I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5832 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the Office of International 

Trade, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2010 

Mrs. DAHLKEMPER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the Office 

of International Trade, 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 ‘‘Small Business Export 

5 Enhancement Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 

8 (1) the terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ mean the Small Business Administration 

10 and the Administrator thereof, respectively; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘Associate Administrator’’ means 

2 the Associate Administrator for International Trade 

3 appointed under section 22(a)(2) of the Small Busi4 ness Act, as amended by this Act; 

5 (3) the term ‘‘Export Assistance Center’’ means 

6 a one-stop shop referred to in section 2301(b)(8) of 

7 the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 

8 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721(b)(8)); 

9 (4) the term ‘‘rural small business concern’’ 

10 means a small business concern located in a rural 

11 area, as that term is defined in section 1393(a)(2) 

12 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

13 (5) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

14 meaning given that term under section 3 of the 

15 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

16 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

17 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Small 

18 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632) is amended by adding 

19 at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(t) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER.—In 

21 this Act, the term ‘small business development center’ 

22 means a small business development center described in 

23 section 21. 

24 ‘‘(u) REGION OF THE ADMINISTRATION.—In this 

25 Act, the term ‘region of the Administration’ means the 


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1 geographic area served by a regional office of the Adminis2 tration established under section 4(a).’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 4(b)(3)(B)(x) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

5 633(b)(3)(B)(x)) is amended by striking ‘‘Adminis6 tration district and region’’ and inserting ‘‘district 

7 and region of the Administration’’. 

8 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 22 of the Small Busi10 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 649) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 22. (a) There’’ and in12 serting the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 22. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) OFFICE.—There’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (a)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by 

18 striking the period and inserting ‘‘for the pri19 mary purposes of increasing— 

20 ‘‘(A) the number of small business con21 cerns that export; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the volume of exports by small busi23 ness concerns.’’; and 

24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The head of 

2 the Office shall be the Associate Administrator for 

3 International Trade, who shall be responsible to the 

4 Administrator.’’. 

5 (b) AUTHORITY FOR ADDITIONAL ASSOCIATE AD6 MINISTRATOR.—Section 4(b)(1) of the Small Business Act 

7 (15 U.S.C. 633(b)(1)) is amended— 

8 (1) in the fifth sentence, by striking ‘‘five Asso9 ciate Administrators’’ and inserting ‘‘Associate Ad10 ministrators’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘One 

12 such Associate Administrator shall be the Associate 

13 Administrator for International Trade, who shall be 

14 the head of the Office of International Trade estab15 lished under section 22.’’. 

16 (c) DISCHARGE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE RESPON17 SIBILITIES OF ADMINISTRATION.—Section 22 of the Small 

18 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649) is amended by adding at 

19 the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(h) DISCHARGE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE RE21 SPONSIBILITIES OF ADMINISTRATION.—The Adminis22 trator shall ensure that— 

23 ‘‘(1) the responsibilities of the Administration 

24 regarding international trade are carried out by the 

25 Associate Administrator; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the Associate Administrator has sufficient 

2 resources to carry out such responsibilities; and 

3 ‘‘(3) the Associate Administrator has direct su4 pervision and control over— 

5 ‘‘(A) the staff of the Office; and 

6 ‘‘(B) any employee of the Administration 

7 whose principal duty station is an Export As8 sistance Center, or any successor entity.’’. 

9 (d) ROLE OF ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR IN CAR10 RYING OUT INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICY.—Section 

11 2(b)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631(b)(1)) 

12 is amended in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)— 

13 (1) by inserting ‘‘the Administrator of’’ before 

14 ‘‘the Small Business Administration’’; and 

15 (2) by inserting ‘‘through the Associate Admin16 istrator for International Trade, and’’ before ‘‘in co17 operation with’’. 

18 (e) IMPLEMENTATION DATE.—Not later than 90 

19 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis20 trator of the Small Business Administration shall appoint 

21 an Associate Administrator for International Trade under 

22 section 22(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

23 649(a)), as added by this section. 


