I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3483

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a temporary loan program 

and a temporary vocational development program for small business 

concerns owned and controlled by veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2003

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself and Mrs. KELLY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a temporary 

loan program and a temporary vocational development 

program for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans.

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 ‘‘Seeds for Soldiers 

5 Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY LOAN PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSI2 NESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED 

3 BY VETERANS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Small 

5 Business Administration may make loans under section 

6 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) to 

7 small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans. 

8 (b) SPECIAL RULES.—Notwithstanding the require9 ments of section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 636), the following special rules apply to loans described 

11 in subsection (a): 

12 (1) PURPOSE OF LOANS.—The Administrator 

13 may make such loans for any business purpose, in14 cluding the refinancing of any outstanding business 

15 debt. 

16 (2) DEFERRAL OF PAYMENTS WITHOUT INTER17 EST.—No payment of principal on any such loan 

18 shall be due or payable during the 1-year period be19 ginning on the date that such loan is issued. Any in20 terest payable with respect to such loan for such pe21 riod shall be paid by the Administration. 

22 (3) AMOUNT OF LOANS.—Any such loan may be 

23 made if the total amount outstanding and committed 

24 to the borrower under section 7(a) of the Small 

25 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) would not exceed 

26 $3,000,000. 
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1 (4) GUARANTEED LOANS.—In the case of an 

2 agreement to participate on a deferred basis in any 

3 such loan—

4 (A) PARTICIPATION.—Such participation 

5 by the Administration shall be equal to 90 per6 cent of the balance of the financing outstanding 

7 at the time of disbursement of the loan. 

8 (B) GUARANTEE FEES.—The Adminis9 trator shall collect (except in the case of a loan 

10 that is repayable in 1 year or less) a guarantee 

11 fee, which shall be payable by the participating 

12 lender, and may be charged to the borrower as 

13 follows: 

14 (i) A guarantee fee equal to 0.5 per15 cent of the deferred participation share of 

16 a total loan amount that is not more than 

17 $150,000. 

18 (ii) A guarantee fee equal to 1.5 per19 cent of the deferred participation share of 

20 a total loan amount that is more than 

21 $150,000, but not more than $700,000. 

22 (iii) A guarantee fee equal to 2 per23 cent of the deferred participation share of 

24 a total loan amount that is more than 

25 $700,000. 
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1 (C) ANNUAL FEES.—The annual fee as2 sessed and collected on any such loan shall not 

3 exceed an amount equal to 0.15 percent of the 

4 outstanding balance of the deferred participa5 tion share of the loan. 

6 (5) CREDIT ELSEWHERE.—The Administrator 

7 may make such loans without regard to the ability 

8 of a small business concern to obtain credit else9 where. 

10 (6) COLLATERAL.—The Administrator shall 

11 make such loans without regard to the availability of 

12 collateral to secure such loans. 

13 (c) TERMINATION.—The Administrator shall not 

14 make any loan under this section after December 31, 

15 2005. 

16 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purpose of this section, the 

17 terms ‘‘Administrator’’, ‘‘Administration’’, ‘‘credit else18 where’’, and ‘‘small business concern owned and controlled 

19 by veterans’’ have the respective meanings given such 

20 terms in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

21 632), except as provided in subsection (b)(8). 

22 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

24 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2004. Such sum shall remain 

25 available until expended. 
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1 SEC. 3. TEMPORARY VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PRO2 GRAM FOR VETERANS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In accordance with this sec4 tion, the Administrator of the Small Business Administra5 tion shall make grants to small business development cen6 ters to enable such centers to provide to veterans a pro7 gram of assistance that includes training in a vocational 

8 or technical trade and entrepreneurial assistance in estab9 lishing and operating a small business concern that pro10 vides services in such trade. 

11 (b) MINIMUM GRANT.—The Administrator shall not 

12 make a grant under this section for an amount less than 

13 $500,000. 

14 (c) APPLICATION AND AWARD.—Each small business 

15 development center seeking a grant under this section 

16 shall submit to the Administrator an application in such 

17 form as the Administrator may require. The application 

18 shall include information regarding the applicant’s goals 

19 and objectives for the program of assistance described in 

20 subsection (a). In awarding the grants, the Administrator 

21 shall consider the needs of the area served by the small 

22 business development center, including whether the small 

23 business development center is located in the proximity of 

24 a United States military installation. 
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1 (d) TERMINATION.—The Administrator shall not 

2 make any grant under this section after December 31, 

3 2005. 

4 (e) COORDINATION WITH SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—

5 Grants made under this section shall not be taken into 

6 account for purposes of section 21 of the Small Business 

7 Act (15 U.S.C. 648). 

8 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi11 ness Administration. 

12 (2) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN13 TER.—The term ‘‘small business development cen14 ter’’ means a small business development center de15 scribed in section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 648). 

17 (3) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

18 meaning given such term in section 3(q)(4) of the 

19 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q)(4)). 

20 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2004. Such sum shall remain 

23 available until expended.

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