I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5265 

To amend the Small Business Act to require a report on the performance 

of the Office of Rural Affairs, to require a report on the memorandum 

of understanding between the Small Business Administration and the 

Department of Agriculture entered into on April 4, 2018, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 25, 2023 

Mr. ALFORD (for himself, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. ELLZEY, and Mr. BEAN

of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to require a report on 

the performance of the Office of Rural Affairs, to require 

a report on the memorandum of understanding between 

the Small Business Administration and the Department 

of Agriculture entered into on April 4, 2018, 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 Admin5 istration Rural Performance Report Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS RURAL PERFORMANCE REPORTS. 

2 (a) OFFICE OF RURAL AFFAIRS ANNUAL PERFORM3 ANCE REPORT.—Section 26 of the Small Business Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 653) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

9 the Administrator shall make available on a website 

10 of the Administration, and submit to the Committee 

11 on Small Business of the House of Representatives 

12 and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre13 neurship of the Senate, a report on the activities of 

14 the Office during the year preceding the date of the 

15 report that includes the following elements: 

16 ‘‘(A) How the Office is promoting financial 

17 assistance pursuant to subsection (c)(1). 

18 ‘‘(B) Annual statistics compiled pursuant 

19 to subsection (c)(2). 

20 ‘‘(C) How the Office is providing informa21 tion pursuant to subsection (c)(3). 

22 ‘‘(D) How the Office is providing informa23 tion pursuant to subsection (c)(4). 

24 ‘‘(E) The number of outreach events con25 ducted by the Office to provide information deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Aug 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5265.IH H5265

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1 scribed in paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection 

2 (c). 

3 ‘‘(F) Details of any partnerships that the 

4 Office engaged in to provide the outreach de5 scribed in paragraph (5), including any partner6 ships with the National Travel and Tourism Of7 fice of the Department of Commerce. 

8 ‘‘(G) The name of the director of the Of9 fice and the number of staff employed by the 

10 Office. 

11 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator 

12 shall annually submit, along with the budget the 

13 budget justification materials submitted in support 

14 of the Small Business Administration budget for a 

15 fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the 

16 President under section 1105(a) of title 31), a re17 port that includes the elements described in para18 graph (1).’’. 

19 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 26(c)(5) of 

20 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 653(c)(5)) is amended 

21 by striking ‘‘United States Tourism and Travel Adminis22 tration’’ and inserting ‘‘National Travel and Tourism Of23 fice of the Department of Commerce’’. 

24 (c) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH DE25 PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE REPORT.—Not later than 


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1 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

2 Administrator shall make available on a website of the Ad3 ministration and submit to the Committee on Small Busi4 ness of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

5 on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a 

6 report on the MOU. Such report shall include a descrip7 tion of the following: 

8 (1) How many working groups convened pursu9 ant to the MOU the Administration was part of and 

10 if the Administration is still part of any such work11 ing groups. 

12 (2) How many staff employed by the Adminis13 tration were and are still involved with a working 

14 group convened pursuant to the MOU. 

15 (3) The findings specified in clauses (i) through 

16 (iv) of paragraph (1) of part 2 of the MOU. 

17 (4) The findings specified in clauses (i) through 

18 (iv) of paragraph (2) of part 2 of the MOU. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis22 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi23 ness Administration. 

24 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra25 tion’’ means the Small Business Administration. 


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1 (3) MOU.—The term ‘‘MOU’’ means the 

2 memorandum of understanding between the Depart3 ment of Agriculture and the Small Business Admin4 istration entered into on April 4, 2018, about col5 laborative efforts to promote stronger businesses and 

6 agricultural economies in rural America. 

7 SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE WITH CUTGO. 

8 No additional amounts are authorized to be appro9 priated to carry out this Act or the amendments made 

10 by this Act. Such Act and amendments shall be carried 

11 out using amounts otherwise appropriated to the Adminis12 trator of the Small Business Administration. 

Æ 


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