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1 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

2 (a) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 22.—Section 22 of 

3 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(b) TRADE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.—The Asso7 ciate Administrator, working in close cooperation with the 

8 Secretary of Commerce, the United States Trade Rep9 resentative, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, 

10 the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and other 

11 relevant Federal agencies, small business development 

12 centers engaged in export promotion efforts, Export As13 sistance Centers, regional and district offices of the Ad14 ministration, the small business community, and relevant 

15 State and local export promotion programs, shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) maintain a distribution network, using re17 gional and district offices of the Administration, the 

18 small business development center network, net19 works of women’s business centers, the Service 

20 Corps of Retired Executives authorized by section 

21 8(b)(1), and Export Assistance Centers, for pro22 grams relating to— 

23 ‘‘(A) trade promotion; 

24 ‘‘(B) trade finance; 

25 ‘‘(C) trade adjustment assistance; 

26 ‘‘(D) trade remedy assistance; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) trade data collection; 

2 ‘‘(2) aggressively market the programs de3 scribed in paragraph (1) and disseminate informa4 tion, including computerized marketing data, to 

5 small business concerns on exporting trends, market6 specific growth, industry trends, and international 

7 prospects for exports; 

8 ‘‘(3) promote export assistance programs 

9 through the district and regional offices of the Ad10 ministration, the small business development center 

11 network, Export Assistance Centers, the network of 

12 women’s business centers, chapters of the Service 

13 Corps of Retired Executives, State and local export 

14 promotion programs, and partners in the private 

15 sector; and 

16 ‘‘(4) give preference in hiring or approving the 

17 transfer of any employee into the Office or to a posi18 tion described in subsection (c)(9) to otherwise 

19 qualified applicants who are fluent in a language in 

20 addition to English, to— 

21 ‘‘(A) accompany small business concerns 

22 on foreign trade missions; and 

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1 actions, including by providing referral lists for 

2 translation services, if required.’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (c)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘(c) The Office’’ and in5 serting the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) PROMOTION OF SALES OPPORTUNITIES.—The 

7 Associate Administrator’’; 

8 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

9 through (8) as paragraphs (2) through (9), re10 spectively; 

11 (C) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

12 so redesignated, the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) establish annual goals for the Office relat14 ing to— 

15 ‘‘(A) enhancing the exporting capability of 

16 small business concerns and small manufactur17 ers; 

18 ‘‘(B) facilitating technology transfers; 

19 ‘‘(C) enhancing programs and services to 

20 assist small business concerns and small manu21 facturers to compete effectively and efficiently 

22 against foreign entities; 

23 ‘‘(D) increasing the ability of small busi24 ness concerns to access capital; 


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1 ‘‘(E) disseminating information concerning 

2 Federal, State, and private programs and initia3 tives; and 

4 ‘‘(F) ensuring that the interests of small 

5 business concerns are adequately represented in 

6 trade negotiations;’’; 

7 (D) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 

8 by striking ‘‘mechanism for’’ and all that fol9 lows through ‘‘(D) assisting’’ and inserting the 

10 following: ‘‘mechanism for— 

11 ‘‘(A) identifying subsectors of the small 

12 business community with strong export poten13 tial; 

14 ‘‘(B) identifying areas of demand in for15 eign markets; 

16 ‘‘(C) prescreening foreign buyers for com17 mercial and credit purposes; and 

18 ‘‘(D) assisting’’; 

19 (E) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, 

20 by striking ‘‘assist small businesses in the for21 mation and utilization of’’ and inserting ‘‘assist 

22 small business concerns in forming and using’’; 

23 (F) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘local’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘district’’; 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘existing’’; 

2 (iii) by striking ‘‘Small Business De3 velopment Center network’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘small business development center net5 work’’; and 

6 (iv) by striking ‘‘Small Business De7 velopment Center Program’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘small business development center pro9 gram’’; 

10 (G) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

12 ‘‘Gross State Produce’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘Gross State Product’’; 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

15 ‘‘SIC’’ each place it appears and inserting 

16 ‘‘North American Industry Classification 

17 System’’; and 

18 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

19 ‘‘small businesses’’ and inserting ‘‘small 

20 business concerns’’; 

21 (H) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, 

22 by striking the period at the end and inserting 

23 a semicolon; 

24 (I) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated— 


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1 (i) in the matter preceding subpara2 graph (A)— 

3 (I) by inserting ‘‘concerns’’ after 

4 ‘‘small business’’; and 

5 (II) by striking ‘‘current’’ and in6 serting ‘‘up to date’’; 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

8 ‘‘Administration’s regional offices’’ and in9 serting ‘‘regional and district offices of the 

