II 

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 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 

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

8 amended— 

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

10 note) as section 50; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1156 IS

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

2 657u) the following: 

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

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

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

6 ‘Associate Administrator’ means the Associate Ad7 ministrator for Native American Affairs appointed 

8 under subsection (c). 

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

10 has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in sec11 tion 8(a)(13). 

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

13 term ‘Native Hawaiian Organization’ has the mean14 ing given the term in section 8(a)(15). 

15 ‘‘(4) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of16 fice of Native American Affairs described in this sec17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

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

20 the Administration the Office of Native American 

21 Affairs, which shall be responsible for establishing a 

22 working relationship with Indian Tribes and Native 

23 Hawaiian Organizations by targeting programs of 

24 the Administration relating to entrepreneurial devel25 opment, contracting, and capital access to revitalize 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1156 IS

1 Native businesses and economic development in In2 dian country. 

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

4 To the extent reasonable, the Office shall connect 

5 Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations to 

6 programs administered by other Federal agencies re7 lated to the interests described in paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(3) FIELD OFFICES.—The Office may estab9 lish field offices within such regional offices of the 

10 Administration as may be necessary, with initial 

11 focus on those parts of Indian Country most eco12 nomically disadvantaged, to perform efficiently the 

13 functions and responsibilities of the Office. 

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

15 be headed by an Associate Administrator for Native Amer16 ican Affairs, who shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) be appointed by and report to the Admin18 istrator; 

19 ‘‘(2) have knowledge of Native American cul20 tures and experience providing culturally tailored 

21 small business development assistance to Native 

22 Americans; 

23 ‘‘(3) carry out the program to provide assist24 ance to Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organi25 zations and small business concerns owned and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1156.IS S1156

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1156 IS

1 trolled by individuals who are members of those 

2 groups; 

3 ‘‘(4) administer and manage Native American 

4 outreach expansion; 

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

6 formulating and promoting policies, programs, and 

7 assistance that better address their entrepreneurial, 

8 capital access, business development, and con9 tracting needs, and collaborate with other Associate 

10 Administrators and intergovernmental leaders with 

11 similar missions across Federal agencies on the de12 velopment of policies and plans to implement new 

13 programs of the Administration, while 

14 supplementing existing Federal programs to holis15 tically serve those needs; 

16 ‘‘(6) act as an ombudsman for Native Ameri17 cans for programs of the Administration; 

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

19 agreements, or other financial assistance to Indian 

20 Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations, or to 

21 private nonprofit organizations governed by mem22 bers of those entities, that have the experience and 

23 capability to— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1156 IS

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

3 events; and 

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

5 and contracting programs of the Administra6 tion, including the Community Navigator pilot 

7 program; 

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

9 conduct, Tribal consultation to solicit input and fa10 cilitate discussion of potential modifications to pro11 grams and procedures of the Administration; and 

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

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

14 is authorized to be appropriated to the Office such sums 

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

16 2028 to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS