29–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 112–732 

WOMEN’S PROCUREMENT PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT ACT 

OF 2012 

DECEMBER 27, 2012.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, from the Committee on Small Business, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 4203] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Small Business, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 4203) to amend the Small Business Act with respect to the 

procurement program for women-owned small business concerns, 

and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do 

pass. 

CONTENTS 

I. Text of Reported Bill ................................................................................... 2 

II. Purpose of the Bill and Summary ............................................................. 3 

III. Need for Legislation .................................................................................... 3 

IV. Hearings ....................................................................................................... 4 

V. Committee Consideration ........................................................................... 4 

VI. Committee Votes ......................................................................................... 4 

VII. Section-by-Section Analysis of H.R. 4203 .................................................. 4 

VIII. Congressional Budget Cost Estimate ........................................................ 5 

IX. Unfunded Mandates .................................................................................... 6 

X. New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures 6 

XI. Oversight Findings ...................................................................................... 6 

XII. Statement of Constitutional Authority ...................................................... 6 

XIII. Congressional Accountability Act .............................................................. 6 

XIV. Federal Advisory Committee Statement ................................................... 7 

XV. Statement of No Earmarks ........................................................................ 7 

XVI. Performance Goals and Objectives ............................................................ 7 

XVII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................ 7 


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I. TEXT OF REPORTED BILL

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women’s Procurement Program 

Improvement Act of 2012’’. 

SEC. 2. PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 

Section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(m)) is 

amended— 

(1) in paragraph (2)— 

(A) by striking subparagraph (D); 

(B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph 

(D) respectively; and 

(C) by striking subparagraph (F), and inserting the following: 

‘‘(E) each of the concerns— 

‘‘(i) is certified by a Federal agency, a State government, or a national certifying entity approved by the 

Administrator, as a small business concern owned and 

controlled by women; or 

‘‘(ii) is certified by the Administrator as a small 

business concern owned and controlled by women.’’; 

(2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘subparagraph (2)(A)’’ inserting the following: ‘‘paragraph (2)(A) or paragraph (7)(A)’’; 

(3) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘under paragraph (2)(F)’’ 

each place it appears and inserting ‘‘under paragraph (2)(E)’’; 

and 

(4) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(7) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES.—In accordance with 

this section, a contracting officer may award a sole source contract to any small business concern meeting the requirements 

of section 8(m)(2)(A) of this Act if— 

‘‘(A) such concern is determined to be a responsible contract with respect to performance of such contract opportunity and the contracting officer does not have a reasonable expectation that 2 or more businesses meeting the requirements of section 8(m)(2)(A) will submit offers; 

‘‘(B) the anticipated award price of the contract (including options) will not exceed— ‘‘(i) $6,500,000 in the case of a contract opportunity 

assigned a standard industrial code for manufacturing; 

or 

‘‘(ii) $4,000,000 in the case of any other contract opportunity; and 

‘‘(C) in the estimation of the contracting officer, the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable price. 

‘‘(8) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS FOR WOMEN-OWNED SMALL

BUSINESSES IN SUBSTANTIALLY UNDERREPRESENTED INDUS- TRIES.—In accordance with this section, a contracting officer 

may award a sole source contract to any small business concerns meeting the requirements of section 8(m)(3) of this Act 

if— 


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1Originally, title II of the Act of July 30, 1953, c. 282, 67 Stat. 232 was designated as the 

Small Business Act of 1953. A plethora of amendments in subsequent Congresses led to a rewrite in 1958. Pub. L. No. 85–536, § 1, 72m Stat. 384 (1958). The Act is codified at 15 U.S.C. 

§§ 631–657q. 2 Id. at § 644(a). 

‘‘(A) such concern is determined to be a responsible contract with respect to performance of such contract opportunity and the contracting officer does not have a reasonable expectation that 2 or more businesses meeting the requirements of section 8(m)(3) will submit offers; 

‘‘(B) the anticipated award price of the contract (including options) will not exceed— ‘‘(i) $6,500,000 in the case of a contract opportunity 

assigned a standard industrial code for manufacturing; 

or 

‘‘(ii) $4,000,000 in the case of any other contract opportunity; and 

‘‘(C) in the estimation of the contracting officer, the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable price.’’. 

