I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1712

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a development program for 

small business concerns owned and controlled by qualified service-disabled 

veterans, to reauthorize the programs of the National Veterans Business 

Development Corporation, to establish a Government-wide procurement 

goal for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2003

Mr. EVANS (for himself, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MICHAUD, and Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Small Business 

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a development 

program for small business concerns owned and controlled by qualified service-disabled veterans, to reauthorize the programs of the National Veterans Business Development Corporation, to establish a Government-wide 

procurement goal for small business concerns owned and 

controlled by 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 Federal Pro3 curement Opportunity Act of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESS 

5 CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY 

6 QUALIFIED SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Small 

8 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended by redes9 ignating section 36 as section 37 and by inserting after 

10 section 35 the following new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 36. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESS 

12 CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY 

13 QUALIFIED SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this section, 

15 the Administrator shall establish a development program 

16 for small business concerns owned and controlled by quali17 fied service-disabled veterans. The program established 

18 under this section shall be similar to the program de19 scribed in sections 7(j) and 8(a). 

20 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE AND SERVICES; RULES.—The pro21 gram established under this section shall provide assist22 ance and services, and be governed by rules, similar to 

23 the assistance and services provided under, and rules de24 scribed in, subsections (a)(20) and (j) of section 7 and 

25 section 8(a). 

26 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
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1 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED SERVICE-DISABLED VET2 ERAN.—The term ‘qualified service-disabled veteran’ 

3 means a service-disabled veteran who is economically 

4 disadvantaged within the meaning of section 8(a)(6), 

5 except that, solely for purposes of determining per6 sonal income under this section, no amount received 

7 by such veteran by reason of such veteran’s service8 connected disability or service as a member of the 

9 Armed Forces shall be taken into account in deter10 mining whether such veteran is economically dis11 advantaged. 

12 ‘‘(2) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND

13 CONTROLLED BY QUALIFIED SERVICE-DISABLED

14 VETERANS.—The term ‘small business concern 

15 owned and controlled by qualified service-disabled 

16 veterans’ has the meaning given the term ‘small 

17 business concern owned and controlled by service18 disabled veterans’ in section 3(q)(2), except that 

19 ‘qualified service-disabled veteran’ shall be sub20 stituted for ‘service-disabled veteran’.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

22 16(d)(1)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

23 645(d)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 36’’ after ‘‘sec24 tion 8(a)’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS OF THE NA2 TIONAL VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 

3 CORPORATION AND THE ADVISORY COM4 MITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 (a) REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS OF NATIONAL

6 VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.—

7 Subsection (k) of section 33 of the Small Business Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 657c(k)) is amended by striking paragraphs 

9 (1) and (2) and inserting the following new paragraphs: 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

11 there are authorized to be appropriated to the Cor12 poration to carry out this section—

13 ‘‘(A) $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

14 2003 and 2004; and 

15 ‘‘(B) $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

16 2005 and 2006. 

17 ‘‘(2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The amount 

18 made available to the Corporation for any fiscal year 

19 may not exceed the amount that the Corporation 

20 certifies that it will provide for that fiscal year from 

21 sources other than the Federal Government.’’. 

22 (b) NATIONAL VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

23 CORPORATION REPORTS.—Subsection (g) of section 33 of 

24 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657c(g)) is amended 

25 to read as follows: 

26 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—On or before October 

2 1 of each year, the Board of Directors shall transmit 

3 to the President, the Committees on Veterans Af4 fairs of the House of Representatives and of the 

5 Senate, the Committee on Small Business of the 

6 House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

7 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

8 a report describing the activities and accomplish9 ments of the Corporation for the preceding year. 

10 Such report shall include—

11 ‘‘(A) the Corporation’s findings regarding 

12 the efforts of Federal, State, and private orga13 nizations to assist veterans in the formation 

14 and expansion of small business concerns; 

15 ‘‘(B) a description of the progress made by 

16 the Corporation during such year in achieving 

17 its specified annual performance goals and ob18 jectives; and 

19 ‘‘(C) any revisions to annual performance 

20 goals or indicators required to achieve specified 

21 strategic goals and objectives. 