10 Administration’’; 

11 (iii) in subparagraph (B) by striking 

12 ‘‘current’’; 

13 (iv) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

14 ‘‘current’’; and 

15 (v) by striking ‘‘small businesses’’ 

16 each place that term appears and inserting 

17 ‘‘small business concerns’’; 

18 (J) in paragraph (8), as so redesignated, 

19 by striking and at the end; 

20 (K) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated— 

21 (i) in the matter preceding subpara22 graph (A)— 

23 (I) by striking ‘‘full-time export 

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1 ministration regional office and as2 signing’’; and 

3 (II) by striking ‘‘person in each 

4 district office. Such specialists’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘individual in each district 

6 office and providing each Administra7 tion regional office with a full-time ex8 port development specialist, who’’; 

9 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

10 (I) by striking ‘‘current’’; and 

11 (II) by striking ‘‘with’’ and in12 serting ‘‘in’’; 

13 (iii) in subparagraph (D)— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘Administration 

15 personnel involved in granting’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘personnel of the Adminis17 tration involved in making’’; and 

18 (II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (iv) in subparagraph (E)— 

20 (I) by striking ‘‘small businesses’ 

21 needs’’ and inserting ‘‘the needs of 

22 small business concerns’’; and 

23 (II) by striking the period at the 

24 end and inserting a semicolon; 

25 (v) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(F) participate, jointly with employees of 

2 the Office, in an annual training program that 

3 focuses on current small business needs for ex4 porting; and 

5 ‘‘(G) develop and conduct training pro6 grams for exporters and lenders, in cooperation 

7 with the Export Assistance Centers, the De8 partment of Commerce, small business develop9 ment centers, women’s business centers, the 

10 Export-Import Bank of the United States, the 

11 Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and 

12 other relevant Federal agencies;’’; and 

13 (vi) by striking ‘‘small businesses’’ 

14 each place that term appears and inserting 

15 ‘‘small business concerns’’; and 

16 (L) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(10) make available on the website of the Ad18 ministration the name and contact information of 

19 each individual described in paragraph (9); 

20 ‘‘(11) carry out a nationwide marketing effort 

21 using technology, online resources, training, and 

22 other strategies to promote exporting as a business 

23 development opportunity for small business con24 cerns; 


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1 ‘‘(12) disseminate information to the small 

2 business community through regional and district of3 fices of the Administration, the small business devel4 opment center network, Export Assistance Centers, 

5 the network of women’s business centers, chapters of 

6 the Service Corps of Retired Executives authorized 

7 by section 8(b)(1), State and local export promotion 

8 programs, and partners in the private sector regard9 ing exporting trends, market-specific growth, indus10 try trends, and prospects for exporting; and 

11 ‘‘(13) establish and carry out training programs 

12 for the staff of the regional and district offices of 

13 the Administration and resource partners of the Ad14 ministration on export promotion and providing as15 sistance relating to exports.’’; 

16 (3) in subsection (d)— 

17 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

18 through (5) as clauses (i) through (v), respec19 tively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘(d) The Office’’ and in21 serting the following: 

22 ‘‘(d) EXPORT FINANCING PROGRAMS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Associate Adminis24 trator’’; and 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘To accomplish this goal, 

2 the Office shall work’’ and inserting the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(2) TRADE FINANCE SPECIALIST.—To accom5 plish the goal established under paragraph (1), the 

6 Associate Administrator shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) designate at least 1 individual within 

8 the Administration as a trade finance specialist 

9 to oversee international loan programs and as10 sist Administration employees with trade fi11 nance issues; and 

12 ‘‘(B) work’’; 

13 (4) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(e) The Of14 fice’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(e) TRADE REMEDIES.—The Associate Adminis16 trator’’; 

17 (5) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(f) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The Associate Ad20 ministrator shall submit an annual report to the Com21 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

22 Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the 

23 House of Representatives that contains— 

24 ‘‘(1) a description of the progress of the Office 

25 in implementing the requirements of this section; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a detailed account of the results of export 

2 growth activities of the Administration, including the 

3 activities of each district and regional office of the 

4 Administration, based on the performance measures 

5 described in subsection (i); 

6 ‘‘(3) an estimate of the total number of jobs 

7 created or retained as a result of export assistance 

8 provided by the Administration and resource part9 ners of the Administration; 

