Diamond Ventures, LLC Applauds Recent Congressional Black Caucus Attention to Lack of Capital for Black Business; Key Court Ruling and Trial Date Spurs Concern
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Diamond Ventures, LLC:
As the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) begins its 40th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) this week in Washington, D.C., it will highlight the fact that its 42 Members will play a central role in access to capital for Blacks and Minorities. A majority of the CBC Members voted to pass the $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund Bill (SBLF) that the President is urging the Senate to pass this week. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), Chairwoman, in a letter to SBA Administrator Karen Mills asked, "How does SBA justify that it is fulfilling its mission…when it is approving Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) that do not invest in or lend to black and other minority firms." Congressman Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) in a separate letter was "deeply concerned about the operation and diversity of the program" when less than 1% of the SBIC dollars amounting to a fraction of the $20 Billion spent in the last 10 years is going to blacks and minorities that was highlighted in the Diamond litigation.
Congressman Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked Mills about an Inspector General report that concluded that SBA "applied its policies in an unfair and inconsistent manner." Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) took Administrator Mills to task in her letter noting that "SBA must move quickly to erase the disparities evidenced by its own statistics and remedy the discriminatory impact of the standards used in the SBIC program." Yvette Clark, (D-NY), the only CBC Member on the Small Business Committee, is expected to weigh in this week.
The letters arose in part from news articles in the Washington Post and New York Times noting that SBA will stand trial for discrimination. "We're encouraged by the current mediation talks to resolve the matter and hope to avoid trial," says C. Earl Peek, Managing Partner of Diamond Ventures, LLC which has been embroiled in a 7 year lawsuit with SBA on its operation of the SBIC program. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the lone republican to review the matter, has told SBA in the past to resolve the matter outside of litigation.
Peek applauded the attention the CBC, noting "It's positive that the CBC challenges SBA on this important item on the eve of the vote to pass the SBLF." www.dcd.uscourts.gov or www.sbalitigation.com. See more info on the CBC at www.cbcfinc.org.
SOURCE Diamond Ventures, LLC
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