22 ‘‘(2) 5-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN.—On or before 

23 October 1, 2003, and every 5 years thereafter, the 

24 Board of Directors shall transmit to the President, 

25 the Committees on Veterans Affairs of the House of 
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1 Representatives and of the Senate, the Committee 

2 on Small Business of the House of Representatives, 

3 and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre4 neurship of the Senate a report describing the stra5 tegic objectives of the Corporation for the 5-year pe6 riod beginning on such date. Such report shall in7 clude—

8 ‘‘(A) a comprehensive mission statement 

9 covering the major functions and operations of 

10 the Corporation; 

11 ‘‘(B) the general outcome related strategic 

12 goals and objectives for each of the major func13 tions and operations of the Corporation; 

14 ‘‘(C) a description of the means and strate15 gies, addressing both financial and non-finan16 cial resources, to be employed by the Corpora17 tion to achieve those specified strategic goals 

18 and objectives; 

19 ‘‘(D) a description of the annual output 

20 and outcome related performance strategies, 

21 with associated performance goals and indica22 tors, to be employed by the Corporation to help 

23 achieve the general goals and objectives con24 tained in the strategic plan; 
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1 ‘‘(E) an identification of key factors that 

2 could affect the achievement of the Corpora3 tions general goals and objectives; and 

4 ‘‘(F) a description of the program evalua5 tions and performance indicators to be used by 

6 the Corporation to assess its achievement of 

7 strategic and annual performance goals and ob8 jectives. 

9 ‘‘(3) 5-YEAR BUSINESS PLAN.—On or before 

10 October 1, 2003, and every 5 years thereafter, the 

11 Board of Directors shall transmit to the President, 

12 the Committees on Veterans Affairs of the House of 

13 Representatives and of the Senate, the Committee 

14 on Small Business of the House of Representatives, 

15 and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre16 neurship of the Senate a report describing the finan17 cial objectives of the Corporation for the 5-year pe18 riod beginning on such date. Such report shall in19 clude a description of the specific plans to be imple20 mented to achieve such objectives and the require21 ments of paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (k) 

22 and to provide for the long-term financial viability of 

23 the Corporation. 

24 ‘‘(4) AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.—On 

25 or before October 1, 2003, and every 2 years there-
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1 after, the Board of Directors shall transmit to the 

2 President, the Committees on Veterans Affairs of 

3 the House of Representatives and of the Senate, the 

4 Committee on Small Business of the House of Rep5 resentatives, and the Committee on Small Business 

6 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate an audited fi7 nancial statement of the Corporation. Such state8 ment shall be prepared by an independent external 

9 auditor and shall be conducted in accordance with 

10 generally accepted government auditing standards.’’. 

11 (c) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS BUSINESS

12 AFFAIRS.—Subsection (h) of section 203 of the Veterans 

13 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 

14 1999 is amended by striking ‘‘2004’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘2009’’. 

16 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF GOVERNMENT-WIDE PRO17 CUREMENT GOAL FOR SMALL BUSINESS CON18 CERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VET19 ERANS; AUTHORIZATION OF RESTRICTED 

20 COMPETITION TO ACHIEVE GOALS; ETC. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 15(g) of the Small Busi22 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(g) GOVERNMENT-WIDE AND AGENCY SMALL BUSI24 NESS PROCUREMENT GOALS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT BY PRESIDENT OF GOV2 ERNMENT-WIDE GOALS.—The President shall annu3 ally establish Government-wide goals for procure4 ment contracts awarded to each specified category of 

5 small business concerns. 

6 ‘‘(2) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.—The Gov7 ernment-wide goal for participation by small busi8 ness concerns in prime contracts or applicable sub9 contracts shall be established at not less than 28 

10 percent of the total value of all prime contract 

11 awards for each fiscal year. 

