Senate Small Business Chairman Bond and ranking member John Kerry, D-Mass., are calling on Small Business Administrator Aida Alvarez to support the agency's mission as the government's advocate for small business.
The request came in the form of a letter Wednesday responding to Alvarez' removal of Kevin Bromberg, an attorney in the office of the chief counsel for advocacy, from agency work on an EPA proposal to expand reporting requirements under the Toxics Release Inventory.
Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., had written to Alvarez earlier this month complaining that Bromberg, a former industry lobbyist on the TRI, appeared to be acting as an industry lobbyist within the agency.
"Being a determined advocate for the concerns of small business is not improper conduct by the chief counsel for advocacy or his employees," Bond and Kerry wrote. "The office of advocacy is expected to work with and on behalf of small business and their representatives as an essential part of its statutory mission."
The senators urged Alvarez not to "chill proactive advocacy for small business" at the SBA. "To do otherwise would send a clear and alarming signal to small businesses, and would call into question the ability of SBA to carry out the critical responsibilities given to it."
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