10 ‘‘(4) for any travel by the staff of the Office, 

11 the destination of such travel and the benefits to the 

12 Administration and to small business concerns re13 sulting from such travel; and 

14 ‘‘(5) a description of the participation by the 

15 Office in trade negotiations.’’; 

16 (6) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘(g) The Of17 fice’’ and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(g) STUDIES.—The Associate Administrator’’; and 

19 (7) by adding after subsection (h), as added by 

20 section 3 of this Act, the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) EXPORT AND TRADE COUNSELING.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection— 

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1 ment center that has received a grant from the 

2 Administration; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the term ‘lead women’s business cen4 ter’ means a women’s business center that has 

5 received a grant from the Administration. 

6 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.—The Adminis7 trator shall establish an export and trade counseling 

8 certification program to certify employees of lead 

9 small business development centers and lead wom10 en’s business centers in providing export assistance 

11 to small business concerns. 

12 ‘‘(3) NUMBER OF CERTIFIED EMPLOYEES.— 

13 The Administrator shall ensure that the number of 

14 employees of each lead small business development 

15 center who are certified in providing export assist16 ance is not less than the lesser of— 

17 ‘‘(A) 5; or 

18 ‘‘(B) 10 percent of the total number of em19 ployees of the lead small business development 

20 center. 

21 ‘‘(4) REIMBURSEMENT FOR CERTIFICATION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the avail23 ability of appropriations, the Administrator 

24 shall reimburse a lead small business develop25 ment center or a lead women’s business center 


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1 for costs relating to the certification of an em2 ployee of the lead small business center or lead 

3 women’s business center in providing export as4 sistance under the program established under 

5 paragraph (2). 

6 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The total amount re7 imbursed by the Administrator under subpara8 graph (A) may not exceed $350,000 in any fis9 cal year. 

10 ‘‘(j) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Associate Adminis12 trator shall develop performance measures for the 

13 Administration to support export growth goals for 

14 the activities of the Office under this section that in15 clude— 

16 ‘‘(A) the number of small business con17 cerns that— 

18 ‘‘(i) receive assistance from the Ad19 ministration; 

20 ‘‘(ii) had not exported goods or serv21 ices before receiving the assistance de22 scribed in clause (i); and 

23 ‘‘(iii) export goods or services; 

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1 tion that export goods or services to a market 

2 outside the United States into which the small 

3 business concern did not export before receiving 

4 the assistance; 

5 ‘‘(C) export revenues by small business 

6 concerns assisted by programs of the Adminis7 tration; 

8 ‘‘(D) the number of small business con9 cerns referred to an Export Assistance Center 

10 or a small business development center by the 

11 staff of the Office; 

12 ‘‘(E) the number of small business con13 cerns referred to the Administration by an Ex14 port Assistance Center or a small business de15 velopment center; and 

16 ‘‘(F) the number of small business con17 cerns referred to the Export-Import Bank of 

18 the United States or to the Overseas Private 

19 Investment Corporation by the staff of the Of20 fice, an Export Assistance Center, or a small 

21 business development center. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONSISTENCY OF TRACKING.—The Asso23 ciate Administrator, in coordination with the depart24 ments and agencies that are represented on the 

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1 lished under section 2312 of the Export Enhance2 ment Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727) and the small 

3 business development center network, shall develop a 

4 system to track exports by small business concerns, 

5 including information relating to the performance 

6 measures developed under paragraph (1), that is 

7 consistent with systems used by the departments 

8 and agencies and the network.’’. 

9 (b) TRADE DISPUTES.—The Administrator shall 

10 carry out a comprehensive program to provide technical 

11 assistance, counseling, and reference materials to small 

12 business concerns relating to resources, procedures, and 

13 requirements for mechanisms to resolve international 

14 trade disputes or address unfair international trade prac15 tices under international trade agreements or Federal law, 

16 including— 

17 (1) directing the district offices of the Adminis18 tration to provide referrals, information, and other 

19 services to small business concerns relating to the 

20 mechanisms; 

21 (2) entering agreements and partnerships with 

22 providers of legal services relating to the mecha23 nisms, to ensure small business concerns may 

24 affordably use the mechanisms; and 


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1 (3) in consultation with the Director of the 

2 United States Patent and Trademark Office and the 

3 Register of Copyrights, designing counseling services 

4 and materials for small business concerns regarding 

5 intellectual property protection in other countries. 

