108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1460

AN ACT

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve

education and entrepreneurship benefits, housingbenefits, and certain other benefits for veterans,and for other purposes.

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1460

AN ACT

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve education

and entrepreneurship benefits, housing benefits, and certain other benefits for veterans, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Entrepre3 neurship and Benefits Improvement Act of 2003’’.

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR STATE APPROVING AGENCIES

5 TO APPROVE CERTAIN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

6 COURSES.

7 (a) APPROVAL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP COURSES.—

8 Section 3675 of title 38, United States Code, is amended

9 by adding at the end the following new subsection:

10 ‘‘(c)(1) A State approving agency may approve the

11 entrepreneurship courses offered by a qualified provider

12 of entrepreneurship courses.

13 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘entre14 preneurship course’ means a non-degree, non-credit course

15 of business education that enables or assists a person to

16 start or enhance a small business enterprise.

17 ‘‘(3) Subsection (a) and paragraphs (1) and (2) of

18 subsection (b) do not apply to—

19 ‘‘(A) an entrepreneurship course offered by a

20 qualified provider of entrepreneurship courses; and

21 ‘‘(B) a qualified provider of entrepreneurship

22 courses by reason of such provider offering one or

23 more entrepreneurship courses.’’.

24 (b) BUSINESS OWNERS NOT TREATED AS ALREADY

25 QUALIFIED.—Section 3471 of such title is amended by in26 serting before the last sentence the following: ‘‘The Sec-
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1 retary shall not treat a person as already qualified for the

2 objective of a program of education offered by a qualified

3 provider of entrepreneurship courses solely because such

4 person is the owner or operator of a business.’’.

5 (c) INCLUSION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP COURSES IN

6 DEFINITION OF PROGRAM OF EDUCATION.—Subsection

7 (b) of section 3452 of such title is amended by adding

8 at the end the following: ‘‘Such term also includes any

9 course, or combination of courses, offered by a qualified

10 provider of entrepreneurship courses.’’.

11 (d) INCLUSION OF QUALIFIED PROVIDER OF ENTRE12 PRENEURSHIP COURSES IN DEFINITION OF EDU13 CATIONAL INSTITUTION.—Subsection (c) of section 3452

14 of such title is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: ‘‘Such term also includes any qualified provider

16 of entrepreneurship courses.’’.

17 (e) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED PROVIDER OF EN18 TREPRENEURSHIP COURSES.—Section 3452 of such title

19 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

20 subsection:

21 ‘‘(h) The term ‘qualified provider of entrepreneurship

22 courses’ means—

23 ‘‘(1) a small business development center de24 scribed in section 21 of the Small Business Act (15

25 U.S.C. 648), and
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1 ‘‘(2) the National Veterans Business Develop2 ment Corporation (established under section 33 of

3 such Act (15 U.S.C. 657c)) insofar as the Corpora4 tion offers or sponsors an entrepreneurship course

5 (as defined in section 3675(c)(2) of this title).’’.

6 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

7 this section shall apply to courses approved by State ap8 proving agencies after the date of the enactment of this

9 Act.

10 SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR CERTIFIED SMALL

11 BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CON12 TROLLED BY QUALIFIED SERVICE-DISABLED

13 VETERANS, ETC.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Small

15 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended by redes16 ignating section 36 as section 38 and by inserting after

17 section 35 the following new sections:

18 ‘‘SEC. 36. PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR CERTIFIED SMALL

19 BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CON20 TROLLED BY QUALIFIED SERVICE-DISABLED

21 VETERANS.

22 ‘‘(a) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS.—In accordance with

23 this section, a contracting officer may award a sole source

24 contract to any certified small business concern owned and

25 controlled by qualified service-disabled veterans if—
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1 ‘‘(1) such concern is determined to be a respon2 sible contractor with respect to performance of such

3 contract opportunity and the contracting officer does

4 not have a reasonable expectation that 2 or more

5 certified small business concerns owned and con6 trolled by qualified service-disabled veterans will sub7 mit offers for the contracting opportunity;

8 ‘‘(2) the anticipated award price of the contract

9 (including options) will not exceed—

10 ‘‘(A) $5,000,000, in the case of a contract

11 opportunity assigned a standard industrial clas12 sification code for manufacturing; or

13 ‘‘(B) $3,000,000, in the case of any other

14 contract opportunity; and

15 ‘‘(3) in the estimation of the contracting officer,

16 the contract award can be made at a fair and rea17 sonable price.

