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| Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) |
The letter addressed to Attorney General William Barr includes the following excerpt:
“The implementing interim final rule, issued by the SBA on April 15, 2020, explicitly stated that the SBA’s affiliation rules apply to the new Paycheck Protection Program, which excludes organizations like Planned Parenthood that employ its type of governance and affiliation structure and exceed the cap on total employees. Trump administration officials were also quoted in public reports, explicitly clarifying that the SBA’s interim final rule ensured that no funds from the Paycheck Protection Program could go to Planned Parenthood.”The letter also quoted Planned Parenthood's lobbying arm, Planned Parenthood Action, making it clear the abortion giant knew the funds were meant to exclude them: “The bill gives the Small Business Administration broad discretion to exclude Planned Parenthood affiliates and other non-profits serving people with low incomes and deny them benefits under the new small business loan program.”
A statement from Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s vice president of government relations and public policy, Jacqueline Ayers, claims that the organization did nothing wrong. “Like many other local nonprofits and health care providers, some independent Planned Parenthood 501(c)(3) organizations applied for and were awarded loans under the eligibility rules established by the CARES Act and the Small Business Administration (SBA), which they met,” she said.
If Planned Parenthood affiliates are found to have committed fraud when applying for small business loans, they could face legal consequences.
Click here to read the full text of the senators' letter, including the list of signatures.
