I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5517 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a temporary loan program 

and a temporary vocational development program for small business 

concerns owned and controlled by veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2006 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself, Mrs. EMERSON, Mrs. KELLY, and Mr. 

MICHAUD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a temporary 

loan program and a temporary vocational development 

program for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans. 

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 ‘‘Seeds for Soldiers 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY LOAN PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSI2 NESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED 

3 BY VETERANS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may make a 

5 loan under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 636(a)) to a small business concern owned and 

7 controlled by veterans. 

8 (b) SPECIAL RULES.—Notwithstanding the require9 ments of section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 636), the following special rules apply to a loan under this 

11 section: 

12 (1) The Administrator may make a loan under 

13 this section for any business purpose, including the 

14 refinancing of any outstanding business debt. 

15 (2) No payment of principal on a loan under 

16 this section shall be due or payable during the 1- 

17 year period beginning on the date on which the loan 

18 is issued. Any interest payable with respect to the 

19 loan for such period shall be paid by the Administra20 tion. 

21 (3) A loan may be made under this section if 

22 the total amount outstanding and committed to the 

23 borrower under section 7(a) of the Small Business 

24 Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) would not exceed 

25 $3,000,000. 


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1 (4) In the case of an agreement to participate 

2 on a deferred basis in a loan under this section— 

3 (A) the participation of the Administration 

4 shall be equal to 90 percent of the balance of 

5 the financing outstanding at the time of dis6 bursement of the loan; 

7 (B) the Administrator shall collect (except 

8 in the case of a loan that is repayable in 1 year 

9 or less) a guarantee fee for any loan under this 

10 section, which shall be payable by the partici11 pating lender, and may be charged to the bor12 rower as follows: 

13 (i) A guarantee fee equal to 0.5 per14 cent of the deferred participation share of 

15 a total loan amount that is not more than 

16 $150,000. 

17 (ii) A guarantee fee equal to 1.5 per18 cent of the deferred participation share of 

19 a total loan amount that is more than 

20 $150,000, but not more than $700,000. 

21 (iii) A guarantee fee equal to 2 per22 cent of the deferred participation share of 

23 a total loan amount that is more than 

24 $700,000; and 


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1 (C) the annual fee assessed and collected 

2 on any such loan shall not exceed an amount 

3 equal to 0.15 percent of the outstanding bal4 ance of the deferred participation share of the 

5 loan. 

6 (5) The Administrator may make such loans 

7 without regard to the ability of a small business con8 cern to obtain credit elsewhere. 

9 (6) The Administrator shall make such loans 

10 without regard to the availability of collateral to se11 cure such loans. 

12 (c) TERMINATION.—The Administrator may not 

13 make a loan under this section after December 31, 2008. 

14 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this section, 

15 the terms ‘‘Administrator’’, ‘‘Administration’’, ‘‘credit 

16 elsewhere’’, and ‘‘small business concern owned and con17 trolled by veterans’’ have the respective meanings given 

18 such terms in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

19 U.S.C. 632). 

20 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. Such sum shall remain 

23 available until expended. 


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1 SEC. 3. TEMPORARY VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PRO2 GRAM FOR VETERANS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In accordance with this sec4 tion, the Administrator shall make grants to small busi5 ness development centers for the provision of a program 

6 of assistance for veterans that includes training in a voca7 tional or technical trade and entrepreneurial assistance in 

8 establishing and operating a small business concern that 

9 provides services in such trade. 

10 (b) MINIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The Administrator 

11 shall not make a grant under this section for an amount 

12 less than $500,000. 

13 (c) APPLICATION AND AWARD.— 

14 (1) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

15 grant under this section, a small business develop16 ment center shall submit to the Administrator an 

17 application in such form and containing such infor18 mation and assurances as the Administrator may re19 quire and that includes information regarding the 

20 applicant’s goals and objectives for the program of 

21 assistance to be provided with the grant. 

22 (2) PRIORITY IN AWARDING GRANTS.—In 

23 awarding the grants, the Administrator shall con24 sider the needs of the area served by the small busi25 ness development center, including whether the small 


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1 business development center is located in the prox2 imity of a United States military installation. 

3 (d) TERMINATION.—The Administrator shall not 

4 make any grant under this section after December 31, 

5 2008. 

6 (e) COORDINATION WITH SMALL BUSINESS ACT.— 

7 A grant made under this section shall not be taken into 

8 account for purposes of section 21 of the Small Business 

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 648). 

10 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section the 

11 following definitions apply: 

12 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad13 ministrator of the Small Business Administration. 

14 (2) The term ‘‘small business development cen15 ter’’ means a small business development center de16 scribed in section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 648). 

18 (3) The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given 

19 such term in section 3(q)(4) of the Small Business 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 632(q)(4)). 

21 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. Such amount shall re24 main available until expended. 

Æ 


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