II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 738 

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

Trade, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. KERRY, and Mr. COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

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 Inter5 national Trade Enhancements Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ASSOCIATE AD7 MINISTRATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 22(a) of the Small 

9 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(a)) is amended by adding 

10 at the end the following: ‘‘The head of the Office shall 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
2 

•S 738 IS

1 be the Associate Administrator for International Trade, 

2 who shall be responsible to the Administrator.’’. 

3 (b) AUTHORITY FOR ADDITIONAL ASSOCIATE AD4 MINISTRATOR.—Section 4(b)(1) of the Small Business Act 

5 (15 U.S.C. 633(b)(1)) is amended— 

6 (1) in the fifth sentence, by striking ‘‘five Asso7 ciate Administrators’’ and inserting ‘‘Associate Ad8 ministrators’’; and 

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

10 the Associate Administrators shall be the Associate 

11 Administrator for International Trade, who shall be 

12 the head of the Office of International Trade estab13 lished under section 22.’’. 

14 (c) DISCHARGE OF ADMINISTRATION INTER15 NATIONAL TRADE RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 22 of the 

16 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649) is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(h) DISCHARGE OF ADMINISTRATION INTER19 NATIONAL TRADE RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Adminis20 trator shall ensure that— 

21 ‘‘(1) the responsibilities of the Administration 

22 regarding international trade are carried out 

23 through the Associate Administrator for Inter24 national Trade; 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
3 

•S 738 IS

1 ‘‘(2) the Associate Administrator for Inter2 national Trade has sufficient resources to carry out 

3 such responsibilities; and 

4 ‘‘(3) the Associate Administrator for Inter5 national Trade has direct supervision and control 

6 over the staff of the Office of International Trade, 

7 and over any employee of the Administration whose 

8 principal duty station is a United States Export As9 sistance Center or any successor entity.’’. 

10 (d) ROLE OF ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR IN CAR11 RYING OUT INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICY.—Section 

12 2(b)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631(b)(1)) 

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

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

15 ‘‘the Small Business Administration’’; and 

16 (2) by inserting ‘‘through the Associate Admin17 istrator for International Trade, and’’ before ‘‘in co18 operation with’’. 

19 (e) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 22(c)(5) of 

20 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649(c)(5)) is amended 

21 by striking the period at the end and inserting a semi22 colon. 

23 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Not later than 90 days after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

25 the Small Business Administration shall appoint an AssoVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:47 Mar 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738

pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
4 

•S 738 IS

1 ciate Administrator for International Trade under section 

2 22 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649), as amend3 ed by this section. 

4 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

5 Section 22 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 22. (a) There’’ and in8 serting the following: 

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

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘(referred to 

12 in this section as the ‘Office’),’’ after ‘‘Trade’’; 

13 (3) in subsection (b)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘The Office’’ and inserting 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(b) TRADE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.—The Office, 

17 including United States Export Assistance Centers (re18 ferred to as ‘one-stop shops’ in section 2301(b)(8) of the 

19 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (15 

20 U.S.C. 4721(b)(8)) and as ‘export centers’ in this sec21 tion)’’; and 

22 (B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

23 follows: 

24 ‘‘(1) assist in maintaining a distribution net25 work using regional and local offices of the AdminisVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:29 Mar 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738

pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
5 

•S 738 IS

1 tration, the small business development center net2 work, the women’s business center network, and ex3 port centers for— 

4 ‘‘(A) trade promotion; 

5 ‘‘(B) trade finance; 

6 ‘‘(C) trade adjustment; 

7 ‘‘(D) trade remedy assistance; and 

8 ‘‘(E) trade data collection.’’; 

9 (4) in subsection (c)— 

10 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

11 through (8) as paragraphs (2) through (9), re12 spectively; 

13 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

14 so redesignated, the following: 

15 ‘‘(1) establish annual goals for the Office relat16 ing to— 

17 ‘‘(A) enhancing the exporting capability of 

18 small business concerns and small manufactur19 ers; 

20 ‘‘(B) facilitating technology transfers; 

21 ‘‘(C) enhancing programs and services to 

22 assist small business concerns and small manu23 facturers to compete effectively and efficiently 

24 against foreign entities; 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
6 

•S 738 IS

1 ‘‘(D) increasing the access to capital by 

2 small business concerns; 

3 ‘‘(E) disseminating information concerning 

4 Federal, State, and private programs and initia5 tives; and 

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

7 business concerns are adequately represented in 

8 trade negotiations;’’; 

9 (C) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 

10 by striking ‘‘mechanism for’’ and all that fol11 lows through ‘‘(D)’’ and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘mechanism for— 

13 ‘‘(A) identifying subsectors of the small 

14 business community with strong export poten15 tial; 

16 ‘‘(B) identifying areas of demand in for17 eign markets; 

18 ‘‘(C) prescreening foreign buyers for com19 mercial and credit purposes; and 

20 ‘‘(D)’’; and 

21 (D) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated— 

22 (i) in the matter preceding subpara23 graph (A)— 

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

25 development specialists to each AdVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:47 Mar 03, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738

pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
7 

•S 738 IS

1 ministration regional office and as2 signing’’; and 

3 (II) by striking ‘‘office. Such spe4 cialists’’ and inserting ‘‘office and pro5 viding each Administration regional 

