NYDIA VELAZQUEZ

After members of Congress responded to a "CBS This Morning" report on Alexis Hernandez's debt, military officials have waived the bill.

Treasury Secretary Yellen is under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike for skipping an appearance before Congress required by law.

On Thursday, the Senate voted 97-2 to shift the deadline to May 31. The extension would also provide the Small Business Administration an additional 30 days through the end of June to process loans submitted by the new deadline. "With the PPP deadline fast approaching, I'm very pleased the Senate took action to pass my bipartisan legislation with Senators Collins and Cardin that will give small businesses additional time to apply for PPP loans." "The PPP has been an enormous success, sustaining millions of small businesses and tens of millions of jobs," said bill co-sponsor Republican Senator Collins of Maine. On March 10, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing on the next steps for the Paycheck Protection Program.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., joined from left by Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., chairman of the House Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, and Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., discusses the upcoming vote on the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, a bill to help reform the immigration system, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Representative Nydia Velazquez: U.S. needs to be "on the right side of history" on Puerto Rico's political future House Democrats have introduced the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act, which seeks to create a commission on potential solutions to address the island's 123 year status as a U.S. territory, such as statehood, independence, or free association. CBS News correspondent Lilia Luciano joins CBSN's "Red & Blue" anchor Elaine Quijano with more on her interview with Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez of New York, who introduced the bill along with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Now a bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to extend the deadline, potentially giving hard-hit businesses more time to get government aid heading into late spring and summer. But legislation introduced in the House by a bipartisan group Thursday would extend the March 31 Paycheck Protection Program deadline by two months to May 31. It would also provide the Small Business Administration an additional 30 days through the end of June to process loans submitted by the new deadline. On March 10, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing on the next steps for the Paycheck Protection Program. During the hearing, lawmakers and witnesses raised concerns the Small Business Administration will stop processing loans at the end of the month, leading some lenders to stop accepting applications ahead of the deadline.

As the March 31 deadline for the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program looms, a deal to extend it for two more months is in the works. On Thursday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act, which would push the expiration date to May 31 and give the SBA authority to continue to process pending applications for another 30 days after that. But, given the program's recent changes to eligibility and calculation rules, as well as continued technical issues in submitting applications, many worried there wouldn't be enough time to help small businesses that need help access the money. Last week, 10 banking groups sent a letter to lawmakers asking for more time. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has called for the program to be continued through the end of the year, and a group of more than 100 trade organizations has asked lawmakers to extend PPP until at least June 30.

WASHINGTON After prodding from Democratic lawmakers, the Trump administration has agreed to give Congress but not the public complete data on the millions of small businesses that received loans from a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program. Their concession came with a warning to lawmakers not to divulge confidential loan information to the wider public. Last week, the Treasury Department and SBA relented to pressure from lawmakers and watchdogs and agreed to publicly disclose details on which businesses received loans under the program. Under the new agreement, the agencies will provide the complete data on loans of all sizes to the congressional oversight panels. Economists have said the small business loan program has helped, though its hard to know by how much.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a news conference, following a Senate vote on the coronavirus relief bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 26, 2020. REUTERS/Tom BrennerWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday she does not plan to be tested for coronavirus despite her proximity to the latest lawmaker diagnosed with the illness. Velazquez was in the Capitol on Friday and attended a ceremony at which Pelosi signed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus response plan. Velazquez said she was diagnosed with presumed coronavirus and had mild symptoms but testing had not been recommended. Now that Congress has passed the coronavirus legislation, and President Donald Trump has signed it into law, neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate is due back in Washington before April 20.

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.