I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1597 

To amend the Small Business Act to clarify the responsibilities of commercial 

market representatives, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2017 

Mr. BRAT (for himself, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, and Mr. KNIGHT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small 

Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to clarify the responsibilities of commercial market representatives, 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 ‘‘The Commercial Mar5 ket Representatives Clarification Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMERCIAL MARKET REP7 RESENTATIVES. 

8 Section 4(h) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 633(h)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘CER2 TIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

5 and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively (and 

6 conforming the margins accordingly); 

7 (B) by amending clause (ii) (as so redesig8 nated) to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—The requirements of 

10 clause (i) shall be included in any initial job 

11 posting for the position of a commercial market 

12 representative and shall apply to any person ap13 pointed as a commercial market representative 

14 after November 25, 2015.’’; and 

15 (C) in clause (i) (as so redesignated), by 

16 striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub17 paragraph (A)’’; 

18 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

19 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively (and con20 forming the margins accordingly); 

21 (4) in subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated), 

22 by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara23 graph (B)’’; and 

24 (5) by inserting before subparagraph (A) (as so 

25 redesignated) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) DUTIES.—The principal duties of a com2 mercial market representative employed by the Ad3 ministrator and reporting to the senior official ap4 pointed by the Administrator with responsibilities 

5 under sections 8, 15, 31, and 36 (or the designee of 

6 such official) shall be to advance the policies estab7 lished in section 8(d)(1) relating to subcontracting. 

8 Such duties shall include— 

9 ‘‘(A) helping prime contractors to find 

10 small business concerns that are capable of per11 forming subcontracts; 

12 ‘‘(B) for contractors awarded contracts 

13 containing the clause described in section 

14 8(d)(3), providing— 

15 ‘‘(i) counseling on the contractor’s re16 sponsibility to maximize subcontracting op17 portunities for small business concerns; 

18 ‘‘(ii) instruction on methods and tools 

19 to identify potential subcontractors that 

20 are small business concerns; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) assistance to increase awards to 

22 subcontractors that are small business con23 cerns through visits, training, and reviews 

24 of past performance; 


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1 ‘‘(C) providing counseling on how a small 

2 business concern may promote its capacity to 

3 contractors awarded contracts containing the 

4 clause described in section 8(d)(3); and 

5 ‘‘(D) conducting periodic reviews of con6 tractors awarded contracts containing the 

7 clause described in section 8(d)(3) to assess 

8 compliance with subcontracting plans required 

9 under section 8(d)(6). 

10 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—’’. 

Æ 


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