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26–346 PDF 2017

S. HRG. 115–83 

NOMINATION OF ALTHEA H. COETZEE, 

OF VIRGINIA, TO BE DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR 

OF THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

MAY 11, 2017 

Printed for the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 

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COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho, Chairman 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire, Ranking Member 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

TIM SCOTT, South Carolina 

JONI ERNST, Iowa 

JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma 

TODD YOUNG, Indiana 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota 

JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts 

CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey 

CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware 

MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii 

TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois 

SKIFFINGTON E. HOLDERNESS, Republican Staff Director 

SEAN MOORE, Democratic Staff Director 

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C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS

Page 

Risch, Hon. James E., Chairman, and a U.S. Senator from Idaho ..................... 1 

Shaheen, Hon. Jeanne, a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire ............................ 2 

WITNESSES

Coetzee, Althea H., Rear Admiral of Virginia ....................................................... 3 

ALPHABETICAL LISTING

Coetzee, Althea H. 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 3 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 

Responses to questions submitted by Ranking Member Shaheen, Senators 

Scott, Markey, Booker, Hirono, and Duckworth ........................................ 18 

Risch, Hon. James E. 

Opening statement ........................................................................................... 1 

Shaheen, Hon. Jeanne 

Opening statement ........................................................................................... 2 

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NOMINATION OF ALTHEA H. COETZEE, 

OF VIRGINIA, TO BE DEPUTY 

ADMINISTRATOR OF THE SMALL BUSINESS 

ADMINISTRATION 

THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017 

UNITED STATES SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m., in Room 

428A, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. James Risch, Chairman 

of the Committee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Risch, Ernst, Inhofe, Shaheen, Cantwell, 

Heitkamp, and Booker. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES E. RISCH, CHAIRMAN, 

AND A U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO 

Chairman RISCH. The Committee will come to order, and thank 

you all for coming today. There is lots and lots of stuff going on 

on the Hill today, so we appreciate all those who attended. 

Admiral, thank you so much for coming today, and submitting 

yourself to what is going to be a rigorous process, I think you will 

find, here on the Committee. 

But, in any event, the purpose of the hearing this morning is to 

have a hearing on the appointment by President Trump of the Deputy Administrator to the Small Business Administration, and Admiral Coetzee comes to us with that appointment from President 

Trump. She is nominated to be the next Deputy Administrator at 

the Small Business Administration. 

Throughout the confirmation process, Real Admiral Coetzee has 

complied with all the requests that have been made of her. A careful and thorough review of her background, financial, and tax history, and professional activities by the Small Business Committee 

staff has found no evidence that should compromise the nominee’s 

confirmation. 

Rear Admiral Coetzee has a distinguished military career with 

several deployments on sea and land, including the global war on 

terrorism. She is currently the Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of Defense Acquisitions, Technology, and Logistics at the Department of Defense, undoubtedly an interesting assignment for 

you for some time. 

In her civilian capacity she has worked—has a breadth of experience in a number of roles, including working for the City of—— 

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Admiral COETZEE. Temecula. 

Chairman RISCH [continuing]. Temecula—just like it is written— 

California. She held various management positions in the manufacturing industry and in 2005, she founded a small business called 

PRINT–KWIK, located also in that same city. So we are glad to 

have someone with small business experience. We do not always 

get that and we are very appreciative to have that. 

So we will swear in the nominee. If you would rise, please, and 

raise your right hand. 

Do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give to 

this Committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 

the truth, so help you God? 

Admiral COETZEE. I do. 

Chairman RISCH. Thank you very much. You may be seated. 

And are you going to represent the minority here? We can probably dispense if—— 

Senator CANTWELL. Mr. Chairman, I am sure that my colleague 

will be here and want to enter her own statement for the record. 

Chairman RISCH. Okay. 

Senator CANTWELL. But, yes, we are represented here. 

Chairman RISCH. You are that, and very well, so thank you very 

much. 

Well, with that, Admiral, We are going to turn it over to you to 

tell us what you want to tell us, and then we will have some very 

deep and probing questions for you, I have no doubt. 

