Velazquez said the committee intends to root out “any form of waste, fraud and abuse” in the federal program. The committee oversees the U.S. Small Business Administration, which certifies federal contractors as minority-owned. One of the firms received a contract from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs for work at a Native American university the agency runs. None of those groups is federally recognized as a legitimate Native American tribe. Meanwhile, state and local agencies have lifted the minority certifications from a number of contractors examined by The Times.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 21, 2019 23:03 UTC