III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 348 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of the Treasury 

should take actions to increase the transparency and accountability of 

the Small Business Lending Fund Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 15, 2011 

Ms. SNOWE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of 

the Treasury should take actions to increase the transparency and accountability of the Small Business Lending Fund Program. 

Whereas the Government Accountability Office published a 

report in December 2011 entitled ‘‘Small Business Lending Fund: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Transparency and Accountability’’ (GAO–12–183) (referred to 

in this preamble as the ‘‘GAO Report’’); 

Whereas the GAO Report highlighted that ‘‘Federal government internal control standards state that management 

should ensure that the agency has adequate means of 

communicating with and obtaining information from exVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:03 Dec 16, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR348.IS SR348

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•SRES 348 IS 

ternal stakeholders when such information could have a 

significant impact on the agency’s achieving its goals.’’; 

Whereas the GAO Report found that the Secretary of the 

Treasury’s ‘‘lack of clarity in explaining program requirements and decisions created confusion among applicants’’; 

Whereas the GAO Report expressed the following: ‘‘Internal 

control standards for the federal government state that 

internal control activities are a major part of efficiently 

and effectively managing a program. Control activities, 

such as (1) proper execution of transactions and events, 

(2) accurate and timely recording of transactions and 

events, (3) and establishing and reviewing performance 

measures, are an integral part of an agency’s planning, 

implementing, reviewing, and accountability for stewardship of government resources and achieving effective results. Establishing performance measures and developing 

a process for monitoring participating financial institutions will be critical to identifying and addressing any potential problems in these institutions’ compliance with 

program requirements. Until Treasury finalizes its plans 

for monitoring compliance and assessing impact in a 

timely manner, it will not be positioned to anticipate and 

manage payment problems and other program risks.’’; 

Whereas the GAO Report concluded that the Secretary of the 

Treasury has not finalized plans for assessing the impact 

of the Small Business Lending Fund Program on small 

business lending or procedures for monitoring recipients 

for compliance with requirements of the Small Business 

Lending Fund Program; and 

Whereas the GAO Report concluded that, until the Secretary 

of the Treasury finalizes plans for monitoring compliance 


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•SRES 348 IS 

with and assessing the impact of the Small Business 

Lending Fund Program in a timely manner, the Secretary will not be positioned to anticipate and manage 

payment problems and other program risks: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that, as 

2 recommended by the Comptroller General of the United 

3 States in the December 2011 report entitled ‘‘Small Busi4 ness Lending Fund: Additional Actions Needed to Im5 prove Transparency and Accountability’’ (GAO–12– 

6 183)— 

7 (1) to promote transparency and improve com8 munication with participants in the Small Business 

9 Lending Fund Program and other interested stake10 holders, such as Congress and the appropriate Fed11 eral banking agencies (as defined in section 3(q) of 

12 the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 

13 1813(q)), the Secretary of the Treasury should 

14 apply lessons learned from the application review 

15 phase of the Small Business Lending Fund Program 

16 to help improve the communication strategy of the 

17 Secretary; and 

18 (2) to enhance the transparency and account19 ability of the Small Business Lending Fund Pro20 gram, the Secretary of the Treasury should final21 ize— 


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•SRES 348 IS 

1 (A) procedures for monitoring participants 

2 in the Small Business Lending Fund Program, 

3 including procedures to ensure that the Sec4 retary is receiving accurate information on 

5 small business lending by such participants; and 

6 (B) plans for assessing the performance of 

7 the Small Business Lending Fund Program, in8 cluding measures that can isolate the impact of 

9 Small Business Lending Fund Program from 

10 other factors that affect small business lending. 

Æ 


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