Admiral COETZEE. Thank you, Chairman Risch. 

Chairman RISCH. Oops. Wait a second. That is all right. Please 

mark Senator Shaheen tardy. 

[Laughter.] 

You will stay after. 

Senator SHAHEEN. Story of my life. 

Chairman RISCH. Did you want to make an opening statement? 

Senator SHAHEEN. I would like to make an opening statement. 

Chairman RISCH. Okay. Please. Did you want to go ahead? 

Senator SHAHEEN. Please. 

Mr. Chairman, is it your understanding there is a vote at 11:00? 

Chairman RISCH. There is a vote at 11:00, and I am expecting 

that we are going to be done here at that time, or possibly before 

that, I would think, depending upon—— 

Senator SHAHEEN. Okay. 

Chairman RISCH [continuing]. Where you want to go to with this. 

Senator SHAHEEN. Okay. All right. All right. 

Chairman RISCH. That is aspirational at this point. 

Senator Shaheen. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JEANNE SHAHEEN, RANKING 

MEMBER, AND A U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Senator SHAHEEN. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank 

you to Admiral Coetzee. Hopefully I am pronouncing your name 

correctly. It is wonderful to have you here before the Committee 

and I apologize for being late. But I really did want to take a 

minute—and I will submit my full statement for the record—to 

thank you for being willing to take on this responsibility. 

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And I just want to point out, as I am sure you already know, that 

small businesses are a critical part of this country’s economy. Two 

out of every three, or two-thirds of new jobs that are created are 

created from small businesses and they get 16 times more patents 

per employee than large businesses. And the SBA and all of its programs are really critical to so many small businesses. In my State 

of New Hampshire, where 99 percent of our employers are small 

businesses, that is the case, and there are a number of critical programs that the SBA runs that are very important to those small 

businesses. 

So when—during her confirmation hearing, Administrator 

McMahon was very passionate about small business and about 

what the SBA could do to support them, and I know that the Deputy Administrator position is key to improving SBA’s programs and 

making sure that they work the way that they are supposed to. So 

I am looking forward to hearing your responses to our questions, 

and again, very much appreciate that you are taking on a role that 

is going to be critical in the operations of the Small Business Administration. So thank you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman RISCH. Thank you much. Admiral, the floor is yours. 

TESTIMONY OF REAR ADMIRAL ALTHEA H. COETZEE, OF VIRGINIA, NOMINATED TO BE DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, SMALL 

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

Admiral COETZEE. Thank you, Chairman Risch, Ranking Member 

Shaheen, members of the Committee. I am deeply honored to be 

here to appear before you and the Committee today. 

I would like to thank President Trump for nominating me to the 

position of Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. I would also like to thank Administrator Linda 

McMahon for her guidance and advice in this process. She is an inspirational leader and, if confirmed, I look forward to supporting 

her in achieving her vision to help America’s small businesses and 

entrepreneurs achieve their maximum potential. I would also like 

to thank the professional staff of the Committee for their time and 

assistance in the confirmation process. 

Behind me today is my mother, Mrs. Althea F. Coetzee; my 

fiance ́, DeWayne Leslie; and his daughter and son-in-law, Casey 

and Tony Ramos; and several close friends and colleagues who 

have graciously come here to support me today. I know my dad 

would have loved to be here, and I can assure you he is looking 

down right now with a huge, proud smile. 

My dad’s love for his country and his pride in the United States 

were reflected in all he did. From the time I can remember, he and 

my mom instilled in me an entrepreneurial spirit that I can 

achieve my dreams, do whatever I set my mind to doing, and be 

whatever I want to be. I am eternally grateful for my mother’s unwavering support throughout my career, and for the support of my 

fiance ́ and my friends, who constitute my extended family represented here today. I would not be here if it were not for all of 

you. 

I am especially honored to be considered for the position of Deputy Administrator because of the importance of small business to 

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President Trump. Kicking off National Small Business Week last 

Monday, he said, ‘‘Small business owners embody the American 

pioneering spirit and remind us that determination can turn aspiration into achievement. This week we affirm our commitment to 

removing government barriers to the success of American small 

businesses.’’ 

