IB 

Union Calendar No. 328 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7129 

[Report No. 118–399] 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish the Office of Whistleblower 

Awards, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2024 

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas (for himself, Mr. MFUME, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. 

STAUBER, Mr. MEUSER, Ms. VAN DUYNE, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. MANN, Mr. 

ELLZEY, Mr. ALFORD, Mr. CRANE, Mr. BEAN of Florida, Mr. HUNT, Mr. 

LALOTA, Mr. MOLINARO, and Ms. MALOY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

FEBRUARY 23, 2024 

Additional sponsor: Mr. ROUZER

FEBRUARY 23, 2024 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish the Office 

of Whistleblower Awards, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Put America on Com5 mission Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF WHISTLE7 BLOWER AWARDS. 

8 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in section 7(b), by redesignating the second 

11 paragraph (16) (relating to statute of limitations) as 

12 paragraph (17); 

13 (2) by redesignating section 49 as section 50; 

14 and 

15 (3) by inserting after section 48 the following 

16 new section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 49. OFFICE OF WHISTLEBLOWER AWARDS. 

18 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

19 the Office of Performance, Planning, and the Chief Finan20 cial Officer of the Administration an Office of Whistle21 blower Awards. 

22 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Office of Whistleblower 

23 Awards shall be administered by an employee in the com24 petitive service. 

25 ‘‘(c) AWARDS TO WHISTLEBLOWERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided in this section, the head of the Office of Whis3 tleblower Awards shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) with respect to information submitted 

5 to head of the Office of Whistleblower Awards 

6 by whistleblowers relating to financial mis7 conduct or fraudulent misrepresentation by a 

8 recipient of financial assistance from the Ad9 ministrator— 

10 ‘‘(i) determine, in coordination with 

11 the Inspector General, whether such infor12 mation is original information; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) for all such information that is 

14 original information— 

15 ‘‘(I) collect and transmit to the 

16 Inspector General such original infor17 mation; and 

18 ‘‘(II) track the use of such origi19 nal information in obtaining final con20 victions and settlement and plea 

21 agreements; and 

22 ‘‘(B) pay an award in an amount as de23 scribed in paragraph (2) to a whistleblower for 

24 information described in subparagraph (A) that 

25 is original information submitted to head of the 


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1 Office of Whistleblower Awards by such whistle2 blower if a person is finally convicted pursuant 

3 to, or enters into a settlement or plea agree4 ment with respect to, a COVID loan action that 

5 is based, in whole or in part, on such original 

6 information, as determined by the Inspector 

7 General. 

8 ‘‘(2) AMOUNTS.—Any amount payable under 

9 this section shall be paid from the amounts depos10 ited in the Whistleblower Award Fund established 

11 under subsection (f) based on a person finally con12 victed pursuant to, or a settlement or plea agree13 ment with respect to, a COVID loan action that is 

14 based, in whole or in part, on original information 

15 provided to the head of the Office of Whistleblower 

16 Awards by the whistleblower as follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) 10 percent of the amounts so depos18 ited if the person so convicted or who entered 

19 into such settlement or plea agreement, as ap20 plicable, is a national of the United States or 

21 an entity located in the United States. 

22 ‘‘(B) 15 percent of the amounts so depos23 ited if the person so convicted or who entered 

24 into such settlement or plea agreement, as ap25 plicable, is a foreign national or an entity loVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Feb 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7129.RH H7129

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1 cated in a country other than the United 

2 States. 

3 ‘‘(3) MULTIPLE WHISTLEBLOWERS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a person is finally 

5 convicted pursuant to, or enters into a settle6 ment or plea agreement with respect to, a 

7 COVID loan action that is based, in whole or 

8 in part, on information described in paragraph 

9 (1)(A) that is original information from mul10 tiple whistleblowers, only the whistleblower who 

11 made the most substantial contribution with re12 spect to such COVID loan action (including 

13 such conviction, settlement agreement, or plea 

14 agreement), as determined by the head of the 

15 Office of Whistleblower Awards, may receive an 

16 award under this section with respect to a con17 viction pursuant to, or a settlement or plea 

18 agreement with respect to, such COVID loan 

19 action. 

