carolina governor plus your reaction by phone, facebook, tweets and e-mail. as well as those from congress. and we'll re-air our state of the union coverage and the republican response starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern, also, live on c-span2 after the speech, we'll hear from members of congress with their reaction to the president's address. the chair of the house foreign affairs committee congressman ed royce will talk about some of the global security threats facing the u.s. you'll have live coverage at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. here on c-span3, we'll have live coverage at 9:00 a.m. eastern.

next, nick mulvaney talks. from washington journal, this is 40 minutes. >> joining us on the program, nick mulvaney. good morning. how did you vote? >> i voted to repeal. i think it was the 40th time i've been able to do that in the house. because of yesterday, it will actually get to the president's desk now. >>. >> the number of time. >> this is the one that really counts.

>> 4 is the one that actually counts. >> even though it will most likely get a veto? >> we told a lot of people that. people accept that. folks elected in 2010, 2012, 2014, know that with barack obama in the white house, we're always going to have obamacare. they wanted to know that republicans would stand up to present the other side of the story. go back in 2009, 2010 when we were discussing obamacare as a nation. there wasn't that much debate. there was sort of this general debate about what we should do about health care.

but it wasn't much about this specific bill. we have to pass it in order to know what's in it. how can you debate something that doesn't exist yet. that -- i'm vetoing it and here's why. we can have that national debate. >> once again, never become law as republicans celebrate the 62nd vote. >> that's all we say on that? >>. >> the thought ooft matter is we've never had the debate. there's no defense of obamacare.

there's no response of the difficulties that people are facing. i want obamacare. i cannot get service. i cannot get health care. no one takes the coverage. here's why we think it's not. here's why we can do it better. if the president misses that, my guess is that the president will avoid that. that what you saw last week about guns, it's an attempt not to have that debate. >> 748-80001 for democrats, 8001 for republicans. you can also tweet them to us. when it came to the actual

budget, who has to make the fight? >> i'm a big fan to passing most pieces of legislation. i think if you had done that, then the threshold changes. the only way to get this to the president's desk was by using this arcane set of rules called budget reconciliation. a very narrow area of law that does not need 60 votes in the senate. if it had been attached, the threshold was no longer 50, it would be 60. >> so, another call then this morning, what about the alternative? >> if you're going to repeal, what's the alternative for the republican sns. >> guilty as charged. we had been promised since 2012,

i think that we would offer our alternative ideas. they're there. the republican study commission has had a comprehensive plan online for four years i think. for some reason, previous leadership was afraid to bring it up. i'm hopeful that now we will have the nerve to stand up and say not only do we not like obama care, but here's our idea of how to fix things. if we don't do that, we will have failed the country and failed the party. >>. >> what are some of the alternatives? >>. >> you'll never get people to look at the insurance systems that work. homeowner's insurance works.

most of the time, your employer picks it for you. if your window gets broken on your car, you sit down and do a calculation. i could make a claim against my insurance, but my insurance might go up. we don't do that with health care. if you go in and the doctor says you need an mri, you get an mri. it's the only thing that we buy that somebody else pays for. it's a completely broken system. you can look to examples for the next ten years. the only insurance that's gone up is health care insurance. if you look at the list of things that could improve models elsewhere, we talked about state lines to promote competition.

if you go and do an internet search, you can get right to it. >> why do republicans let the democrats say that the republicans are trying to limit women's access to health care. they're trying to limit their access to murdering babies. >> the short answer is we can't dictate what they say. so if your question is why do we let them say it, we have to let them say it.