I share our President’s commitment to small businesses, as well 

as Administrator McMahon’s commitment to ensuring the U.S. 

Small Business Administration successfully advances its mission. If 

confirmed, I look forward to supporting Administrator McMahon in 

her goals of providing the necessary tools for small businesses to 

gain access to capital, for entrepreneurs to receive relevant counseling services, and for small businesses, especially those owned by 

women, veterans, and minorities, to have opportunities for Federal 

contracts. 

I am excited to be considered for the Deputy Administrator position because my roots take me back to small business entrepreneurship. As a pre-teen, I started delivering newspapers for a 

neighbor, and was assigned 10–12 papers to deliver each afternoon. 

By the time I graduated high school, I had grown my newspaper 

enterprise into a total of five routes, for both morning and evening 

editions. I revisited this entrepreneurial spirit later in life. I am 

very proud to have started a small printing business with two 

other business partners. Like other entrepreneurs, we started with 

an idea, put together a business plan, and sought the capital to realize our goals. I can say that after only three months of operating, 

we were in the black and well on our way. I have since sold my 

share of the business but I am pleased to say it is still going 

strong. 

My experience in leading and managing organizations of all sizes 

in the military, public, and private sectors has uniquely qualified 

me for the position of Deputy Administrator. If confirmed, I will retire from the Navy as a two-star rear admiral, having achieved the 

highest rank attainable in my career. I will leave my last post as 

Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, 

Technology, and Logistics, managing a staff of 1,200 military, civilian, and contractor personnel. In my roles with the Office of the 

Under Secretary, I have been responsible for oversight and execution of multiple programs and led cross-functional teams that support the mission of the Department of Defense. If confirmed, I look 

forward to applying that same oversight and execution to the mission of the U.S. Small Business Administration. 

In my most recent assignments, I have directed and managed organizations ranging from 50 to over 10,000 personnel worldwide, 

with budgets exceeding $1 billion. These include U.S.-based commands as well as humanitarian and combat forces deployed worldwide. I have been responsible for developing, approving, and managing budgets, personnel, logistics, and supply chain operations, 

and innovative business information technology solutions for the 

Navy, Marine Corps, and Department of Defense. During periods 

of severe budget constraints, I have led efforts to recapitalize Enterprise Resourcing Planning solutions, and tied these efforts to 

zero-based reviews of staff and operations to devise the most efficient organization composition to operate within budget. 

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In my civilian career, in addition to owning a small business, I 

managed manufacturing engineering, quality engineering, and operations for a Fortune 100 medical device manufacturer before returning to government service as a civil servant to manage contracting operations for the Marine Corps. 

In my 25-plus years as a contracting professional, I most recently 

managed seven geographically diverse satellite field offices in addition to the main operation. On military deployments, I was based 

in Djibouti, Africa, but responsible for contracting activities located 

in Yemen and throughout Africa, and I was based in Kabul and responsible for contracting activities throughout Afghanistan and as 

far off as Qatar. In my first such experience managing field offices, 

I came to appreciate the importance of ensuring all offices felt they 

were part of the mission, especially when it came to decisions that 

impacted the entire organization. In these organizations, as well as 

in other professional positions, I recognized the importance of ‘‘one 

team, one fight.’’ That is, no matter what the status of the employee, whether active or reserve military, government civilian or 

political appointee, or contractor, each is an integral part of the organization. Each plays a vital role and is accountable for achieving 

the mission. 

If confirmed, I look forward to advising Administrator McMahon 

on contracting matters to maximize opportunities for small businesses. I also look forward to applying my skills in managing geographically diverse organizations to ensure all SBA offices understand the mission and are equal partners in achieving the Administrator’s goals and objectives. 

I am especially thrilled to be considered for the Deputy Administrator role because I see this is as an opportunity to continue to 

serve my country in a new capacity, where I can apply the skills 

that I have honed over careers in the military, public and private 

sectors to help the U.S. Small Business Administration successfully 

carry out its mission and to help small business owners achieve 

their dreams. 