12 ‘‘(3) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND

13 CONTROLLED BY VETERANS.—The Government-wide 

14 goal for participation by small business concerns 

15 owned and controlled by veterans in prime contracts 

16 or applicable subcontracts shall be established at not 

17 less than 3 percent of the total value of all prime 

18 contract awards for each fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(4) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND

20 CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.—

21 The Government-wide goal for participation by small 

22 business concerns owned and controlled by service23 disabled veterans in prime contracts or applicable 

24 subcontracts shall be established at not less than 3 
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1 percent of the total value of all prime contract 

2 awards for each fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED HUBZONE SMALL BUSINESS

4 CONCERNS.—The Government-wide goal for partici5 pation by qualified HUBZone small business con6 cerns in prime contracts or applicable subcontracts 

7 shall be established at not less than 3 percent of the 

8 total value of all prime contract awards for each fis9 cal year. 

10 ‘‘(6) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND

11 CONTROLLED BY SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DIS12 ADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS.—The Government-wide 

13 goal for participation by small business concerns 

14 owned and controlled by socially and economically 

15 disadvantaged individuals in prime contracts or ap16 plicable subcontracts shall be established at not less 

17 than 5 percent of the total value of all prime con18 tract awards for each fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(7) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND

20 CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.—The Government-wide 

21 goal for participation by small business concerns 

22 owned and controlled by women in prime contracts 

23 or applicable subcontracts shall be established at not 

24 less than 5 percent of the total value of all prime 

25 contract awards for each fiscal year.
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1 ‘‘(8) AGENCY GOALS.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency 

3 shall have annual goals that present, for that 

4 agency, the maximum practicable opportunity 

5 for each specified category of small business 

6 concerns to perform prime contracts let by such 

7 agency and subcontracts under such prime con8 tracts. 

9 ‘‘(B) NOT LESS THAN GOVERNMENT-WIDE

10 GOALS.—No Federal agency may have an agen11 cy goal under subparagraph (A) which is less 

12 than the corresponding Government-wide goal 

13 established by the President under paragraph 

14 (1). 

15 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—

16 Each year, the Administration and the head of 

17 each Federal agency shall jointly establish the 

18 goals described in subparagraph (A) for such 

19 agency. Whenever the Administration and the 

20 head of any Federal agency fail to agree on es21 tablished goals, the disagreement shall be sub22 mitted to the Administrator of the Office of 

23 Federal Procurement Policy for final deter24 mination. 
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1 ‘‘(D) EXPANSION OF PARTICIPATION.—For 

2 the purpose of establishing goals under this 

3 paragraph, the head of each Federal agency 

4 shall make consistent efforts to annually expand 

5 participation by small business concerns from 

6 each industry category in procurement con7 tracts of the agency, including participation by 

8 each specified category of small business con9 cerns. The head of each Federal agency, in at10 tempting to attain such participation, shall con11 sider—

12 ‘‘(i) contracts awarded as the result of 

13 unrestricted competition; 

14 ‘‘(ii) contracts awarded as the result 

15 of restricted competition under this section 

16 and under the programs established under 

17 sections 8(a), 31, and 36; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) subcontracts awarded pursuant 

19 to subcontracting plans required under 

20 paragraphs (4) or (5) of section 8(d). 

21 ‘‘(9) DOUBLE COUNTING PROHIBITED.—In the 

22 case of a small business concern that is part of more 

23 than 1 specified subcategory of small business con24 cerns, with respect to any prime contract or sub25 contract awarded to such concern, a Federal agency 
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1 shall treat such concern as part of only 1 such speci2 fied subcategory for purposes of this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(10) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS IN CASE

4 OF FAILURE TO ACHIEVE GOALS.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of fiscal 

6 year 2004 and each fiscal year thereafter, if an 

7 agency fails to meet the Government-wide goal 

8 established under this subsection for such fiscal 

9 year with respect to any specified subcategory 

10 of small business concerns, the applicable 

11 amount of any amounts appropriated or other12 wise made available to such agency for the fol13 lowing fiscal year shall be used only for—

