During debate on the House floor, Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) spoke in support of HR 2931.
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00:00The gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Alford, is recognized for as much time as he may consume.
00:05Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
00:07Thank you, Chairman, for this important piece of legislation.
00:10Thank you to our ranking member for your passion and your concern for small businesses in America.
00:17Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2931, the Save SBA from Sanctuary
00:23Cities Act, championed by my good friend, Congressman Finstad.
00:27Look, Mr. Speaker, this is not about a culture war in America.
00:33This is about putting American small business owners first while ensuring lawless sanctuary
00:39cities do not reap the benefits of hosting SBA offices.
00:45It's pretty simple, folks.
00:46This is all about protecting American small businesses and making sure that federal taxpayer
00:52dollars are not funneled into lawless sanctuary cities that put illegal aliens ahead of their
00:58own citizens.
01:01Why should hardworking American entrepreneurs and law-abiding communities be second in line
01:07to support from their own government?
01:11They shouldn't be.
01:13This bill will relocate SBA regional offices from sanctuary jurisdictions to communities
01:19that actually respect the rule of law, that actually put American citizens first.
01:26And that is not controversial.
01:29It's just common sense.
01:31President Biden's open border policies let in millions, millions of illegal aliens, unvetted
01:39illegal aliens, including dangerous, violent criminals.
01:45The woke policies of Democrat-run sanctuary cities fueled by woke politics have become magnets
01:51for chaos, stretching public resources to the brink and crowding out citizens who actually
01:57follow the law.
02:00And what happens?
02:01Well, it often depletes the public resources meant for U.S. citizens.
02:06Moving SBA offices into non-sanctuary jurisdictions is a step in the right direction.
02:14Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker.
02:16The federal government should not reward sanctuary cities with permanent SBA infrastructure.
02:23It's just wrong.
02:24And it's not wrong and, quite frankly, insulting to every law-abiding taxpayer and every small
02:29business owner struggling to stay afloat.
02:32We've got to move these offices.
02:34This legislation is another example of House Republicans working to codify President Trump's
02:40executive orders.
02:44In March, SBA Administrator Loeffler announced a series of actions to put Americans first,
02:49including moving SBA regional offices out of sanctuary cities.
02:53This bill makes it law, backs that up.
02:57This common sense legislation, as well as others we are voting on this week, put Americans and
03:02American small businesses first.
03:04Puts Main Street first.
03:06But, Mr. Speaker, we can't stop there.
03:08There are many cities that share the same lawless woke policies as sanctuary cities.
03:14They're soft on crime, even if they don't wear the sanctuary label outright.
03:19Kansas City is one of those, just one example.
03:22It's not officially designated as a sanctuary city, but it might as well be a first cousin
03:27of one.
03:28That's exactly why I've asked Administrator Loeffler to relocate the SBA regional office
03:33from Kansas City in Missouri's 5th congressional district down to our district in the 4th.
03:40Because at the end of the day, American citizens and small businesses should not be the ones being
03:45served by SBA offices, not illegal aliens in sanctuary cities.
03:52Let's get serious.
03:55Let's put America first.
03:59Like we had the mandate to do in November, the America First agenda led by President Donald
04:07J. Trump.
04:09I urge my colleagues to support and vote yes for H.R.
04:132931.
04:14And, Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield back.