Facing increased criticism over the Small Business Administration's response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes, SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto defended his agency's performance Thursday and praised the work of its employees.
"Our response hasn't been slow," Mr. Barreto said at a Capitol Hill press conference. The SBA "has responded quicker to this event than to any event in our history."
Many congressional Democrats do not agree; they blame Mr. Barreto for the fact that most applications for disaster loans have not been processed. On Wednesday, Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, D-N.Y., demanded that Mr. Barreto resign as the agency's head. Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., said in a news release Thursday that Mr. Barreto "needs to either lead or get out of the way.
"For the SBA Administrator to stand up and brag about their success completely ignores what is happening on the Gulf Coast," Sen. Kerry said.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the SBA has processed only a third of the 276,000 home-loan applications it has received and has rejected 82% of those it has reviewed.
At the press conference Mr. Barreto said that the hurricanes' scale of destruction was "different from anything else the SBA has ever dealt with," and he called the work of SBA employees in the Gulf Coast region "nothing short of miraculous."
He also said the agency has approved $1.4 billion of loans, hired and trained nearly 4,000 employees, streamlined documentation requirements for potential barrowers, and doubled the size of its loan processing center.
Mr. Barreto emphasized that the SBA provides loans - not grants - and must therefore ensure that borrowers have the means to repay the money.
"We do a disservice to taxpayers if we give a loan to a person who can't pay it back," he said.
House Small Business Committee Chairman Don Manzullo, R-Ill., joined Mr. Barreto at the news conference. The congressman expressed strong support for Mr. Barreto and the work of the SBA, but he acknowledged the agency's difficult position.
"The SBA is in a no-win situation with this disaster," Rep. Manzullo said. "It is understandable that those affected by the disaster would want to get their loans as soon as possible. At the same time, taxpayers demand accountability, and I demand accountability." He also dismissed Rep. Velazquez's demand that Mr. Barreto step down. "Ms. Velazquez is just dead wrong when she calls for his resignation."