18 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTED COMPETITION.—In accordance

19 with this section, a contracting officer may award con20 tracts on the basis of competition restricted to certified

21 small business concerns owned and controlled by qualified

22 service-disabled veterans if the contracting officer has a

23 reasonable expectation that not less than 2 certified small

24 business concerns owned and controlled by qualified serv-
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1 ice-disabled veterans will submit offers and that the award

2 can be made at a fair market price.

3 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT; PENALTIES.—Rules similar to

4 the rules of section 31(c) shall apply for purposes of this

5 section.

6 ‘‘(d) COLLECTION OF DATA REGARDING SMALL

7 BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY

8 SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.—

9 ‘‘(1) SURVEY.—Not later than 2 years after the

10 date of the enactment of this section and each 3

11 years thereafter, the Administrator, in consultation

12 with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall com13 plete a survey of service-disabled veterans receiving

14 benefits under title 38, United States Code, to deter15 mine the number, identity, and primary industry

16 classification of small business concerns owned and

17 controlled by service-disabled veterans.

18 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Adminis19 trator, in consultation with the Secretary of Vet20 erans Affairs, shall report to Congress on the results

21 of each survey conducted under paragraph (1). Such

22 report shall include the total number of small busi23 ness concerns owned and controlled by service-dis24 abled veterans.
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1 ‘‘(e) CONTRACTING OFFICER.—For purposes of this

2 section and section 37, the term ‘contracting officer’ has

3 the meaning given such term in section 27(f)(5) of the

4 Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C.

5 423(f)(5)).

6 ‘‘SEC. 37. PRIORITY OF SMALL BUSINESS PROCUREMENT

7 PREFERENCES.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A contracting officer may not

9 make a procurement from a source on the basis of a pref10 erence provided under any provision of this Act referred

11 to in subsection (b) unless the contracting officer has de12 termined that such procurement cannot be made on the

13 basis of a preference provided under another provision of

14 this Act with a higher priority under such subsection.

15 ‘‘(b) ORDER OF PRIORITY.—For purposes of this sec16 tion, the following provisions of this Act are listed in order

17 of priority from highest to lowest:

18 ‘‘(1) Section 8(a).

19 ‘‘(2) Section 36(b).

20 ‘‘(3) Section 36(a).

21 ‘‘(4) Section 31(b)(2)(B).

22 ‘‘(5) Section 31(b)(2)(A).

23 ‘‘(6) Section 8(m).

24 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY OF CERTAIN OTHER PROCUREMENT

25 PREFERENCES.—A procurement may not be made from
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1 a source on the basis of a preference provided under any

2 provision of this Act referred to in subsection (b) if the

3 procurement would otherwise by made from a different

4 source under section 4124 or 4125 of title 18, United

5 States Code, or the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act (41 U.S.C.

6 46 et seq.).’’.

7 (b) CERTIFIED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED

8 AND CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.—

9 Subsection (q) of section 3 of the Small Business Act (15

10 U.S.C. 632) is amended by adding at the end the following

11 new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(5) CERTIFIED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN

13 OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY QUALIFIED SERVICE14 DISABLED VETERANS.—

15 ‘‘(A) QUALIFIED SERVICE-DISABLED VET16 ERAN.—The term ‘qualified service-disabled vet17 eran’ means any veteran who—

18 ‘‘(i) has one or more disabilities that

19 are service-connected (as defined in section

20 101(16) of title 38, United States Code)

21 and rated at 10 percent or more by the

22 Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or

23 ‘‘(ii) is entitled to benefits under sec24 tion 1151 of title 38, United States Code.
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1 ‘‘(B) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED

2 AND CONTROLLED BY QUALIFIED SERVICE-DIS3 ABLED VETERANS.—The term ‘small business

4 concern owned and controlled by qualified serv5 ice-disabled veterans’ means a small business

6 concern—

7 ‘‘(i) not less than 51 percent of which

8 is owned by one or more qualified service9 disabled veterans or, in the case of any

10 publicly owned business, not less than 51

11 percent of the stock of which is owned by

12 one or more qualified service-disabled vet13 erans; and

14 ‘‘(ii) the management and daily busi15 ness operations of which are controlled by

16 one or more qualified service-disabled vet17 erans or, in the case of a veteran with per18 manent and severe disability, the spouse or

19 permanent caregiver of such veteran.