20 ‘‘(B) SUBSTANTIALITY DETERMINATION.— 

21 For the purposes of determining which whistle22 blower made the most substantial contribution 

23 with respect to a COVID loan action under sub24 paragraph (A), the head of the Office of Whis25 tleblower Awards shall consider— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the significance of the original in2 formation of the whistleblower with respect 

3 to such COVID loan action; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the role of the whistleblower and 

5 any legal representative of the whistle6 blower in contributing to such COVID loan 

7 action; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) such other criteria as the head 

9 of the Office of Whistleblower Awards de10 termines appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) REDUCTION IN AWARD.—The head of the 

13 Office of Whistleblower Awards may reduce to an 

14 amount greater than or equal to zero an award to 

15 a whistleblower under this section for original infor16 mation relating to financial misconduct or fraudu17 lent misrepresentation by a recipient of financial as18 sistance from the Administrator if the head of the 

19 Office of Whistleblower Awards determines that such 

20 whistleblower planned or initiated the actions that 

21 led to such to financial misconduct or fraudulent 

22 misrepresentation. 

23 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL CONVICTION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) DENIAL.—A whistleblower who is fi25 nally convicted of an offense arising out of 


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1 planning or initiating the actions that led to the 

2 to financial misconduct or fraudulent misrepre3 sentation by a recipient of financial assistance 

4 from the Administrator is ineligible for any 

5 award under this section with respect any con6 viction, settlement agreement, or plea agree7 ment related to such financial misconduct or 

8 fraudulent misrepresentation. 

9 ‘‘(B) REPAYMENT.—As a condition of re10 ceiving an award under this section, the whistle11 blower shall agree to repay the full amount of 

12 the award if the whistleblower is finally con13 victed of an offense relating to the original in14 formation that was the basis for receipt of such 

15 award. 

16 ‘‘(3) NO CONTRACT NECESSARY.—A whistle17 blower shall not be required to be a party to a con18 tract with the Administrator to be eligible to receive 

19 an award under this section. 

20 ‘‘(4) TIMING.—The head of the Office of Whis21 tleblower Awards shall disburse payments to a whis22 tleblower under this section not later than one year 

23 after the date on which amounts have been deposited 

24 into the Whistleblower Award Fund based on a con25 viction pursuant to, or a settlement or plea 


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1 agreeement entered into with respect to, a COVID 

2 loan action based, in whole or in part, on informa3 tion described in subsection (c)(1)(A) that is original 

4 information provided by such whistleblower. 

5 ‘‘(5) STATUS UPDATES.—The head of the Of6 fice of Whistleblower Awards shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) provide confirmation of the receipt of 

8 information described in subsection (c)(1)(A) to 

9 the whistleblower that submitted such informa10 tion; 

11 ‘‘(B) provide to such whistleblower— 

12 ‘‘(i) a notice of the determination 

13 whether such information is original infor14 mation; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) for such information that is 

16 original information, a notice of each de17 termination by the Inspector General pur18 suant to a final conviction or settlement or 

19 plea agreement with respect to a COVID 

20 loan action whether such information was 

21 the basis, in whole or in part, of such 

22 COVID loan action; and 

23 ‘‘(C) ensure that procedures consistent 

24 with section 1213 of title 5, United States 

25 Code, for findings on the disclosure and for the 


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1 whistleblower to comment on any preliminary 

2 determinations. 

3 ‘‘(6) ANTI-RETALIATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No person may be dis5 criminated against and no other prejudicial ac6 tion may be taken against a person because 

7 such person has made, is perceived as about to 

8 make, or assisted or associated with a person 

9 who made or is about to make a disclosure 

10 under this section. 

11 ‘‘(B) RELIEF.—Any person who alleges to 

12 discrimination or other prejudicial action in vio13 lation of subparagraph (A) may seek relief for 

14 a violation of such subparagraph pursuant to 

15 the rights, procedures, burdens of proof and 

16 remedies in paragraphs (2) through (5) of sec17 tion 5323(g) of title 31, United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(e) APPEALS.—A determination made under this 

19 section by the head of the Office of Whistleblower Awards, 

20 except the determination of the amount of an award if 

21 the award was made in accordance with the requirements 

22 of subsection (c)(2), may be appealed by the whistleblower 

23 subject to such determination to the appropriate court of 

24 appeals of the United States not more than 30 days after 

25 the determination is issued by the head of the Office of 


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1 Whistleblower Awards. The court shall review the deter2 mination in accordance with section 706 of title 5, United 

3 States Code. 

4 ‘‘(f) WHISTLEBLOWER AWARD FUND.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

6 the Department of the Treasury a revolving fund to 

7 be known as the ‘Whistleblower Award Fund’. 