II. PURPOSE AND BILL SUMMARY

The purpose of H.R. 4203, the ‘‘Women’s Procurement Program 

Improvement Act of 2012,’’ is to amend the Small Business Act (the 

Act) 1 to make technical changes to the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program enacted by Congress in 

2000. The specific changes relate to the size of contracts that can 

be awarded in the program to maintain consistency with similar 

specialized contracting programs in the Act. Additionally, the legislation provides for the use of sole-source contracts for economically 

disadvantaged women-owned small businesses and those in substantially underrepresented industries. Further, the legislation alters how small business concerns owned and controlled by women 

are certified in order to be eligible for the WOSB program. 

III. NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Act iterates Congress’s belief in the importance of small 

business participation in federal prime contracts and the resultant 

subcontracts. Specifically, the Act directs that: 

To effectuate the purpose of this Act, small-business concerns within the meaning of this Act shall receive any 

award or contract or any part thereof, and be awarded any 

contract for the sale of Government property, as to which 

it is determined by the Administration and the contracting 

procurement or disposal agency (1) to be in the interest of 

maintaining or mobilizing the Nation’s full productive capacity, (2) to be in the interest of war or national defense 

programs, (3) to in the interest of assuring that a fair proportion of the total purchase and contracts for property 

and services for the Government in each industry category 

are placed with small-business concerns, or (4) to be in the 

interest of assuring that a fair proportion of the total sales 

of Government be made to small-business concerns.2

To effectuate these objectives, Congress has enacted six different 

contract programs overseen by the Small Business Administration’s 


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3The Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000, § 811, Appendix I to consolidation Appropriations Act, 2001, Publ. L. No. 165–554, 144 Stat. 2763, 2763A–667, 2763A–708–10. The 

WOSB Program is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 637(m). 4Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program; Final Rule, 75 Fed. Reg. 194, 

62258 (Oct. 7, 2010). 5 Id. 

(SBA’s) Office of Government Contracting and Business Development. The Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program, which this legislation makes technical corrections 

to, was created in 2000 under § 811 of the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000.3 At the time of enactment, limitations on 

contract award size were placed at $5,000,000 for manufacturing 

and $3,000,000 for all other contracts. 

Due to challenges in identifying industries through a study as required under law, the SBA did not implement the final rules on 

this program until October 2010 4 and the WOSB program was not 

fully operational until 2011. Prior to implementation, SBA received 

comments indicating that limitations on contract award size and 

the inability to sole-source awards, were inconsistent with other 

contracting programs administered by the agency and would be 

problematic to achieving the program’s objectives. 5 However, as 

these limitations statutory, the SBA could not alter them. H.R. 

4206 removes the limitations and aligns the WOSB program with 

other SBA contracting programs. 

IV. HEARINGS

Since changes made in the bill were of a technical nature, no 

hearings were necessary to address the legislation. 

V. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

The Committee on Small Business met in open session, with a 

quorum being present, on March 22, 2012, and ordered H.R. 4203 

reported to the House by a voice vote at 11:06 a.m. During the 

markup, no amendments were offered. 

VI. COMMITTEE VOTES

Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded votes on the motion to report the legislation and amendments thereto. No recorded 

votes were taken in consideration of H.R. 4203. 

VII. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF H.R. 4203 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF H.R. 4203 AS AMENDED

Section 1—Short Title 

This section provides that the bill may be cited as the ‘‘Women’s 

Procurement Program Improvement Act of 2012.’’ 

Section 2—Procurement Program for Women-Owned Small Business Concerns 

This section removes the contract award limitations found in the 

WOSB program. Further, this section requires all participants in 

the WOSB program be certified as a small business concern owned 


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and controlled by women by either the SBA or entity approved by 

the Administrator to approve certifications. 

Finally, this section provides for sole-source contracts to be 

awarded under the WOSB program based upon certain restrictions. 