20 ‘‘(C) CERTIFIED SMALL BUSINESS CON21 CERN OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY QUALIFIED

22 SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.—The term ‘cer23 tified small business concern owned and con24 trolled by qualified service-disabled veterans’

25 means any small business concern owned and
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1 controlled by qualified service-disabled veterans

2 that is certified by the Administrator as being

3 such a concern.’’.

4 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Paragraph (2) of

5 section 31(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

6 657a(b)) is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding any other pro8 vision of law’’ and inserting ‘‘In accordance with this

9 section’’;

10 (2) in subparagraph (B)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘a contract opportunity

12 shall be awarded pursuant to this section’’ and

13 inserting ‘‘a contracting officer may award con14 tracts’’; and

15 (B) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end and in16 serting a period; and

17 (3) by striking subparagraph (C).

18 (d) DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT

19 PROGRAM.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a contracting

21 officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the

22 provisions of the Small Business Act referred to in

23 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 37(b) of such

24 Act shall be treated as being equal in priority for

25 purposes of applying section 37 of such Act.
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1 (2) TERMINATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

2 apply with respect to procurements made after Sep3 tember 30, 2007.

4 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION TO PROVIDE ADAPTED HOUSING

5 ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN DISABLED MEM6 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO REMAIN

7 ON ACTIVE DUTY.

8 Section 2101 of title 38, United States Code, is

9 amended by adding at the end the following new sub10 section:

11 ‘‘(c)(1) The Secretary may provide assistance under

12 subsection (a) to a member of the Armed Forces serving

13 on active duty who is suffering from a disability described

14 in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of that subsection if such

15 disability is the result of an injury incurred or disease con16 tracted in or aggravated in line of duty in the active mili17 tary, naval, or air service. Such assistance shall be pro18 vided to the same extent as assistance is provided under

19 that subsection to veterans eligible for assistance under

20 that subsection and subject to the requirements of the sec21 ond sentence of that subsection.

22 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may provide assistance under

23 subsection (b) to a member of the Armed Forces serving

24 on active duty who is suffering from a disability described

25 in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) of that sub-
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1 section if such disability is the result of an injury incurred

2 or disease contracted in or aggravated in line of duty in

3 the active military, naval, or air service. Such assistance

4 shall be provided to the same extent as assistance is pro5 vided under such subsection to veterans eligible for assist6 ance under that subsection and subject to the require7 ments of paragraph (2) of that subsection.’’.

8 SEC. 5. REINSTATEMENT OF MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

9 FOR SALE OF VENDEE LOANS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3733(a) of title 38,

11 United States Code, is amended—

12 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating

13 paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6) as paragraphs (2),

14 (3), (4), and (5), respectively; and

15 (2) in subparagraph (B)(i) of paragraph (3), as

16 so redesignated, by striking ‘‘paragraph (5) of this

17 subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (4)’’.

18 (b) INCREASE IN MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE.—Section

19 3733(a)(1) of such title is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘65 percent’’ in the first sen21 tence and inserting ‘‘85 percent’’; and

22 (2) by striking the second sentence.

23 (c) STYLISTIC AMENDMENT.—Section 3733 of such

24 title is amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (1) of this sub-
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1 section’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘paragraph

2 (1)’’.

3 SEC. 6. PAYMENT OF ACCRUED BENEFITS.

4 (a) REPEAL OF LIMITATION ON PAYMENT.—Sub5 section (a) of section 5121 of title 38, United States Code,

6 is amended by striking ‘‘for a period not to exceed two

7 years’’ in the matter preceding paragraph (1).

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

9 subsection (a) shall take effect with respect to deaths oc10 curring on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives June 24, 2003.

Attest:

Clerk.