I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1649 

To amend the Small Business Act to require cyber certification for small 

business development center counselors, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2019 

Mr. CHABOT (for himself, Mr. EVANS, and Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to require cyber certification for small business development center counselors, 

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 Devel5 opment Center Cyber Training Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DUTIES OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN7 TER COUNSELORS. 

8 Section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(o) CYBER STRATEGY TRAINING FOR SMALL BUSI2 NESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

4 ‘‘(A) the term ‘cyber strategy’ means re5 sources and tactics to assist in planning for cy6 bersecurity and defending against cyber risks 

7 and cyber attacks; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the term ‘lead small business develop9 ment center’ means a small business develop10 ment center that has received a grant from the 

11 Administration. 

12 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.—The Adminis13 trator shall establish a cyber counseling certification 

14 program, or approve a similar existing program, to 

15 certify the employees of lead small business develop16 ment centers to provide cyber planning assistance to 

17 small business concerns. 

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

19 The Administrator shall ensure that the number of 

20 employees of each lead small business development 

21 center who are certified in providing cyber planning 

22 assistance under this subsection is not fewer than 

23 the lesser of— 

24 ‘‘(A) 5; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) 10 percent of the total number of em2 ployees of the lead small business development 

3 center. 

4 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF SMALL BUSINESS DE5 VELOPMENT CENTER CYBER STRATEGY.—In car6 rying out this subsection, the Administrator, to the 

7 extent practicable, shall consider any cyber strategy 

8 methods included in the Small Business Develop9 ment Center Cyber Strategy developed under section 

10 1841(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act 

11 for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 130 

12 Stat. 2662). 

13 ‘‘(5) REIMBURSEMENT FOR CERTIFICATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the avail15 ability of appropriations and subparagraph (B), 

16 the Administrator shall reimburse a lead small 

17 business development center for costs relating 

18 to the certification of an employee of the lead 

19 small business development center under the 

20 program established under paragraph (2). 

21 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The total amount re22 imbursed by the Administrator under subpara23 graph (A) may not exceed $350,000 in any fis24 cal year.’’. 

Æ 


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