14 ‘‘(i) procurements under any prime 

15 contract awarded to such specified sub16 category of small business concerns, and 

17 ‘‘(ii) that portion of procurements 

18 under any prime contract (with respect to 

19 which a subcontracting plan is required 

20 under paragraph (4) or (5)) which is at21 tributable to the goal for the utilization as 

22 subcontractors of such specified sub23 category of small business concerns under 

24 such plan. 
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1 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For purposes 

2 of this paragraph, the term ‘applicable amount’ 

3 means, with respect to any agency that fails to 

4 meet a Government-wide goal for a fiscal year 

5 with respect to any specified subcategory of 

6 small business concerns, the applicable percent7 age for such fiscal year of the total value of all 

8 prime contract awards made by such agency for 

9 such fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(C) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For 

11 purposes of this paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro13 vided in clause (ii), the term ‘applicable 

14 percentage’ means, with respect to any 

15 specified subcategory of small business 

16 concerns, the Government-wide percentage 

17 goal for participation by such specified 

18 subcategory of small business concerns for 

19 the fiscal year. 

20 ‘‘(ii) TRANSITION RULES.—In the 

21 case of fiscal years 2004 through 2008: 

22 ‘‘(I) 3 PERCENT GOALS.—With 

23 respect to small business concerns 

24 owned and controlled by veterans, 

25 small business concerns owned and
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1 controlled by service-disabled veterans, 

2 and qualified HUBZone small busi3 ness concerns, the applicable percent4 age shall be determined in accordance 

5 with the following table:

‘‘In the case of The applicable 

fiscal year: percentage is: 

2004 .......................................................................... 0.5%

2005 .......................................................................... 1%

2006 .......................................................................... 1.5%

2007 .......................................................................... 2%

2008 .......................................................................... 2.5%.

6 ‘‘(II) 5 PERCENT GOALS.—With 

7 respect to small business concerns 

8 owned and controlled by socially and 

9 economically disadvantaged individ10 uals and small business concerns 

11 owned and controlled by women, the 

12 applicable percentage shall be deter13 mined in accordance with the fol14 lowing table:

‘‘In the case of The applicable 

fiscal year: percentage is: 

2004 .......................................................................... 1%

2005 .......................................................................... 2%

2006 .......................................................................... 3%

2007 .......................................................................... 4%

2008 .......................................................................... 5%.

15 ‘‘(11) RESTRICTED COMPETITION TO ACHIEVE

16 GOALS.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with 

18 this paragraph, a contracting officer may re-
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1 strict competition for any contract for the pro2 curement of goods or services by the Federal 

3 Government to any specified category of small 

4 business concerns, if—

5 ‘‘(i) the contracting officer has a rea6 sonable expectation that two or more small 

7 business concerns of such category will 

8 submit offers for the contract; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the anticipated award price of 

10 the contract (including options) does not 

11 exceed the simplified acquisition threshold; 

12 ‘‘(iii) in the estimation of the con13 tracting officer, the contract award can be 

14 made at a fair and reasonable price; 

15 ‘‘(iv) the award of such contract to a 

16 small business concern of such category 

17 will not result in the agency exceeding the 

18 greater of the Government-wide goal or the 

19 agency goal under this subsection with re20 spect to such category; and 

21 ‘‘(v) each of the concerns—

22 ‘‘(I) is certified by the Adminis23 trator or any person or entity ap24 proved by the Administrator as a 
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1 small business concern of such cat2 egory; or 

3 ‘‘(II) certifies to the contracting 

4 officer that it is a small business con5 cern of such category and provides 

6 adequate documentation, in accord7 ance with standards established by the 

8 Administration, to support such cer9 tification. 

10 ‘‘(B) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER CON11 TRACTING PREFERENCES.—A procurement 

12 shall not be made from a source on the basis 

13 of a preference provided in subparagraph (A), 

14 if the procurement would otherwise be made 

15 from a different source under section 4124 or 

16 4125 of title 18, United States Code, or the 

17 Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46 et 

18 seq.). 