Once again, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to 

share my service, experiences, and enthusiasm for the position of 

Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. 

Thank you for your leadership, Chairman Risch and Ranking 

Member Shaheen. If confirmed, I look forward to working with you. 

I am very happy to take your questions now. Thank you very 

much. 

[The prepared statement of Admiral Coetzee follows:] 

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Chairman RISCH. Thank you, Admiral. You certainly come to us 

well qualified. You know, the first business I ever started was also 

a paper route, and it got big and unwieldy but I never thought 

about subcontracting that. That was a great idea but it is too late 

now to go back. 

[Laughter.] 

In any event, thank you so much for agreeing to take this on. 

Senator Shaheen. 

Senator SHAHEEN. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

We have [off microphone]. As I said, 99 percent of our businesses 

are small businesses in New Hampshire, and I really learned to appreciate the SBA when I first got elected to the State Senate in the 

early 1990s, because five of our seven largest banks were closed by 

the FDIC, and I very clearly remember those pictures of the doors 

being padlocked of those banks. And the only thing that kept New 

Hampshire’s economy afloat during that period was the SBA, and 

the lending through the SBA. 

So I know how critical it is, and it continues to play that kind 

of a role. Right now we have two openings in our SBA in New 

Hampshire, and I would hope that you would pledge to ensure that 

you will work with us as closely as possible to fill those positions 

so we can have people back out working with our small businesses. 

Admiral COETZEE. Senator Shaheen, I very much appreciate the 

need to have resources to carry out the mission of the Small Business Administration and our field offices are the outreach that we 

have that reach those local communities. So I will commit to you 

that if I am confirmed I will work very diligently to make sure that 

those positions are filled by qualified representatives. 

Senator SHAHEEN. Thank you very much. A couple of weeks ago 

we had a hearing, talking about the challenges that are faced by 

rural businesses in this committee, and one of the companies that 

I talked about is a small precision manufacturing business in 

Claremont, New Hampshire, that had just gotten HUBZone status. 

And I had a chance to visit them, and they were so excited because 

of the 200 or so businesses in the United States that have similar 

certifications as Costa, that does, as I said, precision manufacturing, there are only 6 of them that have HUBZone status. So 

they were looking at that as an opportunity to really compete for 

government contracts in a way that they would not have been able 

to do without having that status. 

One of the challenges, however, is as they were waiting for the 

status for that certification, they had to wait months, literally, because of shortages at SBA, because of the organization. It is not 

clear to me why it has taken—why it took them so long to get that 

certification done. And I think that is one problem that we need to 

address within SBA. The other is that right now there are only— 

well, HUBZones are supposed to get about 3 percent of government 

contracts. We are only halfway there, in terms of fulfilling that requirement. 

So I wonder, first, if you could talk about strategies that you 

might see, especially given your work at the Department of Defense, to encourage government to look at those HUBZone companies, and also the commitment that you will make to take a look 

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at this program and see how we can make sure that it is functioning the way it should. 

Admiral COETZEE. Thank you for that question, Ranking Member 

Shaheen. If confirmed, I will look—use my background in the DoD 

and contracting and my associative work with the Small Business 

Administration as a contracting professional to make sure that 

those businesses who are covered under the law have the opportunities that they are entitled to and we maximize those opportunities. Being a nominee, I am not familiar with exactly what the 

Small Business Administration has done in these areas, but I know 

that this is a priority for Administrator McMahon, and if confirmed 

I look forward to working with her as well as the Committee on 

seeing what we can do to reach these businesses and make sure 

that they are afforded the maximum opportunities for Federal contracts. 

Senator SHAHEEN. Well, thank you. I think we need to make sure 

that our small businesses are able to take advantage of the programs that exist when they are there, and make sure that all of 

government is complying with those programs. 

One of the other challenges that I know faces every Federal 

agency is keeping up with the technology and making regulations 

simple enough so that people can understand them. I know that 

this has been a challenge within SBA to have the technology to 

allow people to engage with SBA online. So, again, I would ask if 

you would take a look—commit to take a look at this aspect of the 

way SBA operates, and let us know what we need to do to support 

SBA to make sure that you can better serve your customers. 

Admiral COETZEE. That is a high priority, I know, for the Administrator, and if confirmed it is a high priority for myself. I have had 

feedback from small businesses, even in my current role, as the 

frustration with accessing the systems and the complexities of 

some of the regulations that govern them. So I do look forward to 

working with the Administrator and with the Committee to see 

how we can best streamline, simplify, and make accessible the programs that are available through the Small Business Administration. 

Senator SHAHEEN. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman RISCH. Thank you. 

Senator Inhofe. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is not very often 

that we get someone that is going through confirmation that is 

nearly the perfect one, and I think you come very close. It was such 

a relief to me. In my State of Oklahoma we have five major military establishments, and we have the—it may be the largest percentage of retired veterans in my State of Oklahoma. It is a great 

place to live and a lot of people, when they are stationed there, 

they just do not leave. 

So we have a lot of those guys there, and I—the first thing I noticed when your name floated across was you have this military 

background, which was a sigh of relief for me. And the only thing 

I want to talk about, just very briefly, as we do have a vote coming 

up, is the fact that we do have a—you have a special role that you 

can play with veterans’ organizations. You have a—you have 

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worked closely with them in the past, and we have a program 

where you have the collaboration between the SBA and the veterans, and how you have seen the landscape for veteran-owned 

businesses change over the years. 

Can you just address what your thoughts are on how you can use 

your background to help our situation with the veterans, getting 

them employed and active in small businesses? 

Admiral COETZEE. Thank you for that question, Senator. I am obviously very interested in making sure that our veterans, both returning warriors, both retiring, those who have served in any capacity, whether active or reserve, have opportunities as veterans, 

and I see opportunities for a partnership with the Veterans Administration and other organizations to help the veterans find more opportunities for starting their own business and also employing, or 

employment. 

The Small Business Administration is focused on veterans, 

women-owned, minority-owned, and ANCs, 8(a)s, HUBZones, and I 

see the veterans as one of the keys to the future of our economy. 

There is a lot of talent out there that is waiting to be tapped into, 

and if confirmed, I will do what I can to work towards making 

those programs available to the veterans through our field offices, 

through the Small Business Administration centralized, and whatever we can do to provide those opportunities for veterans. 

Senator INHOFE. Yeah. You know, I appreciate the fact that you 

used the distinction between the veterans and the returning warriors, and we have both, and they both have a very similar problem. There is a program within the SBA that specifically addresses 

veterans. Have you been studying this stuff long enough, even 

though you have not been involved with the SBA for a long period 

of time, to be familiar with those programs? 

Admiral COETZEE. I am not familiar with the specifics of the programs but I do have friends and colleagues who are veterans who 

have started their own businesses and they have shared with me 

some of their experiences and frustrations. 

Senator INHOFE. Well—— 

Admiral COETZEE. So there are areas where I know we can improve and reach a bigger population of veterans, particularly those 

who are frustrated and are apprehensive of starting a business because of what they perceive to be some of the barriers. 

Senator INHOFE. Well, we look forward to your leadership in 

that, so we are going to enjoy it. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman RISCH. Thank you, Senator. 

Senator Booker. 

Senator BOOKER. Thank you, and I want to thank Chairman 

Inhofe because veterans actually have better rates at starting businesses, show more success when they do, and I am grateful for the 

emphasis of this committee on that. 

I am concerned a lot about the fact that small businesses are 

often disadvantaged when it comes to the government procurement 

process. And we have tremendous opportunity but the way that we 

do procurement rules, and the DoD has been really having a difficult time meeting the threshold that Congress set for it, about 23 

percent with small businesses. Especially when it comes to the new 

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sort of tech world that we live in, often small, capable, better able 

tech firms do not even try to go through the government contracting process. 

So I do not know if you have any ideas or thoughts about this, 

especially with your background working in the military. 

