Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and seven colleagues sent a letter to Senate Small Business Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-Md.) calling for an additional hearing on Dilawar Syed, President Biden’s nominee for SBA deputy administrator. The senators’ concerns come from recent inflammatory statements from Emgage Action, a vocally anti-Israel political action committee of which Syed is a member of the board.
“While his membership was disclosed to the committee prior to his nomination hearing on April 21, the political organization has since made alarming statements that have members of your committee and the small business community that we represent seriously concerned,” the senators write. “Emgage’s history of supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement combined with its overtly anti-Israel positions and rhetoric necessitates an additional hearing to ensure Mr. Syed’s confirmation to be the second-most-powerful individual at the SBA would not jeopardize small businesses with close ties to Israeli companies or small businesses owned by Jewish Americans.”
Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Inhofe (R-Ark.), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) cosigned the letter.
The full text of the letter is available here.
(Photo of President Biden and Dilawar Syed via social media)