8 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUND.—Amounts in the Whistle9 blower Award Fund shall be available to head of the 

10 Office of Whistleblower Awards, without further ap11 propriation or fiscal year limitation, for— 

12 ‘‘(A) payment of awards made under this 

13 section; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the necessary expenses for the oper15 ation of the Office of Whistleblower Awards. 

16 ‘‘(3) DEPOSITS.—Notwithstanding any other 

17 provision of law, if a person is finally convicted pur18 suant to, or enters into a settlement or plea agree19 ment with respect to, a COVID loan action based, 

20 in whole or in part, on original information de21 scribed in subsection (c)(1) that is provided to the 

22 head of the Office of Whistleblower Awards by a 

23 whistleblower, there shall be deposited into the 

24 Whistleblower Award Fund all amounts collected 

25 from such person by the Federal Government, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Feb 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7129.RH H7129

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1 cluding amounts collected as a result of a civil mone2 tary penalty under subsection (g)— 

3 ‘‘(A) for or pursuant to such conviction; or 

4 ‘‘(B) under or pursuant to such settlement 

5 or plea agreement. 

6 ‘‘(4) REMAINING AMOUNTS.—The Adminis7 trator shall deposit into the general fund of the 

8 Treasury any amounts in the Whistleblower Award 

9 Fund not used to pay whistleblowers under sub10 section (c) or the necessary expenses for the oper11 ation of the Office of Whistleblower Awards. 

12 ‘‘(g) CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who is finally 

14 convicted pursuant to a COVID loan action or who 

15 enters into a settlement or plea agreement with re16 spect to a COVID loan action shall, in addition to 

17 any other penalties that may be prescribed by law, 

18 be subject to a civil monetary penalty, assessed by 

19 the Administrator, in an amount equal to 30 percent 

20 of the aggregate of the principal amounts of the 

21 loans with respect to which such person was so fi22 nally convicted or entered into such a settlement or 

23 plea agreement. 

24 ‘‘(2) COLLECTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Civil money penalties 

2 and assessments imposed under this subsection 

3 may be compromised by the Adminstrator and 

4 may be recovered in a civil action in the name 

5 of the United States brought in United States 

6 district court for the district where the conduct 

7 serving as the basis for the relevant COVID 

8 loan action occurred or in United States district 

9 court for the district in which the person 

10 against whom the penalty or assessment has 

11 been assessed resides, as determined by the Ad12 ministrator. 

13 ‘‘(B) WITHHOLDINGS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a 

15 civil money penalty and assessment im16 posed under this subsection, when finally 

17 determined, or the amount agreed upon in 

18 compromise, may be deducted from any 

19 sum then or later owing by the United 

20 States to the person against whom the 

21 penalty or assessment has been assessed. 

22 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT.—For the purposes 

23 of awards under this section, amounts de24 ducted under clause (i) shall be deposited 

25 into the Whistleblower Award Fund. 


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1 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

2 date of the enactment of this section, and annually there3 after, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report 

4 on— 

5 ‘‘(1) the number of times whistleblowers sub6 mitted to the head of the Office of Whistleblower 

7 Awards original information relating to financial 

8 misconduct or fraudulent misrepresentation by a re9 cipient of financial assistance from the Adminis10 trator; 

11 ‘‘(2) the amount of awards disbursed under this 

12 section; and 

13 ‘‘(3) any legislative or administrative rec14 ommendations regarding the duties of the Office of 

15 Whistleblower Awards. 

16 ‘‘(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be construed to modify or interfere with any in18 vestigations carried out by the Inspector General or an19 other Federal agency. 

20 ‘‘(j) SUNSET.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 

22 paragraph (2), the authority under this section shall 

23 terminate on the date that the last COVID loan ac24 tion that was timely filed and either— 


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1 ‘‘(A) has not been appealed and is no 

2 longer appealable because the time for taking 

3 an appeal has expired; or 

4 ‘‘(B) has been appealed and the appeals 

5 process for such conviction is completed. 

6 ‘‘(2) APPEALS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

7 (1), the authority under this section shall continue 

8 with respect to a claim for an award under this sec9 tion for which a determination is being appealed or 

10 is appealable under subsection (e) as of the date de11 scribed in such paragraph until a determination for 

12 such award is no longer being appealed or appeal13 able under subsection (e). 