19 ‘‘(C) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In 

20 carrying out this paragraph, the Administrator 

21 shall establish procedures relating to— 

22 ‘‘(i) the filing, investigation, and dis23 position by the Administration of any chal24 lenge to the eligibility of a small business 

25 concern to receive assistance under this 
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1 paragraph (including a challenge, filed by 

2 an interested party, relating to the veracity 

3 of a certification referred to in subpara4 graph (A)(v)); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) verification by the Administrator 

6 of the accuracy of any certification made 

7 or information provided under subpara8 graph (A)(v). 

9 ‘‘(D) EXAMINATIONS.—The procedures es10 tablished under subparagraph (C) may provide 

11 for program examinations (including random 

12 program examinations) by the Administrator of 

13 any small business concern certified under sub14 paragraph (A)(v). 

15 ‘‘(E) PROVISION OF DATA.—Upon the re16 quest of the Administrator, the head of any 

17 Federal agency shall promptly provide to the 

18 Administrator such information as the Adminis19 trator determines to be necessary to carry out 

20 this paragraph. 

21 ‘‘(F) PENALTIES.—In addition to the pen22 alties described in section 16(d), any small busi23 ness concern that is determined by the Admin24 istrator to have misrepresented the status of 

25 that concern as part of a specified category of 
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1 small business concerns for purposes of this 

2 paragraph shall be subject to— 

3 ‘‘(i) section 1001 of title 18, United 

4 States Code; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) sections 3729 through 3733 of 

6 title 31, United States Code. 

7 ‘‘(G) CONTRACTING OFFICER.—For pur8 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘contracting 

9 officer’ has the meaning given such term in sec10 tion 27(f)(5) of the Office of Federal Procure11 ment Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 423(f)(5)). 

12 ‘‘(12) APPLICABLE SUBCONTRACTS.—For pur13 poses of this subsection, the term ‘applicable sub14 contract’ means any subcontract under a contract 

15 that is subject to the requirements of paragraph (4) 

16 or (5) of section 8(d).’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 15(h)(2) 

18 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(h)(2)) is 

19 amended by striking subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F), 

20 and inserting the following new subparagraphs: 

21 ‘‘(D) The total number and dollar value of 

22 prime contracts awarded to each specified category 

23 of small business concerns through—

24 ‘‘(i) noncompetitive negotiation;
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1 ‘‘(ii) competition restricted to such speci2 fied category; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) unrestricted competition. 

4 ‘‘(E) The total number and dollar value of ap5 plicable subcontracts (as defined in subsection 

6 (g)(12)) awarded to each specified category of small 

7 business concerns. 

8 ‘‘(F) The information described in subpara9 graphs (D) and (E) stated separately with respect to 

10 each agency.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO SUBCONTRACTING 

12 PLANS. 

13 (a) FACTORS FOR EVALUATING OFFERS.—Subpara14 graph (G) of section 8(d)(4) of the Small Business Act 

15 (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(G) In the case of any contract that is awarded pur17 suant to the negotiated method of procurement, the fol18 lowing shall be treated as significant factors for purposes 

19 of evaluating offers for any such contract: 

20 ‘‘(i) A factor that is based on the extent to 

21 which the subcontracting plan for small business 

22 participation in the performance of the contract ex23 ceeds the requirement described in paragraph 

24 (6)(A). 
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1 ‘‘(ii) A factor that is based on the extent to 

2 which the subcontracting plan provides for the use 

3 of small business concerns with respect to which the 

4 contractor is serving as a mentor under a mentoring 

5 program established by the agency. 

6 ‘‘(iii) A factor that is based on the extent to 

7 which the offeror attained applicable goals for small 

8 business participation in the performance of past 

9 and current contracts.’’. 

10 (b) MINIMUM GOAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

11 8(d)(6) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(6)) 

12 is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(A) percentage goals for the utilization as sub14 contractors of each specified category of small busi15 ness concerns (determined in accordance with the re16 quirement of section 15(g)(9)), which goal for the 

17 utilization of small business concerns shall be not 

18 less than the percentage goal established under sec19 tion 15(g)(2);’’. 

