I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 246 

To amend the Small Business Act to require senior procurement executives, 

procurement center representatives, and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization to assist small business concerns participating in the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the 

Small Business Technology Transfer Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2019 

Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself, Mr. CURTIS, and Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to require senior procurement executives, procurement center representatives, and 

the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization to assist small business concerns participating in 

the Small Business Innovation Research Program and 

the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, 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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stimulating Innovation 

3 through Procurement Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SENIOR PROCUREMENT EXECU5 TIVE. 

6 Section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 638(e)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; 

10 (2) in paragraph (13)(B), by striking the period 

11 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(13) the term ‘senior procurement executive’ 

15 means an official designated under section 1702(c) 

16 of title 41, United States Code, as the senior pro17 curement executive of a Federal agency participating 

18 in a SBIR or STTR program.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF SENIOR PROCUREMENT EXECU20 TIVES IN SBIR AND STTR. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b) of the Small Busi22 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(b)) is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

24 end; 

25 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 

26 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(10) to coordinate, where appropriate, with the 

4 senior procurement executive of the relevant Federal 

5 agency to assist small business concerns partici6 pating in a SBIR or STTR program with commer7 cializing research developed under such a program 

8 before such small business concern is awarded a con9 tract from such Federal agency.’’. 

10 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 9(b)(3) of 

11 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(b)(3)) is amended 

12 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end. 

13 SEC. 4. MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO PROCUREMENT 

14 CENTER REPRESENTATIVES AND OTHER AC15 QUISITION PERSONNEL. 

16 (a) SBIR AMENDMENT.—Section 9(j) of the Small 

17 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(j)) is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(4) MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO PROCURE20 MENT CENTER REPRESENTATIVES.—Upon the en21 actment of this paragraph, the Administrator shall 

22 modify the policy directives issued pursuant to this 

23 subsection to require procurement center representa24 tives (as described in section 15(l)) to assist small 

25 business concerns participating in the SBIR proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:22 Jan 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H246.IH H246

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1 gram with researching solicitations for the award of 

2 a Federal contract (particularly with the Federal 

3 agency that has a funding agreement with the con4 cern) and to provide technical assistance to such 

5 concerns to submit a bid for an award of a Federal 

6 contract. The procurement center representatives 

7 shall coordinate with the appropriate senior procure8 ment executive and the appropriate Director of the 

9 Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utiliza10 tion established pursuant to section 15(k) for the 

11 agency letting the contract.’’. 

12 (b) STTR AMENDMENT.—Section 9(p)(2) of the 

13 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(p)(2)) is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (E)(ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

15 at the end; 

16 (2) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period 

17 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(G) procedures to ensure that procure21 ment center representatives (as described in 

22 section 15(l))— 

23 ‘‘(i) assist small business concerns 

24 participating in the STTR program with 

25 researching applicable solicitations for the 


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1 award of a Federal contract (particularly 

2 with the Federal agency that has a funding 

3 agreement with the concern); 

4 ‘‘(ii) provide technical assistance to 

5 such concerns to submit a bid for an 

6 award of a Federal contract; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) coordinate with the appropriate 

8 senior procurement executive and the ap9 propriate Director of the Office of Small 

10 and Disadvantaged Business Utilization 

11 established pursuant to section 15(k) for 

12 the Federal agency letting the contract in 

13 providing the assistance described in clause 

14 (i).’’. 

15 SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO DUTIES OF PROCUREMENT CEN16 TER REPRESENTATIVES. 

17 Section 15(l)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 644(l)(2)) is amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

20 the end; 

21 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub22 paragraph (L); and 

23 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol24 lowing new subparagraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(J) assist small business concerns partici2 pating in a SBIR or STTR program under sec3 tion 9 with researching applicable solicitations 

4 for the award of a Federal contract to market 

5 the research developed by such concern under 

6 such SBIR or STTR program; 

7 ‘‘(K) provide technical assistance to small 

8 business concerns participating in a SBIR or 

9 STTR program under section 9 to submit a bid 

10 for an award of a Federal contract, including 

11 coordination with the appropriate senior pro12 curement executive and the appropriate Direc13 tor of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

14 Business Utilization established pursuant to 

15 subsection (k) for the agency letting the con16 tract; and’’. 

17 SEC. 6. AMENDMENT TO THE DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF 

18 SMALL AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS UTI19 LIZATION FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

20 Section 15(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

21 644(k)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (19), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

23 end; 

24 (2) in paragraph (20), by striking the period at 

25 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraphs: 

3 ‘‘(21) shall assist small business concerns par4 ticipating in a SBIR or STTR program under sec5 tion 9 with researching applicable solicitations for 

6 the award of a Federal contract (particularly with 

7 the Federal agency that has a funding agreement, as 

8 defined under section 9, with the concern) to market 

9 the research developed by such concern under such 

10 SBIR or STTR program; and 

11 ‘‘(22) shall provide technical assistance to small 

12 business concerns participating in a SBIR or STTR 

13 program under section 9 to submit a bid for an 

14 award of a Federal contract, including coordination 

15 with procurement center representatives and the ap16 propriate senior procurement executive for the agen17 cy letting the contract.’’. 

Æ 


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