14 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) COVID LOAN ACTION.—The term ‘COVID 

16 loan action’ means a criminal charge or civil enforce17 ment action described in— 

18 ‘‘(A) section 7(a)(36)(W); 

19 ‘‘(B) section 7(a)(37)(P); 

20 ‘‘(C) section 7(b)(17); 

21 ‘‘(D) section 1110(e)(9) of the CARES Act 

22 (15 U.S.C. 9009(e)(9)); or 

23 ‘‘(E) section 331(i) of the Economic Aid to 

24 Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and 

25 Venues Act (15 U.S.C. 9009b(i)). 


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1 ‘‘(2) FINAL CONVICTION; FINALLY CON2 VICTED.—The terms ‘final conviction’ and ‘finally 

3 convicted’ mean, with respect to a person, that such 

4 person has been convicted of an offense and such 

5 conviction— 

6 ‘‘(A) has not been appealed and is no 

7 longer appealable because the time for taking 

8 an appeal has expired; or 

9 ‘‘(B) has been appealed and the appeals 

10 process for such conviction is completed. 

11 ‘‘(3) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘Inspec12 tor General’ means the Inspector General of the Ad13 ministration. 

14 ‘‘(4) ORIGINAL INFORMATION.—The term 

15 ‘original information’ means information that— 

16 ‘‘(A) is derived from the independent 

17 knowledge or analysis of a whistleblower; 

18 ‘‘(B) is not known to the Administrator or 

19 Inspector General from any source other than 

20 the whistleblower, unless the whistleblower is 

21 the original source of the information; 

22 ‘‘(C) is not exclusively derived from an al23 legation made in a judicial or administrative ac24 tion, in a governmental report, hearing, audit, 

25 or investigation, or from the news media, unless 


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1 the whistleblower is a source of the information; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(D) was provided to the Inspector Gen4 eral— 

5 ‘‘(i) after the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) by a means other than a hotline 

8 for reporting fraud, waste, and abuse that 

9 is maintained by the Inspector General. 

10 ‘‘(5) WHISTLEBLOWER.—The term ‘whistle11 blower’ means an individual who submits informa12 tion to the Office of Whistleblower Awards that such 

13 individual reasonably believes relates to financial 

14 misconduct or fraudulent misrepresentation by a re15 cipient of financial assistance from the Adminis16 trator.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than six months after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

20 of the Small Business Administration shall issue rules nec21 essary to carry out the requirements of section 49 of the 

22 Small Business Act, as added by this Act. 

23 (b) CONTRIBUTION DETERMINATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three months 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Feb 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7129.RH H7129

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1 ministrator of the Small Business Administration 

2 shall issue rules providing that— 

3 (A) after the head of the Office of Whistle4 blower Awards transmits original information to 

5 the Inspector General of the Small Business 

6 Administration under subsection (c)(1)(A)(ii)(I) 

7 of section 49 of the Small Business Act, as 

8 added by section 2, and tracks such information 

9 through a final conviction or settlement or plea 

10 agreement with respect to a COVID loan ac11 tion, the head of the Office of Whistleblower 

12 Awards shall request that the Inspector General 

13 indicate, for each piece of such original infor14 mation, that— 

15 (i) such original information was the 

16 basis, in whole or in part, of such COVID 

17 loan action; 

18 (ii) such original information was not 

19 the basis, in whole or in part, of such 

20 COVID loan action; or 

21 (iii) whether such original information 

22 was the basis, in whole or in part, of such 

23 COVID loan action may not be disclosed; 

24 (B) if the Inspector General indicates that 

25 whether a piece of original information was the 


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1 basis, in whole or in part, of a COVID loan ac2 tion may not be disclosed, such original infor3 mation shall be deemed to have not been the 

4 basis, in whole or in part, of such COVID loan 

5 action. 

6 (2) COVID LOAN ACTION; FINAL CONVICTION; 

7 ORIGINAL INFORMATION DEFINED.—In this sub8 section, the terms ‘‘COVID loan action’’, ‘‘final con9 viction’’, and ‘‘original information’’ have the mean10 ings given such terms in subsection (k) of section 49 

11 of the Small Business Act, as added by section 2. 


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Union Calendar No. 328 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7129 

[Report No. 118–399] 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish the 

purposes. Office of Whistleblower Awards, and for other 

FEBRUARY 23, 2024 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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