6 office with a full-time export develop7 ment specialist, who’’; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

9 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

10 (iii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

11 the period at the end and inserting a semi12 colon; and 

13 (iv) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(F) participate jointly with employees of 

16 the Office in an annual training program that 

17 focuses on current small business needs for ex18 porting; and 

19 ‘‘(G) jointly develop and conduct training 

20 programs for exporters and lenders in coopera21 tion with the United States Export Assistance 

22 Centers, the Department of Commerce, small 

23 business development centers, and other rel24 evant Federal agencies.’’; 

25 (5) in subsection (d)— 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
8 

•S 738 IS

1 (A) by inserting ‘‘EXPORT FINANCING

2 PROGRAMS.—’’ after ‘‘(d)’’; 

3 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

4 through (5) as clauses (i) through (v), respec5 tively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

6 (C) by striking ‘‘The Office shall work in 

7 cooperation’’ and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall work in 

9 cooperation’’; and 

10 (D) by striking ‘‘To accomplish this goal, 

11 the Office shall work’’ and inserting the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(2) TRADE FINANCIAL SPECIALIST.—To ac14 complish the goal established under paragraph (1), 

15 the Office shall— 

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

17 the Administration as a trade financial spe18 cialist to oversee international loan programs 

19 and assist Administration employees with trade 

20 finance issues; and 

21 ‘‘(B) work’’; 

22 (6) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘TRADE

23 REMEDIES.—’’ after ‘‘(e)’’; 

24 (7) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol25 lows: 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
9 

•S 738 IS

1 ‘‘(f) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The Office shall 

2 submit an annual report to the Committee on Small Busi3 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Com4 mittee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 

5 that contains— 

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

7 in implementing the requirements of this section; 

8 ‘‘(2) the destinations of travel by Office staff 

9 and benefits to the Administration and to small 

10 business concerns therefrom; and 

11 ‘‘(3) a description of the participation by the 

12 Office in trade negotiations.’’; 

13 (8) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘STUD14 IES.—’’ after ‘‘(g)’’; and 

15 (9) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(i) EXPORT ASSISTANCE CENTERS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During the period begin18 ning on October 1, 2006, and ending on September 

19 30, 2009, the Administrator shall ensure that the 

20 number of full-time equivalent employees of the Of21 fice assigned to the one-stop shops referred to in 

22 section 2301(b) of the Omnibus Trade and Competi23 tiveness Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721 (b)) is not less 

24 than the number of such employees so assigned on 

25 January 1, 2003. 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
10 

•S 738 IS

1 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY OF PLACEMENT.—Priority shall 

2 be given, to the maximum extent practicable, to 

3 placing employees of the Administration at any Ex4 port Assistance Center that— 

5 ‘‘(A) had an Administration employee as6 signed to such Center before January 2003; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(B) has not had an Administration em9 ployee assigned to such Center during the pe10 riod beginning January 2003, and ending on 

11 the date of enactment of this subsection, either 

12 through retirement or reassignment. 

13 ‘‘(3) NEEDS OF EXPORTERS.—The Adminis14 trator shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

15 strategically assign Administration employees to Ex16 port Assistance Centers, based on the needs of ex17 porters. 

18 ‘‘(4) GOALS.—The Office shall work with the 

19 Department of Commerce and the Export-Import 

20 Bank to establish shared annual goals for the Ex21 port Centers. 

22 ‘‘(5) OVERSIGHT.—The Office shall designate 

23 an individual within the Administration to oversee 

24 all activities conducted by Administration employees 

25 assigned to Export Centers.’’. 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
11 

•S 738 IS

1 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL TRADE LOANS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a)(3)(B) of the Small 

3 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(3)(B)) is amended by 

4 striking ‘‘$1,750,000, of which not more than 

5 $1,250,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,750,000 (or if the gross 

6 loan amount would exceed $3,670,000), of which not more 

7 than $2,000,000’’. 

8 (b) WORKING CAPITAL.—Section 7(a)(16)(A) of the 

9 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(16)(A)) is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by strik12 ing ‘‘in—’’ and inserting ‘‘—’’; 

13 (2) in clause (i)— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘in’’ after ‘‘(i)’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

16 (3) in clause (ii)— 

17 (A) by inserting ‘‘in’’ after ‘‘(ii)’’; and 

18 (B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 

19 or’’; and 

20 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(iii) by providing working capital.’’. 

22 (c) COLLATERAL.—Section 7(a)(16)(B) of the Small 

23 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(16)(B)) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘Each loan’’ and inserting the 

25 following: 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
12 

•S 738 IS

1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro2 vided in clause (ii), each loan’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—A loan under this 

5 paragraph may be secured by a second lien 

6 position on the property or equipment fi7 nanced by the loan or on other assets of 

8 the small business concern, if the Adminis9 trator determines such lien provides ade10 quate assurance of the payment of such 

11 loan.’’. 

12 (d) REFINANCING.—Section 7(a)(16)(A)(ii) of the 

13 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(16)(A)(ii)), as 

14 amended by this section, is amended by inserting ‘‘, in15 cluding any debt that qualifies for refinancing under any 

16 other provision of this subsection’’ before the semicolon. 

Æ 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with BILLS