6 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 

8 a report to the Committee on Small Business and Entre9 preneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

10 Business of the House of Representatives on any travel 

11 by the staff of the Office of International Trade of the 

12 Administration, during the period beginning on October 

13 1, 2004, and ending on the date of enactment of the Act, 

14 including the destination of such travel and the benefits 

15 to the Administration and to small business concerns re16 sulting from such travel. 

17 SEC. 5. EXPORT ASSISTANCE CENTERS. 

18 (a) EXPORT ASSISTANCE CENTERS.—Section 22 of 

19 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649), as amended by 

20 this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(k) EXPORT ASSISTANCE CENTERS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) EXPORT FINANCE SPECIALISTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) MINIMUM NUMBER OF EXPORT FI24 NANCE SPECIALISTS.—On and after January 1, 

25 2011, the Administrator, in coordination with 


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1 the Secretary of Commerce, shall ensure that 

2 the number of export finance specialists is not 

3 less than the number of such employees so as4 signed on January 1, 2003. 

5 ‘‘(B) EXPORT FINANCE SPECIALISTS AS6 SIGNED TO EACH REGION OF THE ADMINISTRA7 TION.—On and after the date that is 2 years 

8 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

9 the Administrator, in coordination with the Sec10 retary of Commerce, shall ensure that there are 

11 not fewer than 3 export finance specialists in 

12 each region of the Administration. 

13 ‘‘(2) PLACEMENT OF EXPORT FINANCE SPE14 CIALISTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) PRIORITY.—The Administrator shall 

16 give priority, to the maximum extent prac17 ticable, to placing employees of the Administra18 tion at any Export Assistance Center that— 

19 ‘‘(i) had an Administration employee 

20 assigned to the Export Assistance Center 

21 before January 2003; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) has not had an Administration 

23 employee assigned to the Export Assist24 ance Center during the period beginning 

25 January 2003, and ending on the date of 


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1 enactment of this subsection, either 

2 through retirement or reassignment. 

3 ‘‘(B) NEEDS OF EXPORTERS.—The Ad4 ministrator shall, to the maximum extent prac5 ticable, strategically assign Administration em6 ployees to Export Assistance Centers, based on 

7 the needs of exporters. 

8 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

9 in this subsection may be construed to require 

10 the Administrator to reassign or remove an ex11 port finance specialist who is assigned to an 

12 Export Assistance Center on the date of enact13 ment of this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(3) GOALS.—The Associate Administrator 

15 shall work with the Department of Commerce, the 

16 Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the 

17 Overseas Private Investment Corporation to estab18 lish shared annual goals for the Export Assistance 

19 Centers. 

20 ‘‘(4) OVERSIGHT.—The Associate Adminis21 trator shall designate an individual within the Ad22 ministration to oversee all activities conducted by 

23 Administration employees assigned to Export Assist24 ance Centers. 

25 ‘‘(l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Associate Administrator’ means 

2 the Associate Administrator for International Trade 

3 described in subsection (a)(2); 

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Export Assistance Center’ means 

5 a one-stop shop for United States exporters estab6 lished by the United States and Foreign Commercial 

7 Service of the Department of Commerce pursuant to 

8 section 2301(b)(8) of the Omnibus Trade and Com9 petitiveness Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721(b)(8)); 

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘export finance specialist’ means 

11 a full-time equivalent employee of the Office as12 signed to an Export Assistance Center to carry out 

13 the duties described in subsection (e); and 

14 ‘‘(4) the term ‘Office’ means the Office of 

15 International Trade established under subsection 

16 (a)(1).’’. 

17 (b) STUDY AND REPORT ON FILLING GAPS IN HIGH18 AND-LOW-EXPORT VOLUME AREAS.— 

19 (1) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 6 

20 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and 

21 every 2 years thereafter, the Administrator shall— 

22 (A) conduct a study of— 

23 (i) the volume of exports for each 

24 State; 


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1 (ii) the availability of export finance 

2 specialists in each State; 

3 (iii) the number of exporters in each 

4 State that are small business concerns; 

5 (iv) the percentage of exporters in 

6 each State that are small business con7 cerns; 

8 (v) the change, if any, in the number 

9 of exporters that are small business con10 cerns in each State— 

11 (I) for the first study conducted 

12 under this subparagraph, during the 

13 10-year period ending on the date of 

14 enactment of this Act; and 

15 (II) for each subsequent study, 

16 during the 10-year period ending on 

17 the date the study is commenced; 

