IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1615 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 14, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To transfer the responsibility of verifying small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans or service-disabled veterans to 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Verification Alignment and Service-disabled Business 

4 Adjustment Act’’ or the ‘‘VA–SBA Act’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Transfer date. 

Sec. 3. Amendment to and transfer of veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned business database. 

Sec. 4. Additional requirements for database. 

Sec. 5. Procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled 

by service-disabled veterans. 

Sec. 6. Certification for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans. 

Sec. 7. Status of self-certified small business concerns owned and controlled by 

service-disabled veterans. 

Sec. 8. Transfer of the Center for Verification and Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Small Business Administration. 

Sec. 9. Report. 

Sec. 10. Determination of budgetary effects. 

7 SEC. 2. TRANSFER DATE. 

8 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘transfer date’’ 

9 means the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, except that such date may be extended an un11 limited number of times by a period of not more than 6 

12 months if the Administrator of the Small Business Admin13 istration and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs jointly 

14 issue a notice to Congress and the Law Revision Counsel 

15 of the House of Representatives containing— 

16 (1) a certification that such extension is nec17 essary; 


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1 (2) the rationale for and the length of such ex2 tension; and 

3 (3) a plan to comply with the requirements of 

4 this Act within the timeframe of the extension. 

5 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO AND TRANSFER OF VETERAN6 OWNED AND SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN7 OWNED BUSINESS DATABASE. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT OF VETERAN-OWNED AND SERV9 ICE-DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESS DATA10 BASE.—Effective on the transfer date, section 8127 of 

11 title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (e)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘the Administrator’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘section 36 of the Small Business Act’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (f)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary’’ each place 

19 such term appears, other than in the last place 

20 such term appears under paragraph (2)(A), and 

21 inserting ‘‘the Administrator’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘small 

23 business concerns owned and controlled by vet24 erans with service-connected disabilities’’ each 

25 place such term appears and inserting ‘‘small 


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1 business concerns owned and controlled by serv2 ice-disabled veterans’’; 

3 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

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

5 ‘‘to access’’ and inserting ‘‘to obtain from 

6 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs’’; and 

7 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 

8 inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this subsection— 

10 ‘‘(i) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 

11 ‘‘(I) verify an individual’s status as a vet12 eran or a service-disabled veteran; and 

13 ‘‘(II) establish a system to permit the Ad14 ministrator to access, but not alter, such 

15 verification; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator shall verify— 

17 ‘‘(I) the status of a business concern as a 

18 small business concern; and 

19 ‘‘(II) the ownership and control of such 

20 business concern. 

21 ‘‘(C) The Administrator may not certify a concern 

22 under subsection (b) or section 36A if the Secretary of 

23 Veterans Affairs cannot provide the verification described 

24 under subparagraph (B)(i)(I).’’; 

25 (D) by striking paragraphs (4) and (7); 


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1 (E) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 

2 (6) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively, and 

3 redesignating paragraph (8) as paragraph (6); 

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

5 by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘The 

6 Administrator’’; and 

7 (G) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

9 (I) by striking ‘‘verify the status 

10 of the concern as a small business 

11 concern or the ownership or control of 

12 the concern’’ and inserting ‘‘certify 

13 the status of the concern as a small 

14 business concern owned and controlled 

15 by veterans (under section 36A) or a 

16 small business concern owned and 

17 controlled by service-disabled veterans 

18 (under section 36(g))’’; and 

19 (II) by striking ‘‘verification’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘certification’’; 

21 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (I) in clause (i), by striking 

23 ‘‘small business concern owned and 

24 controlled by veterans with service25 connected disabilities’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘small business concern owned and 

2 controlled by service-disabled vet3 erans’’; and 

4 (II) in clause (ii)— 

5 (aa) by amending subclause 

6 (I) to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(I) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or 

8 the Administrator; or’’; and 

9 (bb) in subclause (II), by 

10 striking ‘‘the contracting officer 

11 of the Department’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘the applicable contracting offi13 cer’’; and 

14 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 

15 (3) by redesignating subsection (k) (relating to 

16 definitions) as subsection (l); 

17 (4) by inserting after subsection (j) (relating to 

18 annual reports) the following: 

19 ‘‘(k) ANNUAL TRANSFER FOR CERTIFICATION

20 COSTS.—For each fiscal year, the Secretary of Veterans 

21 Affairs shall reimburse the Administrator in an amount 

22 necessary to cover any cost incurred by the Administrator 

23 for certifying small business concerns owned and con24 trolled by veterans that do not qualify as small business 

25 concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans 


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1 for the Secretary for purposes of this section and section 

2 8128 of this title. The Administrator is authorized to ac3 cept such reimbursement. The amount of any such reim4 bursement shall be determined jointly by the Secretary 

5 and the Administrator and shall be provided from fees col6 lected by the Secretary under multiple-award schedule 

7 contracts. Any disagreement about the amount shall be 

8 resolved by the Director of the Office of Management and 

9 Budget.’’; and 

10 (5) subsection (l) (relating to definitions), as so 

11 redesignated, by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(4) The term Administrator means the Admin13 istrator of the Small Business Administration.’’. 