Admiral COETZEE. Thank you for that question, Senator Booker. 

I do have some feelings about that, and if confirmed I will work 

very diligently to, again, simplify some of the IT programs that we 

have that make the Small Business Administration seem difficult 

and inaccessible, and also to leverage the field offices that we have 

and provide education and training to those offices on how they can 

better reach those disadvantaged businesses. Those disadvantaged 

businesses are critical to the economic base, particularly in areas 

where they exist and there are not other opportunities. 

In Federal contracts, I do not know specifically how those metrics 

are calculated with the Small Business Administration, but one of 

the areas that I would like to look at is what are we capturing. Are 

those meaningful metrics, and are they really telling the story that 

we are trying to convey, and are they reaching those populations 

that we are trying to reach? 

Senator BOOKER. Thank you very much. 

Do you believe the Federal Government should be doing more to 

help women and minorities start businesses and get engaged? 

Admiral COETZEE. Before I can make a concerted opinion on that 

I would like to see what the Small Business Administration is 

doing and what Federal laws are we implementing, or, actually, following through with to make sure that we are meeting the intent 

of the law, giving the opportunities. And then once I have assessed 

that with the Administrator and Committee, then we can determine if maybe there is more we can do, or maybe we are just not 

doing enough with what we have. 

Senator BOOKER. Okay. And so there are efforts going on that I 

have been encouraging since I have gotten here. The Obama Administration made some pretty good strides in extending more 

loans to entrepreneurs of color and women businesses. We, as a 

country, desperately need more women to be engaged in that, and 

I am hoping it is something that you will focus on and that my office can partner with you on as well. 

We cannot compete globally, frankly, or we cannot even create 

the kind of jobs we need if we are leaving large portions of our populations on the sidelines when it comes to being entrepreneurs. 

And it is just an area of emphasis for me, and I really hope that 

you and I can find a way to work together on that. 

Admiral COETZEE. If confirmed, I look forward to working with 

you and doing that. 

Senator BOOKER. Thank you very much. And any bias that you 

have towards the State of New Jersey would be appreciated as 

well. 

[Laughter.] 

You know, an SBA study found that—and we talk about this a 

lot in this committee—that two in every three net new jobs that 

are being created, as you probably know, are being created by 

small businesses. And so, you know, I just think that our—us, as 

a society, need to be focused a lot more on sort of bringing more— 

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helping to encourage more businesses to come to fruition. And 

there are programs, like the Emerging Leaders program, the 

ScaleUp America, that assist business owners. These programs 

help to expand operations and create more local jobs. It is just so 

critical. 

And so I am just wondering, starting a business is one thing, but 

helping small businesses expand is another thing. And do you have 

any thoughts about how do you help business owners expand their 

business operations, and can you make some commitment to us 

that you are going to be interested in supporting the programs that 

already exist, that help for those expansions—that expansion? 

Admiral COETZEE. Yes, Senator. If confirmed, I will work towards 

helping small businesses expand, because the whole goal of small 

businesses starting is to grow those businesses, and to maybe graduate from those programs into medium-small businesses, mediumlarge businesses, and then large businesses. So the success of a 

small business as a business entity is—can be, dependent on the 

services and the support that the Small Business Administration 

is able to afford them. So I do look forward to working with Administrator McMahon as well as the Committee on trying to achieve 

those objectives. 

Senator BOOKER. And the last thing, I saw her yesterday so it 

is fresh in my mind, Dina Powell, who is—interestingly, she helped 

lead Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women businesses. Extraordinary program that had a lot of private sector success, a wealth of knowledge. It is a shame that she is doing international foreign policy 

work but I am hoping it is somebody that you might talk to about 

how to really be successful, and also the potential for creating public-private partnerships, which we do not talk about enough, I 

think, in terms of helping small businesses thrive and succeed. 

But thank you very much, and I appreciate your service to our 

country. It is an extraordinary thing that people would volunteer 

for a post like this. It ain’t the pay, so it is a tribute to your commitment and your patriotism and I appreciate that. 