20 (c) REQUIRED PENALTY FOR MATERIAL BREACH.—

21 Paragraph (8) of section 8(d) of the Small Business Act 

22 (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(8)) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: ‘‘If a contracting officer finds the prime con24 tractor or any subcontractor to be in material breach 

25 under this paragraph, such prime contractor shall pay a 
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1 penalty in an amount determined by such officer, except 

2 that such penalty shall not be less than 10 percent of the 

3 total dollar value of the contract under which the prime 

4 contractor or subcontractor is in material breach. Rules 

5 similar to the rules of paragraph (4)(F)(ii) shall apply for 

6 purposes of the preceding sentence. Notwithstanding any 

7 other provision of law, the amount of any penalty collected 

8 under this paragraph shall be paid over to the agency that 

9 let the contract and may be retained and used by such 

10 agency for any operating expense of the agency.’’. 

11 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

12 (a) SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

14 3(q) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

15 632(q)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(1) SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN.—The term 

17 ‘service-disabled veteran’ means any veteran with a 

18 disability that is—

19 ‘‘(A) service-connected (as defined in sec20 tion 101(16) of title 38, United States Code); 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) rated at 10 percent or more disabling 

23 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or, in the 

24 case of a disability not rated by the Secretary 

25 of Veterans Affairs, by the Secretary concerned 
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1 (as defined in section 101(25) of title 38, 

2 United States Code).’’. 

3 (2) TRANSITION RULE.—A small business con4 cern that is receiving assistance under this Act (or 

5 if fully approved to receive such assistance) on the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act shall not cease to 

7 qualify for such assistance solely because of the 

8 amendment made by paragraph (1). The preceding 

9 sentence shall not make such concern eligible for any 

10 other assistance. 

11 (b) SPECIFIED CATEGORIES AND SUBCATEGORIES OF

12 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.—Section 3 of the Small 

13 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632) is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following new subsections: 

15 ‘‘(r) SPECIFIED CATEGORY OF SMALL BUSINESS

16 CONCERNS.—For purposes of this Act, each of following 

17 is a specified category of small business concerns: 

18 ‘‘(1) Small business concerns owned and con19 trolled by veterans. 

20 ‘‘(2) Small business concerns owned and con21 trolled by service-disabled veterans. 

22 ‘‘(3) Qualified HUBZone small business con23 cerns. 
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1 ‘‘(4) Small business concerns owned and con2 trolled by socially and economically disadvantaged 

3 individuals. 

4 ‘‘(5) Small business concerns owned and con5 trolled by women. 

6 ‘‘(6) Small business concerns. 

7 ‘‘(s) SPECIFIED SUBCATEGORIES OF SMALL BUSI8 NESS CONCERNS.—For purposes of this Act, each speci9 fied category of small business concerns described in para10 graphs (1) through (5) of subsection (r) is a specified sub11 category of small business concerns.’’. 

12 SEC. 7. UNIFORM APPLICATION OF DEFINITIONS OF SPECI13 FIED CATEGORIES AND SUBCATEGORIES OF 

14 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—

16 (1) Section 8(d)(1) of the Small Business Act 

17 (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(1)) is amended—

18 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘small 

19 business concerns’’ the first place it appears 

20 and all that follows through ‘‘women,’’ and in21 serting ‘‘each specified category of small busi22 ness concerns’’; and 

23 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

24 ‘‘small business concerns’’ the first place it ap25 pears and all that follows through ‘‘women’’
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1 and inserting ‘‘each specified category of small 

2 business concerns’’. 

3 (2) Paragraphs (4)(D), (4)(E), (6)(C), (6)(F), 

4 and (10)(B) of section 8(d) of the Small Business 

5 Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)) are each amended by strik6 ing ‘‘small business concerns’’ the first place it ap7 pears and all that follows through ‘‘women’’ and in8 serting ‘‘each specified category of small business 

9 concerns’’. 