14 (b) TRANSFER OF REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO

15 DATABASE TO THE SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—Effective on 

16 the transfer date, subsection (f) of section 8127 of title 

17 38, United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)), 

18 is transferred to section 36 of the Small Business Act (15 

19 U.S.C. 657f), inserted so as to appear after subsection (e). 

20 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The following 

21 amendments shall take effect on the transfer date: 

22 (1) SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—Section 

23 3(q)(2)(C)(i)(III) of the Small Business Act (15 

24 U.S.C. 632(q)(2)(C)(i)(III)) is amended by striking 


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1 ‘‘section 8127(f) of title 38, United States Code’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘section 36’’. 

3 (2) TITLE 38.—Section 8128 of title 38, United 

4 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 

5 8127(f) of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36 of 

6 the Small Business Act’’. 

7 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR DATABASE. 

8 (a) ADMINISTRATION ACCESS TO DATABASE BEFORE

9 THE TRANSFER DATE.—During the period between the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act and the transfer date, 

11 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide the Admin12 istrator of the Small Business Administration with access 

13 to the contents of the database described under section 

14 8127(f) of title 38, United States Code. 

15 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

16 or the amendments made by this Act may be construed— 

17 (1) as prohibiting the Administrator of the 

18 Small Business Administration from combining the 

19 contents of the database described under section 

20 8127(f) of title 38, United States Code, with other 

21 databases maintained by the Administration; or 

22 (2) as requiring the Administrator to use any 

23 system or technology related to the database de24 scribed under section 8127(f) of title 38, United 

25 States Code, on or after the transfer date to comply 


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1 with the requirement to maintain a database under 

2 subsection (f) of section 36 of the Small Business 

3 Act (as transferred pursuant to section 3(b) of this 

4 Act). 

5 (c) RECOGNITION OF THE ISSUANCE OF JOINT REG6 ULATIONS.—The date specified under section 1832(e) of 

7 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

8 2017 (15 U.S.C. 632 note) shall be deemed to be October 

9 1, 2018. 

10 SEC. 5. PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESS 

11 CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY 

12 SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS. 

13 (a) PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESS

14 CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DIS15 ABLED VETERANS.—Section 36 of the Small Business Act 

16 (15 U.S.C. 657f) is amended— 

17 (1) by striking subsections (d) and (e); 

18 (2) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), and 

19 (c) as subsections (c), (d), and (e) respectively; 

20 (3) by inserting before subsection (c), as so re21 designated, the following: 

22 ‘‘(a) CONTRACTING OFFICER DEFINED.—For pur23 poses of this section, the term ‘contracting officer’ has the 

24 meaning given such term in section 2101 of title 41, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF SMALL BUSINESS CON2 CERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED

3 VETERANS.—With respect to a procurement program or 

4 preference established under this Act that applies to prime 

5 contractors, the Administrator shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) certify the status of the concern as a 

7 ‘small business concern owned and controlled by 

8 service-disabled veterans’; and 

9 ‘‘(2) require the periodic recertification of such 

10 status.’’; 

11 (4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by 

12 striking ‘‘and that the award can be made at a fair 

13 market price’’ and inserting ‘‘, that the award can 

14 be made at a fair market price, and if each concern 

15 is certified by the Administrator as a small business 

16 concern owned and controlled by service-disabled 

17 veterans’’; and 

18 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—Notwith20 standing subsection (c), a contracting officer may only 

21 award a sole source contract to a small business concern 

22 owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans or a 

23 contract on the basis of competition restricted to small 

24 business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled 

25 veterans if such a concern is certified by the Administrator 


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1 as a small business concern owned and controlled by serv2 ice-disabled veterans. 

