II 

Calendar No. 166 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1156 

To establish an Office of Native American Affairs within the Small Business 

Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself, Ms. LUMMIS, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. 

MULLIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

JULY 25, 2023 

Reported by Mr. CARDIN, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To establish an Office of Native American Affairs within 

the Small Business Administration, 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 ‘‘Native American En5 trepreneurial and Opportunity Act of 2023’’. 


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•S 1156 RS

1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 

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

3 amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 

5 note) as section 50; and 

6 (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 

7 657u) the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 49. OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The term 

11 ‘Associate Administrator’ means the Associate Ad12 ministrator for Native American Affairs appointed 

13 under subsection (c). 

14 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 

15 has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in sec16 tion 8(a)(13). 

17 ‘‘(3) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—The 

18 term ‘Native Hawaiian Organization’ has the mean19 ing given the term in section 8(a)(15). 

20 ‘‘(4) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of21 fice of Native American Affairs described in this sec22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 

25 the Administration the Office of Native American 

26 Affairs, which shall be responsible for establishing a 


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•S 1156 RS

1 working relationship with Indian Tribes and Native 

2 Hawaiian Organizations by targeting programs of 

3 the Administration relating to entrepreneurial devel4 opment, contracting, and capital access to revitalize 

5 Native businesses and economic development in In6 dian country. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONNECTION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.— 

8 To the extent reasonable, the Office shall connect 

9 Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations to 

10 programs administered by other Federal agencies re11 lated to the interests described in paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(3) FIELD OFFICES.—The Office may estab13 lish field offices within such regional offices of the 

14 Administration as may be necessary, with initial 

15 focus on those parts of Indian Country most eco16 nomically disadvantaged, to perform efficiently the 

17 functions and responsibilities of the Office. 

18 ‘‘(c) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The Office shall 

19 be headed by an Associate Administrator for Native Amer20 ican Affairs, who shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) be appointed by and report to the Admin22 istrator; 

23 ‘‘(2) have knowledge of Native American cul24 tures and experience providing culturally tailored 


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•S 1156 RS

1 small business development assistance to Native 

2 Americans; 

3 ‘‘(3) carry out the program to provide assist4 ance to Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organi5 zations and small business concerns owned and con6 trolled by individuals who are members of those 

7 groups; 

8 ‘‘(4) administer and manage Native American 

9 outreach expansion; 

10 ‘‘(5) enhance assistance to Native Americans by 

11 formulating and promoting policies, programs, and 

12 assistance that better address their entrepreneurial, 

13 capital access, business development, and con14 tracting needs, and collaborate with other Associate 

15 Administrators and intergovernmental leaders with 

16 similar missions across Federal agencies on the de17 velopment of policies and plans to implement new 

18 programs of the Administration, while 

19 supplementing existing Federal programs to holis20 tically serve those needs; 

21 ‘‘(6) act as an ombudsman for Native Ameri22 cans for programs of the Administration; 

23 ‘‘(7) provide grants, contracts, cooperative 

24 agreements, or other financial assistance to Indian 

25 Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations, or to 


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•S 1156 RS

1 private nonprofit organizations governed by mem2 bers of those entities, that have the experience and 

3 capability to— 

4 ‘‘(A) deploy training, counseling, work5 shops, educational outreach, and supplier 

6 events; and 

7 ‘‘(B) access the entrepreneurial, capital, 

8 and contracting programs of the Administra9 tion, including the Community Navigator pilot 

10 program; 

11 ‘‘(8) assist the Administrator in conducting, or 

12 conduct, Tribal consultation to solicit input and fa13 cilitate discussion of potential modifications to pro14 grams and procedures of the Administration; and 

15 ‘‘(9) recommend annual budgets for the Office. 

16 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 is authorized to be appropriated to the Office such sums 

18 as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

19 2028 to carry out this section.’’. 

20 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

21 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native American Entre22 preneurial and Opportunity Act of 2023’’. 

23 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 

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

25 amended— 


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6 

•S 1156 RS

1 (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 

2 note) as section 50; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 

4 657u) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 49. OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘As8 sociate Administrator’ means the Associate Adminis9 trator for Native American Affairs appointed under 

10 subsection (c). 

11 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 

12 has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in sec13 tion 8(a)(13). 

14 ‘‘(3) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—The 

15 term ‘Native Hawaiian Organization’ has the mean16 ing given the term in section 8(a)(15). 

17 ‘‘(4) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Office 

18 of Native American Affairs described in this section. 

19 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 

21 the Administration the Office of Native American Af22 fairs, which shall be responsible for establishing a 

23 working relationship with Indian Tribes and Native 

24 Hawaiian Organizations by targeting programs of 

25 the Administration relating to entrepreneurial develVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156

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•S 1156 RS

1 opment, contracting, and capital access to revitalize 

2 Native businesses and economic development in In3 dian country. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONNECTION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.—To 

5 the extent reasonable, the Office shall connect Indian 

6 Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations to pro7 grams administered by other Federal agencies related 

8 to the interests described in paragraph (1). 

9 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE WORK SITES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office may estab11 lish alternative work sites within such regional 

12 offices of the Administration as may be nec13 essary, with initial focus on those parts of In14 dian Country most economically disadvantaged, 

15 to perform efficiently the functions and respon16 sibilities of the Office. 

17 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—The alternative work 

18 sites established under subparagraph (A) shall 

19 not be field offices of the Administration. 

20 ‘‘(c) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The Office shall be 

21 headed by an Associate Administrator for Native American 

22 Affairs, who shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) be appointed by and report to the Adminis24 trator; 


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•S 1156 RS

1 ‘‘(2) have knowledge of Native American cultures 

2 and experience providing culturally tailored small 

3 business development assistance to Native Americans; 

4 ‘‘(3) carry out the program to provide assistance 

5 to Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations 

6 and small business concerns owned and controlled by 

7 individuals who are members of those groups; 

8 ‘‘(4) administer and manage Native American 

9 outreach expansion; 

10 ‘‘(5) enhance assistance to Native Americans by 

11 formulating and promoting policies, programs, and 

12 assistance that better address their entrepreneurial, 

13 capital access, business development, and contracting 

14 needs, and collaborate with other Associate Adminis15 trators and intergovernmental leaders with similar 

16 missions across Federal agencies on the development 

17 of policies and plans to implement new programs of 

18 the Administration, while supplementing existing 

19 Federal programs to holistically serve those needs; 

20 ‘‘(6) provide grants, contracts, cooperative agree21 ments, or other financial assistance to Indian Tribes 

22 and Native Hawaiian Organizations, or to private 

23 nonprofit organizations governed by members of those 

24 entities, that have the experience and capability to— 


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•S 1156 RS

1 ‘‘(A) deploy training, counseling, work2 shops, educational outreach, and supplier events; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) access the entrepreneurial, capital, and 

5 contracting programs of the Administration; 

6 ‘‘(7) assist the Administrator in conducting, or 

7 conduct, Tribal consultation to solicit input and fa8 cilitate discussion of potential modifications to pro9 grams and procedures of the Administration; and 

10 ‘‘(8) recommend annual budgets for the Office. 

11 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to the Office such sums as 

13 may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 

14 to carry out this section.’’. 


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Calendar No. 166 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1156 

A BILL 

To establish an Office of Native American Affairs 

for other purposes. within the Small Business Administration, and 

JULY 25, 2023 

Reported with an amendment 


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