I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2499

To provide economic relief to general aviation small business concerns that 

have suffered substantial economic injury as a result of the terrorist 

attacks perpetrated against the United States on September 11, 2001. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 17, 2003

Mr. SHUSTER (for himself, Mr. HAYES, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. 

EHLERS, Mr. OTTER, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. GRAVES, 

and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL

To provide economic relief to general aviation small business 

concerns that have suffered substantial economic injury 

as a result of the terrorist attacks perpetrated against 

the United States on September 11, 2001.

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 ‘‘General Aviation Small 

5 Business Relief Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(b) of the Small Busi3 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended by adding after 

4 paragraph (3) the following: 

5 ‘‘(4) GENERAL AVIATION SMALL BUSINESS RE6 LIEF.—

7 ‘‘(A) GRANT AND LOAN AUTHORITY.—Not8 withstanding any other provision of law, the 

9 Administration—

10 ‘‘(i) shall, upon application, make 

11 grants to general aviation small business 

12 concerns in an amount equal to the 

13 amount of direct losses incurred by each 

14 such small business concern beginning on 

15 September 11, 2001, as a result of any 

16 Federal ground stop order issued by the 

17 Secretary of Transportation or any subse18 quent order which continues or renews 

19 such a stoppage related to the terrorist at20 tacks occurring on September 11, 2001, 

21 with respect to general aviation small busi22 ness concerns; 

23 ‘‘(ii) may make such loans (either di24 rectly or in cooperation with banks or 

25 other lending institutions through agree26 ments to participate on an immediate or 
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1 deferred basis) to assist a small business 

2 concern that—

3 ‘‘(I) is a general aviation small 

4 business concern; and 

5 ‘‘(II) has suffered or that is like6 ly to suffer as a result of the terrorist 

7 attacks perpetrated against the 

8 United States on September 11, 2001, 

9 substantial economic injury that is not 

10 incidental to the revenue of that small 

11 business concern and is not com12 pensated for by insurance or other13 wise. 

14 ‘‘(B) TERMS.—With respect to a loan 

15 under this paragraph—

16 ‘‘(i) no interest rate shall apply to the 

17 loan, and no interest shall accrue on the 

18 loan, during the 1-year period beginning 

19 on the date on which the loan is issued; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(ii) after the 1-year period described 

22 in clause (i), the applicable interest rate 

23 and other terms and conditions shall be 

24 the same as the interest rate and other 

25 terms and conditions as are applicable to 
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1 economic injury loans under paragraph 

2 (2). 

3 ‘‘(D) NO EFFECT ON LOAN LIMITS.—A 

4 grant or loan under this paragraph shall be in 

5 addition to any other grant or loan made under 

6 this Act, notwithstanding any limitation on the 

7 amounts of such grants or loans under this Act. 

8 ‘‘(E) NO DISASTER DECLARATION RE9 QUIRED.—For purposes of assistance under this 

10 paragraph, no declaration of a disaster area 

11 shall be required. 

12 ‘‘(F) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph—

13 ‘‘(i) the term ‘general aviation small 

14 business concern’ means a small business 

15 concern that is a regular provider of gen16 eral aviation services, including aircraft 

17 rentals and flight training instruction; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘substantial economic 

19 injury’ means an economic harm to a small 

20 business concern that results in the inabil21 ity of the small business concern—

22 ‘‘(I) to meet its obligations as 

23 they mature; 

24 ‘‘(II) to pay its ordinary and nec25 essary operating expenses; or 
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1 ‘‘(III) to market, produce, or pro2 vide a product or service ordinarily 

3 marketed, produced, or provided by 

4 the business concern.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 7(b) of 

6 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is amended—

7 (1) in the second undesignated paragraph fol8 lowing paragraph (4), as added by this section, by 

9 striking ‘‘paragraphs (1), (2), and (4)’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (2)’’; and 

11 (2) in subparagraph (E) of such undesignated 

12 paragraph, by striking ‘‘paragraph (1), (2), or (4)’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1) or (2)’’. 

14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to the Small Business 

16 Administration, such sums as may be necessary to carry 

17 out section 7(b)(4) of the Small Business Act, as added 

18 by this section, including administrative expenses, to re19 main available until expended. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFERMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS LOAN PAYMENTS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, payments on any loan issued to a general avia23 tion small business concern by the Small Business Admin24 istration shall be deferred with respect to principal and 

25 interest, and no interest shall accrue with respect to such 
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1 loan, during the 1-year period following the date of enact2 ment of this Act. 

3 (b) RESUMPTION OF PAYMENTS.—At the end of the 

4 1-year period described in subsection (a), the payment of 

5 periodic installments of principal and interest shall be re6 quired with respect to loans described in subsection (a), 

7 in the same manner and subject to the same terms and 

8 conditions as would otherwise be applicable to such loan. 

9 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘general 

10 aviation small business concern’’ has the same meaning 

11 as in section 7(b)(4) of the Small Business Act, as added 

12 by section 2 of this Act.

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