10 (3) Paragraphs (1) and (2)(A) of section 15(h) 

11 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(h)) are 

12 each amended by striking ‘‘small business concerns’’ 

13 the first place it appears and all that follows 

14 through ‘‘women’’ and inserting ‘‘each specified cat15 egory of small business concerns’’. 

16 (4) Section 16(d)(1) of the Small Business Act 

17 (15 U.S.C. 645(d)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘as a 

18 ‘small business concern’ ’’ and all that follows 

19 through ‘‘women’,’’ and inserting ‘‘as being part of 

20 any specified category of small business concerns’’. 

21 (5) Section 16(e) of the Small Business Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 645(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘as a ‘small 

23 business concern’ ’’ and all that follows through 

24 ‘‘women’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘as being part of any speci25 fied category of small business concerns’’. 
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1 (b) APPLICATION TO CONTRACT CLAUSES.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(d)(3) of the Small 

3 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)) is amended—

4 (A) in the first and second sentences of 

5 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘small business 

6 concerns’’ the first place it appears in each sen7 tence and all that follows through ‘‘women’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘each specified category of small busi9 ness concerns’’; 

10 (B) by striking subparagraphs (C), (D), 

11 (E), (F), and (G); and 

12 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

13 the following new subparagraphs: 

14 ‘‘(C) As used in this contract, the term 

15 ‘specified category of small business concerns’ 

16 has the meaning given such term pursuant to 

17 section 3 of the Small Business Act and rel18 evant regulations promulgated thereto. 

19 ‘‘(D) The contractor shall presume that so20 cially and economically disadvantaged individ21 uals include Black Americans, Hispanic Ameri22 cans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific Ameri23 cans, other minorities, and any other individual 

24 found to be disadvantaged by the Administra-
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1 tion pursuant to section 8(a) of the Small Busi2 ness Act. 

3 ‘‘(E) Contractors acting in good faith may 

4 rely on written representations by their sub5 contractors regarding their status as being part 

6 of any specified category of small business con7 cerns.’’. 

8 (2) DEFINITION OF SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN

9 OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY SOCIALLY AND ECO10 NOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS.—Section 

11 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632) is fur12 ther amended by adding at the end the following 

13 new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(t) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND CON15 TROLLED BY SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN16 TAGED INDIVIDUALS.—For purposes of this Act: 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘small business 

18 concern owned and controlled by socially and eco19 nomically disadvantaged individuals’ means a small 

20 business concern—

21 ‘‘(A) which is at least 51 percent owned by 

22 one or more socially and economically disadvan23 taged individuals; or, in the case of any publicly 

24 owned business, at least 51 percent of the stock 
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1 of which is owned by one or more socially and 

2 economically disadvantaged individuals; and 

3 ‘‘(B) whose management and daily busi4 ness operations are controlled by one or more of 

5 such individuals.’’. 

6 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF DEFINITION BY PERSONS

7 OTHER THAN THE ADMINISTRATION.—Any indi8 vidual or entity (other than the Administration) 

9 shall presume for purposes of carrying out any pro10 gram that socially and economically disadvantaged 

11 individuals include Black Americans, Hispanic 

12 Americans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific Ameri13 cans, other minorities, and any other individual 

14 found to be disadvantaged by the Administration 

15 pursuant to section 8(a).’’. 

16 (3) TREATMENT OF REFERENCES TO DEFINI17 TIONS.—Any reference in a law, regulation, or other 

18 document of the United States to the meaning or 

19 definition given to the term ‘‘small business concern 

20 owned and controlled by socially and economically 

21 disadvantaged individuals’’, ‘‘small business concern 

22 owned and controlled by women’’, ‘‘small business 

23 concern owned and controlled by veterans’’, or 

24 ‘‘qualified HUBZone small business concern’’ in sec25 tion 8(d)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
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1 637(d)(3)) (as in effect on the day before the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act) shall be treated as a 

3 reference to the meaning or definition given such 

4 term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (as 

5 amended by this Act).

Æ