{"id":42329,"date":"2021-11-17T18:04:49","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T02:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=42329"},"modified":"2021-11-17T18:04:49","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T02:04:49","slug":"senate-republicans-stall-confirmation-of-muslim-american-sba-nominee-dilawar-syed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=42329","title":{"rendered":"SENATE REPUBLICANS STALL CONFIRMATION OF MUSLIM AMERICAN SBA NOMINEE DILAWAR SYED"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by\u00a0Sunita Sohrabji<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Nov 17, 2021<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Politics<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, chair of the Small Business Committee, (left) is shown with entrepreneur Dilawar Syed, President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee for deputy administrator at the Small Business Administration. Photo courtesy of Dilawar Syed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By SUNITA SOHRABJI\/EMS Contributing Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the fifth time Nov. 17 afternoon, Senate Republicans stalled the confirmation of Dilawar Syed as deputy administrator for the Small Business Administration, all failing to show up for a vote in the Small Business Committee, which would have advanced the nomination to the full Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is happening to Dilawar is unfair and unjust,\u201d Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, told Ethnic Media Services ahead of the committee hearing. The prominent civil rights leader believes that Syed is being targeted because of his religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is anti-Muslim bigotry and we must stand up in righteous indignation,\u201d said Henderson.<\/p>\n

If he is confirmed, Syed would be the highest-ranking Muslim American ever to hold a Cabinet position. The nominee, originally from Pakistan, is the president and CEO of Lumiata, a San Francisco Bay Area-based company that aims to develop artificial intelligence for use in health care to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.<\/p>\n

He co-founded the AAPI Victory Fund, which gave Biden an early endorsement during his 2020 presidential bid. In 2010, former President Barack Obama President Obama appointed Syed to the President\u2019s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. He also led the Obama Administration\u2019s engagement with entrepreneurs and innovators.<\/p>\n

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, who chairs the Small Business Committee, characterized Syed as a \u201cwell qualified entrepreneur and small businessman.\u201d<\/p>\n

But not a single Republican showed up at the committee hearing, depriving the committee of the one Republican it would need for a quorum to vote. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, an ardent supporter of Syed, asked a photographer to take a photo of all the empty Republican chairs. Cardin later made remarks on the Senate floor about the stalled nomination.<\/p>\n

Syed told EMS he could not discuss the confirmation process.<\/p>\n

Chris Meagher, deputy press secretary at the White House, told EMS: \u201cDilawar Syed is well-qualified to serve as deputy administrator of the SBA, which has been critical in providing relief to small businesses in the midst of the pandemic. And yet his confirmation is being held up in an unprecedented way and for no good reason by GOP members of the Committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy again refusing to show at a committee hearing, these members are not just slowing his vote, but also slowing help to American small business owners and workers who are trying to build back from the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this critical moment for Main Street businesses across America, the GOP members of the Small Business committee (must) do their jobs: show up to the committee, hold an up-or-down vote on Syed\u2019s nomination, and get back to work on behalf of our nation\u2019s small businesses,\u201d said Meagher.<\/p>\n

Syed\u2019s confirmation has been beset with controversy since March, when President Joe Biden nominated the San Francisco Bay Area resident. The nominee was first targeted for his involvement with Emgage, which characterizes itself as an organization seeking to empower Muslim Americans through political literacy and civic engagement. Republicans \u2014 led by Sen. Paul Rand of Kentucky who serves as the ranking member of the SBC \u2014 falsely stated Syed\u2019s support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel.<\/p>\n

A number of prominent Jewish organizations came to Syed\u2019s defense, including the American Jewish Committee and the Anti Defamation League. The organizations noted that the nominee has traveled to Israel to promote U.S.-Israel business relationships.<\/p>\n

The AJC released a statement by Syed. \u201cLet me unequivocally state that I do not support BDS. Throughout my career, I have supported engagement with Israeli business. I have personally conducted business with Israeli companies and have mentored entrepreneurs based in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans next focused on Paycheck Protection Program loans distributed to Lumiata. Cardin said he sat down with Senate Republicans and the Small Business Administration to show that the loans were properly obtained under the regulations of the program initiated to save small businesses floundering amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, he noted, Lumiata returned the loans when it secured other means of funding.<\/p>\n

The Republican stand-off now focuses on PPP loans made to Planned Parenthood. Paul has said that he will not move forward with Syed\u2019s nomination until the Planned Parenthood loans are returned.<\/p>\n

In a Sept. 29 statement on the Senate floor, Rand said: \u201cThe Biden Administration has continued to obstruct congressional oversight of the illegal Planned Parenthood loans and the nominee has refused to provide a commitment to the Committee that he would take action to recover the funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Republican members of the Small Business Committee have continued to make it clear that we will not allow a vote on this nominee to occur until the SBA takes action to recover the illegally acquired PPP funds by Planned Parenthood entities,\u201d stated Rand.<\/p>\n

Cardin said he has spoken to Republican SBC committee members about the loans to Planned Parenthood and noted they were properly obtained under the auspices of the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am puzzled as to why not a single Republican has shown up for this hearing, since we have addressed and satisfied all of their concerns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, characterized the Republican boycott as \u201cobstructionist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue here is not Mr. Syed,\u201d she said, noting that a small group of Republicans are \u201cthreatening the economy and national security. This cannot go on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen excuse after excuse to stop this nomination from going forward. There is no substantive issue here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Shekar Narasimhan, who founded the AAPI Victory Fund with Syed, told EMS that the nomination is not dead. \u201cDemocrats will have to work with Republican objections, and they will continue to put his nomination up,\u201d he said, noting that just one Republican has to show up to advance the nomination to a full Senate vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is now a cause and movement, far greater than Dilawar,\u201d said Narasimhan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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