Admiral COETZEE. Thank you, Senator Booker. 

Chairman RISCH. Thank you, Senator Booker. Senator Ernst, I 

do not think a lieutenant colonel outranks an admiral, but in any 

event—— 

Senator ERNST. Absolutely not. 

[Laughter.] 

Thank you, and, admiral, thank you so much for being here, and 

congratulations on your nomination. We certainly appreciate your 

service, just as Senator Booker said, so thank you. 

One of the issues I am working on, and I am going to tag onto 

what Senator Booker was actually talking about, is an issue of addressing small businesses and their access to Federal contracting 

opportunities. And last week Senator Gillibrand and I introduced 

legislation that directs the SBA to conduct a comprehensive study 

on women-owned small business participation in multiple award 

contracts from the Federal Government. And this study would address concerns that the women-owned small businesses are underrepresented in those MACs, and would also examine the participation of all other socioeconomic categories of small businesses, including service-connected disabled veteran-owned small businesses 

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and those that are participating in Historically Underutilized Business Zones, or HUBZone programs. 

So considering you have extensive knowledge in Federal contracting, do you have any thoughts on this issue, or what additional things we can do beyond the study to help with womenowned small businesses? 

Admiral COETZEE. Thank you for that question, Senator. Yes, I 

believe that we—as I mentioned earlier, we need to look at the 

metrics that we are capturing and how are we measuring the success of these programs, and once we understand are those the right 

metrics then how are we reaching out to these entities? What are 

we doing to make these opportunities available? Are there more 

set-aside opportunities that we should be taking advantage of that 

maybe we are not? Are the multiple awards the right vehicle for 

small businesses to compete with large businesses or should we 

have other venues where it is purely small business multi-awards? 

So those are some of the initial thoughts that I have, but if confirmed I will put a lot of effort into this area. 

Senator ERNST. Well, I appreciate that very much, and I think 

many of us would agree that our small businesses, what they really 

need most is the favorable regulatory environment. And for this 

reason I have spent the last year or so working on legislation that 

gives small businesses a stronger voice in the regulatory process, 

and that act is called the Prove It Act. And the bill that I have proposed seeks to strengthen the voice of small business owners and 

improve the quality of agency certifications and analysis. 

And in the event that a number of Federal agencies have a difference of opinion between that agency and the Office of Advocacy 

on the economic impact of a rule—and we saw this instance with 

Waters of the United States, the expanded definition, and we have 

seen other rules like that, where there was a difference of opinion 

between the different agencies—the Prove It Act would give the Office of Advocacy the opportunity to request that an agency take a 

second look at its analysis. We do not do that right now. I feel it 

is a good government bill that would encourage Federal agencies 

to more carefully consider the impacts of their rules on small businesses. 

And can I get a commitment from you to work with me on this 

legislation and help implement it? I have discussed this act with 

Administrator McMahon on multiple occasions and she has agreed 

that this would be a good bill to work on together. Can I also get 

your commitment? 

Admiral COETZEE. Thank you for the question, Senator. If Administrator McMahon is committed to supporting this, if confirmed, 

I am committed to supporting Administrator McMahon and working with you on this bill. 

Senator ERNST. Thank you. 

Admiral COETZEE. I think it is important. 

Senator ERNST. I appreciate it. We all want to work together and 

make sure government is doing what it should do, but certainly 

getting out of the way when it needs to as well. So thank you very 

much, admiral. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

Chairman RISCH. Thank you, Senator. 

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That concludes our hearing. Admiral, thank you again so much 

for agreeing to take this on. 

For the record, I want to state that the deadline for questions for 

the record is close of business tomorrow, Friday the 12th. The 

record will also be kept open for two weeks to edit statements, submit letters, and any other relevant materials. However, having said 

that, Senator Shaheen and I are both of the frame of mind that we 

ought to move this rapidly. We are going to do our best to have the 

Committee vote on this next week and get this moving. I think it 

is in the best interest of everyone that we get you to where you can 

do a lot more good for America. 

Again, thank you so much, and with that the hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:08 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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