I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1772

To improve small business advocacy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2003

Mr. AKIN (for himself and Mr. SCHROCK) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL

To improve small business advocacy, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Advo5 cacy Improvement Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Excessive regulations continue to burden 

9 the Nation’s small businesses. 

10 (2) Federal agencies continue to propose regu11 lations that impose disproportionate burdens on 

12 small businesses. 
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1 (3) An independent office of small business ad2 vocacy will help to ensure that Federal agencies are 

3 responsive to small businesses and that those agen4 cies comply with their statutory obligations with re5 spect to small businesses. 

6 (4) The independence of an office that acts as 

7 an advocate for small businesses is essential to en8 sure that it can serve as an effective advocate with9 out being restricted by the views or policies of the 

10 Small Business Administration or any other Federal 

11 executive branch agency. 

12 (5) To be effective an office that acts as an ad13 vocate for small businesses needs sufficient resources 

14 to conduct creditable economic studies and research 

15 which are necessary for the maintenance of small 

16 business databases and for the accurate assessment 

17 of the impact of regulations on small businesses, the 

18 role of small business in the Nation’s economy, and 

19 the barriers to the growth of small businesses. 

20 (6) The research, information, and expertise 

21 provided by an independent office of small business 

22 advocacy will be a valuable source of information 

23 and advice for Congress and Federal agencies with 

24 which the office will work on behalf of small busi25 nesses. 
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1 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

2 (1) to ensure that there exists an entity that 

3 has the statutory independence and adequate finan4 cial resources to effectively advocate for and on be5 half of small business; 

6 (2) to require that such an entity report to the 

7 Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Committee 

8 on Small Business of the House of Representatives 

9 and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre10 neurship of the Senate, and to the Administrator of 

11 the Small Business Administration in order to keep 

12 them fully and currently informed about issues and 

13 regulations affecting small business concerns and the 

14 necessity for corrective action by the regulatory 

15 agency or Congress; 

16 (3) to provide a separate authorization for ap17 propriations for such an entity; and 

18 (4) to strengthen the role of the Small Business 

19 and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombuds20 man by ensuring continued cooperation between the 

21 Ombudsman and the Office of Advocacy of the 

22 Small Business Administration. 

23 SEC. 3. APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF COUNSEL OF ADVOCACY. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of Public Law 94–

25 305 (15 U.S.C. 634a) is amended—
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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘There is estab2 lished’’; 

3 (2) by striking the second sentence; and 

4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(b) The management of the Office shall be vested 

6 in a Chief Counsel for Advocacy who shall be appointed 

7 from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice 

8 and consent of the Senate, and who should be appointed 

9 without regard to political affiliation and on the basis of 

10 fitness to perform the duties of the office. 

11 ‘‘(c) No individual may be appointed under sub12 section (b) if such individual has served as an officer or 

13 employee of the Small Business Administration during the 

14 5-year period preceding the date of such individual’s ap15 pointment. 

16 ‘‘(d) An individual serving as Chief Counsel on the 

17 date of the expiration of any term of the President may 

18 not continue to serve as Chief Counsel for more than 1 

19 year after such date unless such individual is reappointed 

20 after such date by the President, by and with the advice 

21 and consent of the Senate. The preceding sentence shall 

22 not apply in the case of the expiration of a term of an 

23 individual holding the office of President if such individual 

24 is elected to the office of President for a term successive 

25 to such term.’’. 
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1 (b) INCUMBENT CHIEF COUNSEL FOR ADVOCACY.—

2 The individual serving as the Chief Counsel for Advocacy 

3 of the Small Business Administration on the date of the 

4 enactment of this Act shall continue to serve in that posi5 tion after such date in accordance with section 201 of 

6 Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634a), as amended by this 

7 section. 

8 SEC. 4. PRIMARY FUNCTIONS OF OFFICE OF ADVOCACY. 

9 Section 202 of Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634b) 

10 is amended—

11 (1) in paragraph (6) by striking ‘‘to minority 

12 enterprises’’ and inserting ‘‘to small business con13 cerns owned and controlled by socially and economi14 cally disadvantaged individuals, to small business 

15 concerns owned and controlled by women, and to 

16 small business concerns owned and controlled by vet17 erans’’; 

18 (2) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘minority en19 terprises’’ and inserting ‘‘small business concerns 

20 owned and controlled by socially and economically 

21 disadvantaged individuals, small business concerns 

22 owned and controlled by women, and small business 

23 concerns owned and controlled by veterans’’; 

24 (3) in paragraph (8) by striking ‘‘minority and 

25 other small business enterprises’’ and inserting 
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1 ‘‘small business concerns owned and controlled by 

2 socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, 

3 small business concerns owned and controlled by 

4 women, small business concerns owned and con5 trolled by veterans, and other small businesses’’; 

6 (4) in paragraph (9) by striking ‘‘complete’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘compete’’; 

8 (5) by striking paragraph (11); 

9 (6) by redesignating paragraph (12) as para10 graph (11); 

11 (7) in paragraph (11) (as so redesignated)—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘serviced-disabled’’ and in13 serting ‘‘service-disabled’’; and 

14 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

15 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (8) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(12) make such recommendations and submit 

18 such reports as the Chief Counsel determines appro19 priate to the President, to the Chairmen and Rank20 ing Members of the Committee on Small Business of 

21 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

22 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, 

23 and to the Administrator of the Small Business Ad24 ministration, with respect to issues and regulations 

25 affecting small businesses and the necessity for cor-
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1 rective action by any Federal agency or by Con2 gress.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of Public Law 94–

5 305 (15 U.S.C. 634c) is amended—

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘The Office of Ad7 vocacy shall also perform’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (a) (as so designated)—

9 (A) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (B) in paragraph (5) by striking the period 

12 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(6) maintain economic databases and make 

15 the information contained therein available to the 

16 Administrator of the Small Business Administration 

17 and to Congress; 

18 ‘‘(7) carry out the responsibilities of the Chief 

19 Counsel under chapter 6 of title 5, United States 

20 Code; and 

21 ‘‘(8) maintain a memorandum of understanding 

22 with the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory 

23 Enforcement Ombudsman regarding methods and 

24 procedures for cooperation between the Ombudsman 

25 and the Office of Advocacy and transmit a copy of 
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1 such memorandum to the Committee on Small Busi2 ness of the House of Representatives and the Com3 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

4 the Senate.’’. 

