II 

Calendar No. 279 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2042 

To reauthorize the Interagency Committee on Women’s Business Enterprise, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 14, 2021 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. CARDIN, and 

Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

FEBRUARY 17, 2022 

Reported by Mr. CARDIN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Interagency Committee on Women’s 

Business Enterprise, 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 ‘‘Interagency Committee 

5 on Women’s Business Enterprise Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN’S BUSINESS 

2 ENTERPRISE. 

3 Title IV of the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 

4 1988 (15 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) in section 402 (15 U.S.C. 7102)— 

6 (A) in subsection (a)— 

7 (i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (5); 

8 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

9 and (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respec10 tively; and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(4) monitor the plans, programs, and oper14 ations of the departments and agencies of the Fed15 eral Government to identify barriers to new business 

16 formation by women entrepreneurs, or barriers expe17 rienced by women-led startups in accessing and par18 ticipating in the plans, programs, and operations of 

19 the departments and agencies of the Federal Gov20 ernment.’’; 

21 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting after 

22 the first sentence the following: ‘‘In addition to 

23 the meetings described in the preceding sen24 tence, the Interagency Committee shall meet at 

25 the call of the executive director of the Council 


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1 or the chairperson of the Interagency Com2 mittee.’’; and 

3 (C) in subsection (c), in the first sentence, 

4 by inserting ‘‘, including through the use of re5 search and policy developed by the Council’’ 

6 after ‘‘Council’’; 

7 (2) in section 403 (15 U.S.C. 7103)— 

8 (A) in subsection (a)— 

9 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (I) in the matter preceding sub11 paragraph (A), by inserting ‘‘the exec12 utive director of the Council and’’ be13 fore ‘‘1 representative’’; and 

14 (II) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(K) The National Aeronautics and Space 

17 Administration. 

18 ‘‘(L) The Environmental Protection Agen19 cy. 

20 ‘‘(M) The Office of Management and 

21 Budget. 

22 ‘‘(N) The Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

23 ‘‘(O) The Department of Homeland Secu24 rity. 


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1 ‘‘(P) The Department of Veterans Af2 fairs.’’; and 

3 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik5 ing ‘‘Small Business Administration 

6 Reauthorization Act of 1997’’ and in7 serting ‘‘Interagency Committee on 

8 Women’s Business Enterprise Act of 

9 2021’’; and 

10 (II) in subparagraph (B)— 

11 (aa) by striking ‘‘Small 

12 Business’’; and 

13 (bb) by striking ‘‘National 

14 Women’s Business Council estab15 lished under section 405’’ and in16 serting ‘‘Council’’; and 

17 (B) by amending subsection (b) to read as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days 

21 after the date of enactment of the Interagency Com22 mittee on Women’s Business Enterprise Act of 

23 2021, the President, in consultation with the Admin24 istrator, shall appoint one of the members of the 

25 Interagency Committee to serve as chairperson. 


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1 ‘‘(2) VACANCY.—In the event that a chair2 person is not appointed during the 45-day period de3 scribed in paragraph (1), the Deputy Administrator 

4 of the Small Business Administration shall serve as 

5 acting chairperson of the Interagency Committee 

6 until a chairperson is appointed under paragraph 

7 (1).’’; and 

8 (3) in section 404 (15 U.S.C. 7104)— 

9 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

10 by striking ‘‘1995’’ and inserting ‘‘2021’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (1), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

12 the end; 

13 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

14 and inserting a period; and 

15 (D) by striking paragraph (3). 

16 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Interagency Committee 

18 on Women’s Business Enterprise Act of 2022’’. 

19 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN’S BUSINESS 

20 ENTERPRISE. 

21 Title IV of the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 

22 1988 (15 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended— 

23 (1) in section 402 (15 U.S.C. 7102)— 

24 (A) in subsection (a)— 

25 (i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (5); 


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1 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

2 and (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respec3 tively; and 

4 (iii) by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(4) monitor the plans, programs, and oper7 ations of the departments and agencies of the Federal 

8 Government to identify barriers to new business for9 mation by women entrepreneurs, or barriers experi10 enced by women-led startups in accessing and partici11 pating in the plans, programs, and operations of the 

12 departments and agencies of the Federal Govern13 ment.’’; 

14 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting after the 

15 first sentence the following: ‘‘In addition to the 

16 meetings described in the preceding sentence, the 

17 Interagency Committee shall meet at the call of 

18 the executive director of the Council or the chair19 person of the Interagency Committee.’’; and 

20 (C) in subsection (c), in the first sentence, 

21 by inserting ‘‘, including through the use of pub22 lished research and policy independently devel23 oped by the Council’’ after ‘‘Council’’; 

24 (2) in section 403 (15 U.S.C. 7103)— 

25 (A) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (I) in the matter preceding sub3 paragraph (A), by inserting ‘‘the Ad4 ministrator, the executive director of 

5 the Council, and’’ before ‘‘1 representa6 tive’’; and 

7 (II) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(K) The National Aeronautics and Space 

10 Administration. 

11 ‘‘(L) The Environmental Protection Agency. 

12 ‘‘(M) The Office of Management and Budg13 et. 

14 ‘‘(N) The Minority Business Development 

15 Agency. 

16 ‘‘(O) The Office of the Assistant Secretary 

17 for Indian Affairs of the Department of the Inte18 rior. 

19 ‘‘(P) The Department of Veterans Affairs.’’; 

20 and 

21 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik23 ing ‘‘Small Business Administration 

24 Reauthorization Act of 1997’’ and in25 serting ‘‘Interagency Committee on 


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1 Women’s Business Enterprise Act of 

2 2022’’; and 

3 (II) in subparagraph (B)— 

4 (aa) by striking ‘‘Small 

5 Business’’; 

6 (bb) by striking ‘‘and shall 

7 report directly to the Adminis8 trator on the status of the activi9 ties on the Interagency Com10 mittee’’; and 

11 (cc) by striking ‘‘National 

12 Women’s Business Council estab13 lished under section 405’’ and in14 serting ‘‘Council’’; and 

15 (B) by amending subsection (b) to read as 

16 follows: 

17 ‘‘(b) CHAIRPERSON.—The Administrator shall serve as 

18 chairperson of the Interagency Committee.’’; 

19 (3) in section 404 (15 U.S.C. 7104)— 

20 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

21 by striking ‘‘1995’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (1), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

23 the end; 

24 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

25 and inserting a period; and 


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1 (D) by striking paragraph (3); and 

2 (4) in section 406(d)(6) (15 U.S.C. 

3 7106(d)(6))— 

4 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

5 (A), by inserting ‘‘and Entrepreneurship’’ before 

6 ‘‘of the Senate’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

8 ‘‘council’’ and inserting ‘‘Council’’. 


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Calendar No. 279 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2042 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Interagency Committee on 

poses. Women’s Business Enterprise, and for other purFEBRUARY 17, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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