[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 195 (Tuesday, November 28, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5914-H5917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SMALL BUSINESS CONTRACTING TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2023
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 4670) to amend the Small Business Act to require
reporting on additional information with respect to small business
concerns owned and controlled by women, qualified HUBZone small
business concerns, and small business concerns owned and controlled by
veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4670
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Contracting
Transparency Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. REPORT ON SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND
CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.
(a) In General.--Section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 637(m)) is amended by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(9) Report.--Not later than May 1, 2024, and annually
thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee
on Small
[[Page H5915]]
Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on
small business concerns owned and controlled by women. Such
report shall include, for the fiscal year preceding the date
of the report, the following:
``(A) The number of applications for certification as a
small business concern owned and controlled by women that
have sufficient information for the Administrator to make a
certification determination, disaggregated by--
``(i) the number of applications certified;
``(ii) the number of applications denied; and
``(iii) the number of applications for which a
determination has not been made.
``(B) The number of concerns certified as small business
concerns owned and controlled by women by a national
certifying entity approved by the Administrator.
``(C) The amount of fees, if any, charged by each national
certifying entity for such certification.
``(D) The total dollar amount and total percentage of prime
contracts awarded to small business concerns owned and
controlled by women pursuant to paragraph (2) or pursuant to
a waiver granted under paragraph (3).
``(E) The total dollar amount and total percentage of prime
contracts awarded to small business concerns owned and
controlled by women pursuant to paragraphs (7) and (8).
``(F) With respect to a contract incorrectly awarded
pursuant to this subsection because it was awarded based on
an industry in which small business concerns owned and
controlled by women are not underrepresented--
``(i) the number of such contracts;
``(ii) the Federal agencies that issued such contracts; and
``(iii) any steps taken by Administrator to train the
personnel of such Federal agency on the use of the authority
provided under this subsection.
``(G) With respect to an examination described in paragraph
(5)(B)--
``(i) the number of examinations due because of
recertification requirements and the actual number of such
examinations conducted; and
``(ii) the number of examinations conducted for any other
reason.
``(H) The number of small business concerns owned and
controlled by women that were found to be ineligible to be
awarded a contract under this subsection as a result of an
examination conducted pursuant to paragraph (5)(B) or failure
to request an examination pursuant to section 127.400 of
title 13, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor rule).
``(I) The number of small business concerns owned and
controlled by women that were decertified.
``(J) The total number of small business concerns owned and
controlled by women.
``(K) Any other information the Administrator determines
necessary.''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--Section 8(m)(2)(C) of the Small
Business Act is amended by striking ``paragraph (3)'' and
inserting ``paragraph (4)''.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND
CONTROLLED BY QUALIFIED HUBZONE SMALL BUSINESS
CONCERNS.
Section 31 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657a) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following new
subsection:
``(f) Report.--Not later than May 1, 2024, and annually
thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee
on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the
Senate a report on HUBZone small business concerns. Such
report shall include, for the fiscal year preceding the date
of the report, the following:
``(1) The number of applications for certification as a
qualified HUBZone small business concern that have sufficient
information for the Administrator to make a certification
determination, disaggregated by--
``(A) the number of applications certified;
``(B) the number of applications denied; and
``(C) the number of applications for which a determination
has not been made.
``(2) The total dollar amount and total percentage of prime
contracts awarded to qualified HUBZone small business
concerns pursuant to this section.
``(3) The total dollar amount and percent of sole source
contracts awarded to qualified HUBZone small business
concerns under subsection (c)(2)(A).
``(4) With respect to an examination described in
subsection (d)(5)--
``(A) the number of examinations due because of
recertification requirements and the actual number of such
examinations conducted; and
``(B) the number of examinations conducted for any other
reason.
``(5) The number of HUBZone small business concerns that
were found to be ineligible to be awarded a contract under
this subsection as a result of an examination conducted
pursuant to subsection (d)(5) or a verification conducted
pursuant to subsection (d)(2).
``(6) The number of small business concerns that were
decertified as qualified HUBZone small business concerns.
``(7) The number of qualified HUBZone small business
concerns.
``(8) Any other information the Administrator determines
necessary.''.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND
CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.
Section 36 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657f) is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(j) Report.--Not later than May 1, 2024, and annually
thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee
on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the
Senate a report on small business concerns owned and
controlled by service-disabled veterans. Such report shall
include, for the fiscal year preceding the date of the
report, the following:
``(1) The total number of small business concerns certified
as small business concerns owned and controlled by service-
disabled veterans.
