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WASHINGTON- Today, House Small Business Committee Ranking Member Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Senate Small Business Committee Ranking Member Edward J. Markey, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Grace Meng (D-NY), and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) sent a letter to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) expressing serious concern over the SBA’s recent removal of its Spanish-language webpages and its “Information in other languages” portal, which previously supported entrepreneurs with limited English proficiency.

On December 3 and 4, 2025, lawmakers learned that links to Spanish-language pages and other multilingual resources were taken down, and that URLs were redirected to English-only equivalents. These pages had provided critical assistance in Spanish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese.

Furthermore, the CARES Act, which was signed by President Trump, requires the SBA to provide the resources and services made available by the Administration to small business concerns in the ten most commonly spoken languages other than English in the United States. The lawmakers noted that the SBA’s actions appear to run contrary to this statutory requirement.

“The removal of the Spanish language and ‘Information in other languages’ webpages does not benefit the SBA in any meaningful way and impedes the ability of non-English-speaking entrepreneurs to find information about SBA services for which they are eligible,” wrote the lawmakers.  “The removal also makes the already difficult task of launching and operating a small business more challenging, which is troubling given the man-made economic crisis imposed by President Trump’s chaotic, unsound tariff policies.”

More than one-fifth of Americans speak a language other than English at home, and these communities make up a significant share of the small business owners driving Main Street economies across the country. Against this backdrop, the letter underscored longstanding federal civil rights protections that require agencies to ensure meaningful access to services for individuals with limited English proficiency. Eliminating these web pages has no operational benefit and harms entrepreneurs already facing economic instability.

“Not only do small businesses form the backbone of the American economy, but ownership of a small business is also a key pathway for Americans of all backgrounds to work hard, prosper, and earn a slice of the American Dream,” wrote the lawmakers. “This is why the SBA exists and is responsible for providing help to America’s entrepreneurs. It is our collective responsibility as public officials to assist and protect American small businesses, no matter the race or national origin of their owners.”

In addition to Velázquez, Markey, Espaillat, Meng, and Chu, the letter was also signed by Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Reps. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY), Hillary Scholten (D-MI), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), Gilbert Cisneros (D-CA), Kelly Morrison (D-MN), George Latimer (D-NY), Derek T. Tran (D-CA), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), Johnny Olszewski (D-MD), Herbert Conaway (D-NJ), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), James Walkinshaw (D-VA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), John Larson (D-CT), John Mannion (D-NY), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ), Jesús "Chuy" García (D-IL), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), Kevin Mullin (D-CA), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Nellie Pou (D-NJ), James McGovern (D-MA), Daniel Goldman (D-NY), André Carson (D-IN), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Scott Peters (D-CA), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Ed Case (D-HI), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Norma Torres (D-CA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Jim Costa (D-CA), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Robert "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Deborah Ross (D-NC), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Luz Rivas (D-CA), Dave Min (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Pablo Hernández (D-PR), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Eugene Vindman (D-VA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Adam Smith (D-WA), Gabe Amo (D-RI), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Mike Levin (D-CA), Mark Takano (D-CA), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Jill Tokuda (D-HI), Robert Garcia (D-CA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Susie Lee (D-NV), Valerie Foushee (D-NC), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Sean Casten (D-IL), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), Gabe Vasquez (D-NM), William Keating (D-MA), Andrea Salinas (D-OR), and Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA).

Find the full letter here.

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