18 (vi) the total value of the exports in 

19 each State by small business concerns; 

20 (vii) the percentage of the total vol21 ume of exports in each State that is attrib22 utable to small business concerns; and 

23 (viii) the change, if any, in the per24 centage of the total volume of exports in 


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1 each State that is attributable to small 

2 business concerns— 

3 (I) for the first study conducted 

4 under this subparagraph, during the 

5 10-year period ending on the date of 

6 enactment of this Act; and 

7 (II) for each subsequent study, 

8 during the 10-year period ending on 

9 the date the study is commenced; and 

10 (B) submit to the Committee on Small 

11 Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

12 and the Committee on Small Business of the 

13 House of Representatives a report containing— 

14 (i) the results of the study under sub15 paragraph (A); 

16 (ii) to the extent practicable, a rec17 ommendation regarding how to eliminate 

18 gaps between the supply of and demand 

19 for export finance specialists in the 15 

20 States that have the greatest volume of ex21 ports, based upon the most recent data 

22 available from the Department of Com23 merce; 

24 (iii) to the extent practicable, a rec25 ommendation regarding how to eliminate 


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1 gaps between the supply of and demand 

2 for export finance specialists in the 15 

3 States that have the lowest volume of ex4 ports, based upon the most recent data 

5 available from the Department of Com6 merce; and 

7 (iv) such additional information as the 

8 Administrator determines is appropriate. 

9 (2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

10 ‘‘export finance specialist’’ has the meaning given 

11 that term in section 22(l) of the Small Business Act, 

12 as added by this Act. 

13 SEC. 6. RURAL EXPORT PROMOTION. 

14 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the 

16 Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Commerce, 

17 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En18 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

19 Business of the House of Representatives a report that 

20 contains— 

21 (1) a description of each program of the Ad22 ministration that promotes exports by rural small 

23 business concerns, including— 

24 (A) the number of rural small business 

25 concerns served by the program; 


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1 (B) the change, if any, in the number of 

2 rural small business concerns as a result of par3 ticipation in the program during the 10-year 

4 period ending on the date of enactment of this 

5 Act; 

6 (C) the volume of exports by rural small 

7 business concerns that participate in the pro8 gram; and 

9 (D) the change, if any, in the volume of 

10 exports by rural small businesses that partici11 pate in the program during the 10-year period 

12 ending on the date of enactment of this Act; 

13 (2) a description of the coordination between 

14 programs of the Administration and other Federal 

15 programs that promote exports by rural small busi16 ness concerns; 

17 (3) recommendations, if any, for improving the 

18 coordination described in paragraph (2); 

19 (4) a description of any plan by the Administra20 tion to market the international trade financing pro21 grams of the Administration through lenders that— 

22 (A) serve rural small business concerns; 

23 and 

24 (B) are associated with financing programs 

25 of the Department of Agriculture; 


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1 (5) recommendations, if any, for improving co2 ordination between the counseling programs and ex3 port financing programs of the Administration, in 

4 order to increase the volume of exports by rural 

5 small business concerns; and 

6 (6) any additional information the Adminis7 trator determines is necessary. 

8 SEC. 7. INTERNATIONAL TRADE COOPERATION BY SMALL 

9 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

10 Section 21(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 648(a)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘(2) The Small Business Devel13 opment Centers’’ and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) COOPERATION TO PROVIDE INTER15 NATIONAL TRADE SERVICES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION AND SERVICES.—The 

17 small business development centers’’; and 

18 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (A) in subparagraph (A), as so designated, 

20 by inserting ‘‘(including State trade agencies),’’ 

21 after ‘‘local agencies’’; and 

22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(B) COOPERATION WITH STATE TRADE

24 AGENCIES AND EXPORT ASSISTANCE CEN25 TERS.—A small business development center 


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1 that counsels a small business concern on issues 

2 relating to international trade shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) consult with State trade agencies 

4 and Export Assistance Centers to provide 

5 appropriate services to the small business 

6 concern; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) as necessary, refer the small 

8 business concern to a State trade agency 

9 or an Export Assistance Center for further 

10 counseling or assistance. 

11 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

12 term ‘Export Assistance Center’ has the same 

13 meaning as in section 22.’’. 

Æ 


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