``(2) The total dollar amount and total percentage of prime
contracts awarded to small business concerns owned and
controlled by service-disabled veterans pursuant to this
section.
``(3) The total dollar amount and percent of sole source
contracts awarded to owned and controlled by service-disabled
veterans pursuant to subsection (c).
``(4) With respect to an examination described in
subsection (h)(2)--
``(A) the number of examinations due because of
recertification requirements and the actual number of such
examinations conducted; and
``(B) the number of examinations conducted for any other
reason.
``(5) The number of small business concerns owned and
controlled by service-disabled veterans that were found to be
ineligible to be awarded a contract under this subsection as
a result of an examination conducted pursuant to subsection
(h)(2).
``(6) The number of small business concerns decertified as
small business concerns owned and controlled by service-
disabled veterans.
``(7) The total number of small business concerns owned and
controlled by service-disabled veterans.
``(8) Any other information the Administrator determines
necessary.''.
SEC. 5. COMPLIANCE WITH CUTGO.
No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act or the amendments made by this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Williams) and the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I support H.R. 4670, the Small Business Contracting Transparency Act,
introduced by Congressman Stauber from the great State of Minnesota.
The U.S. Government is one of the largest customers in the world.
They contract out purchases of things as simple as office supplies to
complicated rockets that go into space. Each year, the government sets
a contracting goal that they look to hit so that small businesses can
help service the various needs of the Federal Government.
To be considered a small business in contracting, there are certain
verification procedures to ensure that a small business does, in fact,
qualify. It would be problematic if larger corporations were posing as
small businesses in order to compete for some of the small business
set-aside contracts.
For some of these small business categories, the businessowner simply
gets to self-certify that they are who they say the business
represents. For others, the Small Business Administration or third-
party entities do a more rigorous certification process.
Since there isn't a uniform process to verify the small businesses
are who they claim to be, it calls into question the accuracy of the
contracting data that we receive. The Small Business Contracting
Transparency Act brings much-needed insight into these certification
activities and whether the SBA is meeting its requirements.
Mr. Speaker, I applaud Congressman Stauber for introducing this bill,
and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H5916]]
{time} 1645
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Houlahan, Ms. Scholten, Mr. Stauber, and Ms.
Tenney for their work on H.R. 4670 and getting it to the floor today.
Mr. Speaker, well over a decade ago, I helped enact and implement the
SBA's Women-Owned Small Business program to better serve female
entrepreneurs and small businesses contracting with the Federal
Government. Unfortunately, setting up this program proved to be a
challenge, and it was delayed longer than anticipated. As of now, it is
up and running, and women-owned firms are certified by the SBA or a
national certifying entity to participate in contracting programs.
This has led to improvements in the program's execution and enhanced
its integrity. Most importantly, it has helped thousands of women-owned
firms compete in the Federal marketplace.
However, there are some aspects of the program with less visibility,
including and especially the operations of the four national certifying
entities working with the SBA. That is why additional oversight is
warranted, and this bill provides it.
This Small Business Contracting Transparency Act requires annual
reports on the WOSB certification process to ensure it is serving
female entrepreneurs as we intended.
Having this information is critical to further strengthening and
improving the program to meet the needs of both the Federal Government
and women-owned small firms.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4670, as amended,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).
Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of the Small
Business Contracting Transparency Act.
I thank my colleague, Representative Houlahan, for bringing this up.
It is a very good bill and I am proud to stand in support of it.
In Minnesota, Feeding Our Future, a supposed nonprofit in Minnesota
meant to feed children, used $250 million of COVID-19 Federal funds to
buy luxury cars and real estate.
Since COVID-19, fraud has been on the rise. Bad actors are taking
advantage of vulnerable government programs and stealing taxpayer
dollars for their own benefit and wealth. We must be better stewards of
taxpayer dollars and ensure proper safeguards are in place.
The Small Business Administration is charged with ensuring that only
eligible firms are participating in its Women-Owned Small Business
Federal Contract program, HUBZone programs, and the Service-Disabled
Veteran-Owned Small Business programs.
The Small Business Contracting Transparency Act would bring much-
needed oversight to the certification process, ensure the SBA is only
approving appropriate firms, and give Congress the tools to hold the
SBA accountable, if necessary.
By supporting the Small Business Contracting Transparency Act, we
will not only provide valuable assistance to small businesses but also
ensure effectiveness in government contracting.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the Small
Business Contracting Transparency Act.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to
the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan).
Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote
for my bipartisan and very much commonsense legislation, the Small
Business Contracting Transparency Act, that will help level the playing
field for underrepresented entrepreneurs across the country.
I thank my Republican colleague, Representative Pete Stauber, for his
partnership on this legislation. Furthermore, I thank Chairman Williams
and Ranking Member Velazquez for their leadership in advancing this
legislation through the Small Business Committee on a unanimous basis.
I thank them for me being able to stand on their shoulders on this.
As a former entrepreneur myself, I understand the many challenges
that come with running and scaling a business. Every day brings a
unique challenge. I regularly hear from businessowners in my own
community, in Pennsylvania's Sixth District, who are navigating
inflation, supply chain challenges, workforce needs, and so much more.
One way that our Federal Government can help protect entrepreneurs is
to address these issues and ultimately succeed. One way they can do
that is by providing contracting opportunities for small business
owners. For entrepreneurs who are seeking to do business with our
Federal Government, I know that every single contract secured or lost
can be the difference in keeping Americans on their payroll or losing
them, expanding or scaling back their operations, or beating or missing
their projections.
That is why the Federal small business contracting programs are so
very important. Through these programs, the Federal Government
maintains its various statutory goals that ensure equitable
participation by small businesses, and importantly, by underrepresented
small businesses in Federal contracting.
Across various agencies, the Federal Government aims to provide 5
percent of Federal prime contracts to women-owned small businesses, 3
percent to service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, and 3 percent to
the Historically Underutilized Business Zone, otherwise known as
HUBZone, small businesses, as well.
While figures like 5 percent or 3 percent may not sound a whole lot
like large targets, our Federal Government, unfortunately, struggles
regularly to meet them.
Indeed, in fiscal year 2022, the Federal Government failed to reach
its target goals for both women-owned businesses and HUBZone small
businesses, as well. Even more troubling, the Federal Government has
only met the statutory goal of awarding 5 percent of contracts to
women-owned businesses twice in the last 23 years.
In addition, the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, has cited
deficiencies in the Small Business Administration's oversight of the
program.
It is clear that disadvantaged entrepreneurs continue to be
underrepresented when it comes to Federal contract funding, and that is
hurting the economy, both at a micro level and at a macro or national
level. It is well past time that Congress is able to act to ensure that
these programs are working as they were designed and intended to do.
That is why I introduced my bill, H.R. 4670, the bipartisan Small
Business Contracting Transparency Act. My legislation will increase
transparency, oversight, and will increase accountability of the Small
Business Administration's Women-Owned, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned,
and HUBZone Small Business Contracting programs.
Notably, this bill requires the SBA to submit to Congress annual
reports that benchmark critical data, including: the number of small
businesses that are certified, the total dollar amount of contracts
awarded to qualifying businesses, and the number of contracts that are
incorrectly awarded to ineligible recipients, among other figures, as
well.
Simply put, my bill, the Small Business Contracting Transparency Act,
will allow Congress and the SBA to improve these Federal contracting
programs to ensure that these programs run efficiently and to
ultimately benefit disadvantaged entrepreneurs in their pursuit of
securing government contracts. In turn, we will strengthen our economy,
we will support Main Streets all over in every ZIP Code, and we will
grow the middle class.
The time to act is now, especially as the Federal Government works to
award additional contracts through this historic implementation of the
bipartisan Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act, the bipartisan
CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, as well.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my Republican colleague, Representative Pete
Stauber, for his partnership in this really important legislation. Once
again, I thank Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez for their
leadership in this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for this Small Business
Contracting Transparency Act that will
[[Page H5917]]
help level the playing field for entrepreneurs in Pennsylvania, and
indeed, across the Nation, as well.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government routinely fails to
meet the goals of awarding 5 percent of contract dollars to women-owned
small businesses. While this administration has prioritized meeting
these goals and last year awarded over $28 billion to women-owned
firms, more can be done.
H.R. 4670, as amended, is an important step in that direction. It
ensures that we have the necessary information to conduct proper
oversight of the SBA's programs designed to assist women who start and
grow government contracting firms.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsors of this bill and appreciate the
bipartisan work of the committee to build in the HUBZone and SDVOSB
programs. They face issues as well and could benefit from the
additional reporting.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4670 provides a necessary
check on the SBA as it brings much needed insight into certification
activities verifying small business contractors and provides further
transparency.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Stauber and Houlahan for leading
this bill. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to take a
page out of our playbook and put politics aside to unanimously pass
H.R. 4670.
I also thank the Democrats I missed earlier for their participation,
specifically Representatives Mfume, McGarvey, and Scholten.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 4670, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________