“Overall, the Paycheck Protection Program has been, in my view, an extraordinary success,” said Senate Small Business Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one of the authors. from the program. “It was, in my opinion, no disrespect to anyone else, by far, the most effective and impactful part of the CARES Act.”

“Those who have lost faith in the government’s ability to respond in times of crisis and in times of national unity will take some hope that this has happened,” he added.

Rubio wasn’t the only one to bow. Almost all of the committee members had positive things to say about the program, and Mnuchin and Carranza joined in congratulating each other.

“It’s been a proud moment of our Senate careers and working together to develop three very, very important programs that help small businesses during COVID-19,” said Ranking Member Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md. ., referring to PPP as well as changes to the SBA’s Economic Disaster Loan Program, or EIDL, and a loan forgiveness program for existing SBA lenders. “We did this in a way that put our nation’s interest first and engaged a small business and its workers.”

“The US economy has started to rebound and our recovery is underway. While estimates predicted nearly 8 million jobs lost in May, actual data released Friday showed 2.5 million jobs gained – the largest one-month job gain in recorded history. , Mnuchin said. “This economic positioning is a direct result of the Trump administration working with Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to provide needed liquidity to workers and markets.”