Specifically, these may be sole-sourced to either economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses or woman-owned small 

businesses in substantially underrepresented industries provided 

that the contract does not exceed $6.5 million for manufacturing or 

$4 million for other contracts, if the contracting officer does not 

have a reasonable expectation that two or more businesses will 

submit offers, and that the contract award can be made at a fair 

and reasonable price. 

VIII. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, May 16, 2012. 

Hon. SAM GRAVES, 

Chairman, Committee on Small Business, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4203, the Women’s Procurement Program Improvement Act of 2012. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 4203—Women’s Procurement Program Improvement Act of 

2012 

H.R. 4203 would expand the federal contracting opportunities for 

certain small businesses that are owned by women. Specifically, 

the legislation would permit federal contracting officers to award 

sole-source contracts, which are awarded in a noncompetitive process, to small businesses that are owned by women who are economically disadvantaged or who own businesses in certain industries where women are considered underrepresented among owners. Under the bill, in order to be eligible to provide services to the 

federal government, women-owned small businesses would have to 

be certified of their status by the Small Business Administration 

(SBA). 

Based on information from the SBA and the General Services 

Administration, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 4203 

would cost about $5 million per year, assuming appropriation of 

the necessary amounts. That amount includes the estimated costs 

to train contracting officers throughout the federal government and 

for the SBA to administer certifications under the bill. The bill 

could affect direct spending by agencies not funded through annual 

appropriations; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO estimates, however, that any net increase in spending by those agencies would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 4203 would not affect 

revenues. 


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H.R. 4203 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. 

This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

IX. UNFUNDED MANDATES

H.R. 4203 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, Pub. L. 

No. 104–4, and would impose no costs on state, local or tribal governments. 

X. NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY AND TAX

EXPENDITURES

In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House, the Committee provides the following opinion and estimate 

with respect to new budget authority, entitlement authority and 

tax expenditures. 

The Committee does not adopt as its own the estimate of new 

budget authority contained in the cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) pursuant to 402 of 

the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. The CBO estimates that it 

will cost the Federal government $5 million annually to train contracting officers on the program and to administer the certifications. However, training of federal contracting officers is funded 

through the Federal Acquisition Institute and Defense Acquisition 

University, so no additional funding will be required. Likewise, the 

legislation allows SBA to rely on third party certifications, so the 

cost of administering certifications should be negligible. Furthermore, the SBA has been operating the program for nearly two 

years under existing salary and expenses. The Committee sees no 

reason why continued operation of an extant program will cost the 

SBA more money than it already does. 

XI. OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

In accordance with clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the 

House, the oversight findings and recommendations of the Committee on Small Business with respect to the subject matter contained in H.R. 4203 are incorporated into the descriptive portions 

of this report. 

XII. STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee finds that the authority for this 

legislation in Art. I, § 8, cls. 1, 3, and 18 and Art. IV, § 3, cl. 2 of 

the Constitution of the United States. 

XIII. CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

H.R. 4203 does not relate to the terms and conditions of employment or access to public services or accommodations within the 

meaning of § 102(b)(3) of Pub. L. No. 104–1. 


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XIV. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT STATEMENT

H.R. 4203 does not establish or authorize the establishment of 

any new advisory committees as that term is defined in the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 2. 

XV. STATEMENT OF NO EARMARKS

Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI, H.R. 4203 does not contain any 

congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits or limited tariff benefits as defined in subsections (d), (e) or (f) of clause 9 of rule XXI 

of the Rules of the House. 

XVI. PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House, 

the Committee establishes the following performance-related goals 

and objectives for this legislation: 

H.R. 4203 includes provisions designed to improve the 

competitive nature of women-owned small businesses by 

removing current limits on contract awards, and allowing 

sole source contracts for economically disadvantaged 

women-owned small businesses and in substantially 

underrepresented industries. 