5 (b) APPROPRIATION REQUEST.—Section 203 of Pub6 lic Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634c) is further amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(b)(1) For each fiscal year, the Chief Counsel shall 

9 transmit the Office of Advocacy’s appropriation estimate 

10 and request to the Office of Management and Budget, the 

11 Committee on Small Business of the House of Representa12 tives, the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre13 neurship of the Senate, and the Committees on Appropria14 tions of the House of Representatives and the Senate. 

15 ‘‘(2) Each budget of the United States Government 

16 submitted by the President shall include a separate state17 ment of the amount of appropriations requested for the 

18 Office of Advocacy.’’. 

19 SEC. 6. PRINCIPAL DEPUTY CHIEF COUNSEL AND RE20 GIONAL ADVOCATES. 

21 Section 204 of Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634d) 

22 is amended—

23 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘In carrying out’’; 

24 and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(b)(1) The Chief Counsel may appoint 1 individual 

2 to serve as Principal Deputy Chief Counsel. 

3 ‘‘(2) The Principal Deputy Chief Counsel shall be 

4 paid at an annual rate not less than the minimum rate, 

5 nor more than the maximum rate, for the Senior Execu6 tive Service under chapter 53 of title 5, United States 

7 Code. 

8 ‘‘(3) An individual appointed to a position under this 

9 subsection shall not be counted toward the limitation con10 tained in subsection (a)(1) regarding the number of indi11 viduals who may be compensated at a rate in excess of 

12 the lowest rate for GS–15 of the General Schedule. 

13 ‘‘(c) The Chief Counsel may appoint regional advo14 cates within each Standard Federal Region as appro15 priate. Such regional advocates shall—

16 ‘‘(1) assist in examining the role of small busi17 ness in the economy of the United States by identi18 fying academic and other research institutions that 

19 focus on small business concerns and linking these 

20 research resources to research activities conducted 

21 by the Office of Advocacy; 

22 ‘‘(2) assist in representing the views and inter23 ests of small business concerns before Federal agen24 cies whose policies and activities may affect small 

25 business; 
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1 ‘‘(3) assist the functioning of regional small 

2 business fairness boards in coordination with the 

3 Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforce4 ment Ombudsman; 

5 ‘‘(4) assist in enlisting the cooperation and as6 sistance of public and private agencies, businesses, 

7 and other organizations in disseminating information 

8 about the programs and services provided by the 

9 Federal Government that are of benefit to small 

10 business concerns and the means by which small 

11 business concerns can participate in or make use of 

12 such programs and services; and 

13 ‘‘(5) carry out such duties pursuant to the mis14 sion of the Office of Advocacy as the Chief Counsel 

15 may assign.’’. 

16 SEC. 7. OVERHEAD AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. 

17 Section 205 of Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634e) 

18 is amended by inserting before ‘‘Each department’’ the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(a) The Administrator of the Small Business Ad21 ministration shall provide the Office of Advocacy with ap22 propriate and adequate office space at central and field 

23 office locations of the Administration, together with such 

24 equipment, office supplies, communications facilities, and 
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1 personnel and maintenance services as may be necessary 

2 for the operation of such offices. 

3 ‘‘(b)’’. 

4 SEC. 8. REPORTS. 

5 Section 206 of Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634f) 

6 is amended by striking ‘‘The Chief Counsel may’’ and all 

7 that follows through ‘‘on his activities.’’ and inserting the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(a) Not less than annually, the Chief Counsel shall 

10 submit to the President, the Committee on Small Business 

11 of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Small 

12 Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, the Com13 mittee on Government Affairs of the Senate, the Com14 mittee on Government Reform of the House of Represent15 atives, and the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate 

16 and the House of Representatives, and the Administrator 

17 of the Small Business Administration a report on agency 

18 compliance with chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code. 

19 ‘‘(b) In addition to the reports required by this title, 

20 the Chief Counsel may prepare and publish such other re21 ports as the Chief Counsel determines appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(c)’’. 

23 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 Section 207 of Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634g) 

25 is amended by striking ‘‘not to exceed $1,000,000’’ and 
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1 inserting ‘‘$10,000,000 for fiscal years 2003 and 2004, 

2 $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, and $14,000,000 for fis3 cal year 2006’’. 

4 SEC. 10. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

5 (a) RURAL TOURISM TRAINING PROGRAM.—Section 

6 311 of the Small Business Administration Reauthorization 

7 and Amendments Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 653 note; 104 

8 Stat. 2832) is amended by striking ‘‘Chief Counsel for Ad9 vocacy’’ and inserting ‘‘Administrator’’. 

10 (b) SMALL BUSINESS AND AGRICULTURE REGU11 LATORY ENFORCEMENT OMBUDSMAN.—Section 30(b)(2) 

12 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657(b)(2)) is 

13 amended—

14 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

15 the end; 

16 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 

17 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(F) maintain a memorandum of under20 standing with the Office of Advocacy regarding 

21 methods and procedures for cooperation be22 tween the Ombudsman and the Office of Advo23 cacy.’’.

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