3 ‘‘(h) ENFORCEMENT; PENALTIES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In car5 rying out this section, the Administrator shall estab6 lish procedures relating to— 

7 ‘‘(A) the filing, investigation, and disposi8 tion by the Administration of any challenge to 

9 the eligibility of a small business concern to re10 ceive assistance under this section (including a 

11 challenge, filed by an interested party, relating 

12 to the veracity of a certification made or infor13 mation provided to the Administration by a 

14 small business concern under subsection (b)); 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) verification by the Administrator of 

17 the accuracy of any certification made or infor18 mation provided to the Administration by a 

19 small business concern under subsection (b). 

20 ‘‘(2) EXAMINATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) EXAMINATION OF APPLICANTS.—The 

22 procedures established under paragraph (1) 

23 shall provide for a program of examinations by 

24 the Administrator of any small business concern 

25 making a certification or providing information 


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1 to the Administrator under subsection (b), to 

2 determine the veracity of any statements or in3 formation provided as part of such certification 

4 or otherwise provided under subsection (b). 

5 ‘‘(B) EXAMINATION OF CERTIFIED CON6 CERNS.—The procedures established under 

7 paragraph (1) shall provide for the examination 

8 of risk-based samples of small business con9 cerns certified under subsection (b), or of any 

10 small business concern that the Administrator 

11 believes poses a particular risk or with respect 

12 to which the Administrator receives specific and 

13 credible information alleging that the small 

14 business concern no longer meets eligibility re15 quirements to be certified as a small business 

16 concern owned and controlled by service-dis17 abled veterans. 

18 ‘‘(3) PENALTIES.—In addition to the penalties 

19 described in section 16(d), any small business con20 cern that is determined by the Administrator to have 

21 misrepresented the status of that concern as a small 

22 business concern owned and controlled by service23 disabled veterans for purposes of subsection (b), 

24 shall be subject to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) section 1001 of title 18, United 

2 States Code; 

3 ‘‘(B) sections 3729 through 3733 of title 

4 31, United States Code; and 

5 ‘‘(C) section 8127(g) of title 38, United 

6 States Code. 

7 ‘‘(i) PROVISION OF DATA.—Upon the request of the 

8 Administrator, the head of any Federal department or 

9 agency shall promptly provide to the Administrator such 

10 information as the Administrator determines to be nec11 essary to carry out subsection (b) or to be able to certify 

12 the status of the concern as a small business concern 

13 owned and controlled by veterans under section 36A.’’. 

14 (b) PENALTIES FOR MISREPRESENTATION.—Section 

15 16 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645) is amend16 ed— 

17 (1) in subsection (d)(1)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘, a’’ and inserting ‘‘, a 

19 ‘small business concern owned and controlled by 

20 service-disabled veterans’, a ‘small business con21 cern owned and controlled by veterans’, a’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘9, 15, 

23 or 31’’ and inserting ‘‘8, 9, 15, 31, 36, or 

24 36A’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘, a’’ and in2 serting ‘‘, a ‘small business concern owned and con3 trolled by service-disabled veterans’, a ‘small busi4 ness concern owned and controlled by veterans’, a’’. 

5 SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS 

6 OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VETERANS. 

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

8 amended by inserting after section 36 the following new 

9 section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 36A. CERTIFICATION OF SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS 

11 OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VETERANS. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the program es13 tablished under section 8127 of title 38, United States 

14 Code, the Administrator shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) certify the status of the concern as a 

16 ‘small business concern owned and controlled by vet17 erans’; and 

18 ‘‘(2) require the periodic recertification of such 

19 status. 

20 ‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT; PENALTIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In car22 rying out this section, the Administrator shall estab23 lish procedures relating to— 

24 ‘‘(A) the filing, investigation, and disposi25 tion by the Administration of any challenge to 


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1 the eligibility of a small business concern to re2 ceive assistance under this section (including a 

3 challenge, filed by an interested party, relating 

4 to the veracity of a certification made or infor5 mation provided to the Administration by a 

6 small business concern under subsection (a)); 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(B) verification by the Administrator of 

9 the accuracy of any certification made or infor10 mation provided to the Administration by a 

11 small business concern under subsection (a). 

