# H.R. 2966 (119th): American Entrepreneurs First Act

American Entrepreneurs First Act This bill revises the application requirements for the Small Business Administration's 7(a) loan and 504 loan programs. Specifically, the bill requires applications for such loans to include (1) the applicant's date of birth; and (2) a certification that the applicant or all beneficial owners are citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents of the United States. The bill specifies that certain individuals are ineligible for such loans, including (1) asylees, (2) refugees, (3) individuals issued a visa to remain in the United States, (4) individuals legally classified as nonimmigrants, (5) individuals to whom deferred action has been granted pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and (6) individuals without lawful status under the immigration laws of the United States.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: eligibility_restriction. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: immigration. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: sba_loans. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: small_business. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: unclear. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 156: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill is a federal eligibility and documentation measure for small-business credit. Requiring lawful status for federal loans is a contestable prudential policy with a defensible rationale in orderly immigration and public-resource administration. It also excludes some categories, such as asylees, refugees, and DACA recipients, where real humanitarian concerns arise. It does not directly advance a named moral evil or directly restrain one, so it is classed as mixed rather than good or evil.
Theological note: The bill raises issue relevance around how civil authority treats sojourners and the stranger within its gates, weighed against the duty of civil government to order public resources and enforce lawful immigration status. Scripture requires justice and mercy toward the vulnerable alongside lawful order, so the measure calls for careful review of its humanitarian and prudential effects rather than a final moral verdict.

## Recorded votes

Roll 156: On Passage. Yea 217 · Nay 190 · Other 25.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-2966-119/