II

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.

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 ‘‘Americans with Dis5 abilities Business Development Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Section 2 of the Small Business Act

3 (15 U.S.C. 631) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new subsection:

5 ‘‘(i) The Congress finds that—

6 ‘‘(1) approximately 43,000,000 Americans have

7 1 or more physical or mental disabilities, and this

8 number is increasing as the population as a whole

9 is growing older;

10 ‘‘(2) census data, national polls, and other stud11 ies have documented that individuals with disabil12 ities, as a group, occupy an inferior status in our so13 ciety, and are severely disadvantaged socially, voca14 tionally, economically, and educationally;

15 ‘‘(3) individuals with severe disabilities have

16 faced many of the same discriminatory obstacles in

17 developing small businesses as have groups pre18 viously recognized as ‘socially and economically dis19 advantaged’ under the Small Business Act;

20 ‘‘(4) the Nation’s proper goals regarding indi21 viduals with severe disabilities are to assure equality

22 of opportunity, full participation, independent living,

23 and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals;

24 and

25 ‘‘(5) these goals can be advanced by providing

26 the maximum practicable opportunities for the
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1 growth and development of small business concerns

2 owned and controlled by individuals with severe dis3 abilities.’’.

4 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

5 (1) to assist the legitimate business interests of

6 small business concerns owned and controlled by in7 dividuals with severe disabilities;

8 (2) to permit small business concerns owned

9 and controlled by individuals with severe disabilities

10 to participate in business development programs es11 tablished by the Small Business Act; and

12 (3) to eliminate, insofar as possible, discrimina13 tion against individuals with severe disabilities in ob14 taining capital and other production assistance.

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

16 Section 3(f) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

17 632(f)) is amended to read as follows:

18 ‘‘(f) SEVERE DISABILITY.—For purposes of this Act,

19 unless otherwise specifically provided, the term ‘severe dis20 ability’ shall have the meaning given such term, by regula21 tion, by the Administration.’’.

22 SEC. 4. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES.

23 (a) POLICY STATEMENT.—Section 2(f)(1)(C) of the

24 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631(f)(1)(C)) is amended
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1 by inserting ‘‘Americans with severe disabilities,’’ after

2 ‘‘Asian Pacific Americans,’’.

3 (b) SMALL BUSINESS AND CAPITAL OWNERSHIP DE4 VELOPMENT PROGRAM.—Section 8(a)(5) of the Small

5 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(5)) is amended by adding

6 at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘For the purposes

7 of this subsection, individuals with severe disabilities shall

8 be considered to be socially disadvantaged individuals.’’.

9 (c) CONTRACT CLAUSE.—The contract clause con10 tained in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act (15

11 U.S.C. 631(d)(3)) is amended in the last sentence by in12 serting ‘‘Americans with severe disabilities,’’ after ‘‘Asian

13 Pacific Americans,’’.

14 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO SMALL BUSINESS

15 ACT.

16 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is

17 amended—

18 (1) in section 3(e)—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘the handicapped’’ and in20 serting ‘‘individuals with severe disabilities’’;

21 and

22 (B) by striking ‘‘handicapped individuals’’

23 each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘in24 dividuals with severe disabilities’’;

25 (2) in section 7(a)(10)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘the handicapped’’ and in2 serting ‘‘individuals with severe disabilities’’;

3 and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘handicapped individual’’

5 and inserting ‘‘individual with severe disabil6 ities’’; and

7 (3) in subsection 7(h)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘handicapped individuals’’

9 and inserting ‘‘individuals with severe disabil10 ities’’;

11 (B) by striking ‘‘handicapped individual’’

12 and inserting ‘‘individual with severe disabil13 ities’’; and

14 (C) by striking paragraph (3).

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