12 ‘‘(2) EXAMINATION OF APPLICANTS.—The pro13 cedures established under paragraph (1) shall pro14 vide for a program of examinations by the Adminis15 trator of any small business concern making a cer16 tification or providing information to the Adminis17 trator under subsection (a), to determine the verac18 ity of any statements or information provided as 

19 part of such certification or otherwise provided 

20 under subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(3) PENALTIES.—In addition to the penalties 

22 described in section 16(d), any small business con23 cern that is determined by the Administrator to have 

24 misrepresented the status of that concern as a small 


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1 business concern owned and controlled by veterans 

2 for purposes of subsection (a), shall be subject to— 

3 ‘‘(A) section 1001 of title 18, United 

4 States Code; 

5 ‘‘(B) sections 3729 through 3733 of title 

6 31, United States Code; and 

7 ‘‘(C) section 8127(g) of title 38, United 

8 States Code.’’. 

9 SEC. 7. STATUS OF SELF-CERTIFIED SMALL BUSINESS CON10 CERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY SERV11 ICE-DISABLED VETERANS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law, any small business concern that self-certified 

14 as a small business concern owned and controlled by serv15 ice-disabled veterans shall— 

16 (1) if the concern files a certification applica17 tion with the Administrator of the Small Business 

18 Administration before the end of the 1-year period 

19 beginning on the transfer date, maintain such self20 certification until the Administrator makes a deter21 mination with respect to such certification; and 

22 (2) if the concern does not file such a certifi23 cation application before the end of the 1-year pe24 riod beginning on the transfer date, lose, at the end 

25 of such 1-year period, any self-certification of the 


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1 concern as a small business concern owned and con2 trolled by service-disabled veterans. 

3 (b) NON-APPLICABILITY TO DEPARTMENT OF VET4 ERANS AFFAIRS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to par5 ticipation in contracts (including subcontracts) with the 

6 Department of Veterans Affairs. 

7 (c) NOTICE.—The Administrator shall notify any 

8 small business concern that self-certified as a small busi9 ness concern owned and controlled by service-disabled vet10 erans about the requirements of this Act, including the 

11 transfer date and any extension of such transfer date 

12 made pursuant to section 2, and make such notice publicly 

13 available, on— 

14 (1) the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

15 (2) the date on which an extension described 

16 under section 2 is approved. 

17 SEC. 8. TRANSFER OF THE CENTER FOR VERIFICATION 

18 AND EVALUATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 

19 VETERANS AFFAIRS TO THE SMALL BUSI20 NESS ADMINISTRATION. 

21 (a) ABOLISHMENT.—The Center for Verification and 

22 Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs defined 

23 under section 74.1 of title 38, Code of Federal Regula24 tions, is abolished effective on the transfer date. 


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1 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—All functions that, 

2 immediately before the effective date of this section, were 

3 functions of the Center for Verification and Evaluation 

4 shall— 

5 (1) on the date of enactment of this Act, be 

6 functions of both the Center for Verification and 

7 Evaluation and the Small Business Administration, 

8 except that the Small Business Administration shall 

9 not have any authority to carry out any verification 

10 functions of the Center for Verification and Evalua11 tion; and 

12 (2) on the transfer date, be functions of the 

13 Small Business Administration. 

14 (c) TRANSFER OF ASSETS.—So much of the per15 sonnel, property, and records employed, used, held, avail16 able, or to be made available in connection with a function 

17 transferred under this section shall be available to the 

18 Small Business Administration at such time or times as 

19 the President directs for use in connection with the func20 tions transferred. 

21 (d) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any other Fed22 eral law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation 

23 of authority, or any document of or pertaining to a func24 tion of the Center for Verification and Evaluation that is 


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1 transferred under this section is deemed, after the transfer 

2 date, to refer to the Small Business Administration. 

3 SEC. 9. REPORT. 

4 Not later than the end of the 1-year period beginning 

5 on the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 6 

6 months thereafter until the transfer date, the Adminis7 trator of the Small Business Administration and Secretary 

8 of Veterans Affairs shall jointly issue a report to the Com9 mittees on Appropriations, Small Business, and Veterans’ 

10 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Commit11 tees on Appropriations, Small Business and Entrepreneur12 ship, and Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate on the planning 

13 for the transfer of functions and property required under 

14 this Act and the amendments made by this Act on the 

15 transfer date. Such report shall include— 

16 (1) whether and how the verification database 

17 and operations of the Center for Verification and 

18 Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

19 will be incorporated into the existing certification 

20 database of the Small Business Administration; 

21 (2) projections for the numbers and timing, in 

22 terms of fiscal year, of— 

23 (A) already verified concerns that will 

24 come up for recertification; and 


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1 (B) self-certified concerns that are ex2 pected to apply for certification; 

3 (3) an explanation of how outreach to veteran 

4 service organizations, the service-disabled veteran5 owned and veteran-owned small business community, 

6 and other stakeholders will be conducted; and 

7 (4) other pertinent information determined by 

8 the Administrator and the Secretary. 

9 SEC. 10. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

10 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

11 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, 

12 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

13 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

14 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

15 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro16 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

17 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 13, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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