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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2503 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2503

 To amend the Small Business Act to authorize small business concerns 
owned and controlled by individuals with disabilities to participate in 
 business development programs established by that Act, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            October 5 (legislative day, September 12), 1994

 Mr. Durenberger, (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Dole, Mr. McCain, Mr. 
 Simon, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Jeffords) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend the Small Business Act to authorize small business concerns 
owned and controlled by individuals with disabilities to participate in 
 business development programs established by that Act, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``Americans with Disabilities Business 
Development Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Section 2 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i) The Congress finds that--
            ``(1) approximately 43,000,000 Americans have 1 or more 
        physical or mental disabilities, and this number is increasing 
        as the population as a whole is growing older;
            ``(2) census data, national polls, and other studies have 
        documented that individuals with disabilities, as a group, 
        occupy an inferior status in our society, and are severely 
        disadvantaged socially, vocationally, economically, and 
        educationally;
            ``(3) individuals with severe disabilities have faced many 
        of the same discriminatory obstacles in developing small 
        businesses as have groups previously recognized as `socially 
        and economically disadvantaged' under the Small Business Act;
            ``(4) the Nation's proper goals regarding individuals with 
        severe disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full 
        participation, independent living, and economic self-
        sufficiency for such individuals; and
            ``(5) these goals can be advanced by providing the maximum 
        practicable opportunities for the growth and development of 
        small business concerns owned and controlled by individuals 
        with severe disabilities.''.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to assist the legitimate business interests of small 
        business concerns owned and controlled by individuals with 
        severe disabilities;
            (2) to permit small business concerns owned and controlled 
        by individuals with severe disabilities to participate in 
        business development programs established by the Small Business 
        Act; and
            (3) to eliminate, insofar as possible, discrimination 
        against individuals with severe disabilities in obtaining 
        capital and other production assistance.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 3(f) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(f)) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(f) Severe Disability.--For purposes of this Act, unless 
otherwise specifically provided, the term `severe disability' shall 
have the meaning given such term, by regulation, by the 
Administration.''.

SEC. 4. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES.

    (a) Policy Statement.--Section 2(f)(1)(C) of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 631(f)(1)(C)) is amended by inserting ``Americans with 
severe disabilities,'' after ``Asian Pacific Americans,''.
    (b) Small Business and Capital Ownership Development Program.--
Section 8(a)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(5)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``For the 
purposes of this subsection, individuals with severe disabilities shall 
be considered to be socially disadvantaged individuals.''.
    (c) Contract Clause.--The contract clause contained in section 
8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631(d)(3)) is amended 
in the last sentence by inserting ``Americans with severe 
disabilities,'' after ``Asian Pacific Americans,''.

SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO SMALL BUSINESS ACT.

    The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 3(e)--
                    (A) by striking ``the handicapped'' and inserting 
                ``individuals with severe disabilities''; and
                    (B) by striking ``handicapped individuals'' each 
                place such term appears and inserting ``individuals 
                with severe disabilities'';
            (2) in section 7(a)(10)--
                    (A) by striking ``the handicapped'' and inserting 
                ``individuals with severe disabilities''; and
                    (B) by striking ``handicapped individual'' and 
                inserting ``individual with severe disabilities''; and
            (3) in subsection 7(h)--
                    (A) by striking ``handicapped individuals'' and 
                inserting ``individuals with severe disabilities'';
                    (B) by striking ``handicapped individual'' and 
                inserting ``individual with severe disabilities''; and
                    (C) by striking paragraph (3).
                                 <all>
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