XVII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, 

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

SMALL BUSINESS ACT 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 8. (a) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(m) PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.— 

(1) * * * 

(2) AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT COMPETITION.—In accordance 

with this subsection, a contracting officer may restrict competition for any contract for the procurement of goods or services 

by the Federal Government to small business concerns owned 

and controlled by women, if— 

(A) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

ø(D) the anticipated award price of the contract (including options) does not exceed— 

ø(i) $5,000,000, in the case of a contract assigned an 

industrial classification code for manufacturing; or 

ø(ii) $3,000,000, in the case of all other contracts;¿ 

ø(E)¿ (D) in the estimation of the contracting officer, the 

contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable price; 

and 


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ø(F) each of the concerns— 

ø(i) is certified by a Federal agency, a State government, or a national certifying entity approved by the 

Administrator, as a small business concern owned and 

controlled by women; or 

ø(ii) certifies to the contracting officer that it is a 

small business concern owned and controlled by 

women and provides adequate documentation, in accordance with standards established by the Administration, to support such certification.¿ 

(E) each of the concerns— 

(i) is certified by a Federal agency, a State government, or a national certifying entity approved by the 

Administrator, as a small business concern owned and 

controlled by women; or 

(ii) is certified by the Administrator as a small business concern owned and controlled by women. 

(3) WAIVER.—With respect to a small business concern 

owned and controlled by women, the Administrator may waive 

øsubparagraph (2)(A)¿ paragraph (2)(A) or paragraph (7)(A) if 

the Administrator determines that the concern is in an industry in which small business concerns owned and controlled by 

women are substantially underrepresented. 

* * * * * * * 

(5) ENFORCEMENT; PENALTIES.— (A) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In carrying out this 

subsection, the Administrator shall establish procedures 

relating to— 

(i) the filing, investigation, and disposition by the 

Administration of any challenge to the eligibility of a 

small business concern to receive assistance under this 

subsection (including a challenge, filed by an interested party, relating to the veracity of a certification 

made or information provided to the Administration 

by a small business concern øunder paragraph (2)(F)¿ 

under paragraph (2)(E)); and 

(ii) verification by the Administrator of the accuracy 

of any certification made or information provided to 

the Administration by a small business concern 

øunder paragraph (2)(F)¿ under paragraph (2)(E). 

(B) EXAMINATIONS.—The procedures established under 

subparagraph (A) may provide for program examinations 

(including random program examinations) by the Administrator of any small business concern making a certification 

or providing information to the Administrator øunder 

paragraph (2)(F)¿ under paragraph (2)(E). 

* * * * * * * 

(7) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES.—In accordance with 

this section, a contracting officer may award a sole source contract to any small business concern meeting the requirements of 

section 8(m)(2)(A) of this Act if— 

(A) such concern is determined to be a responsible contract with respect to performance of such contract opporVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:47 Jan 15, 2013 Jkt 029006 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6603 E:\HR\OC\HR732.XXX HR732

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tunity and the contracting officer does not have a reasonable expectation that 2 or more businesses meeting the requirements of section 8(m)(2)(A) will submit offers; 

(B) the anticipated award price of the contract (including 

options) will not exceed— (i) $6,500,000 in the case of a contract opportunity 

assigned a standard industrial code for manufacturing; or (ii) $4,000,000 in the case of any other contract opportunity; and 

(C) in the estimation of the contracting officer, the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable price. 

(8) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS FOR WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES IN SUBSTANTIALLY UNDERREPRESENTED INDUSTRIES.— 

In accordance with this section, a contracting officer may 

award a sole source contract to any small business concerns 

meeting the requirements of section 8(m)(3) of this Act if— 

(A) such concern is determined to be a responsible contract with respect to performance of such contract opportunity and the contracting officer does not have a reasonable expectation that 2 or more businesses meeting the requirements of section 8(m)(3) will submit offers; 

(B) the anticipated award price of the contract (including 

options) will not exceed— 

(i) $6,500,000 in the case of a contract opportunity 

assigned a standard industrial code for manufacturing; or 

(ii) $4,000,000 in the case of any other contract opportunity; and 

(C) in the estimation of the contracting officer, the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable price. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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