II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1005 

To amend the Small Business Act to improve programs for veterans, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 28, 2007 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. PRYOR, and Mr. 

TESTER) 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 programs 

for veterans, 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 ‘‘Military Reservist and 

5 Veteran Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘activated’’ means receiving an 

9 order placing a Reservist on active duty; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘active duty’’ has the meaning 

2 given that term in section 101 of title 10, United 

3 States Code; 

4 (3) the terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’ mean the Small Business Administration 

6 and the Administrator thereof, respectively; 

7 (4) the term ‘‘Reservist’’ means a member of a 

8 reserve component of the Armed Forces, as de9 scribed in section 10101 of title 10, United States 

10 Code; 

11 (5) the term ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Execu12 tives’’ means the Service Corps of Retired Execu13 tives authorized by section 8(b)(1) of the Small 

14 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)); 

15 (6) the terms ‘‘service-disabled veteran’’ and 

16 ‘‘small business concern’’ have the meanings given 

17 those terms in section 3 of the Small Business Act 

18 (15 U.S.C. 632); 

19 (7) the term ‘‘small business development cen20 ter’’ means a small business development center de21 scribed in section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 648); and 

23 (8) the term ‘‘women’s business center’’ means 

24 a women’s business center described in section 29 of 

25 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656). 


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1 TITLE I—MILITARY RESERVIST 

2 LOANS 

3 SEC. 101. GRANT ASSISTANCE FOR MILITARY RESERVISTS’ 

4 SMALL BUSINESSES. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.—Section 

6 7(b)(3)(B) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 636(b)(3)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or grants’’ after 

8 ‘‘or a deferred basis)’’. 

9 (b) GRANT SPECIFICATIONS.—Section 7(b)(3) of the 

10 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(3)) is amended by 

11 inserting after subparagraph (F) the following: 

12 ‘‘(G) Grants made under subparagraph 

13 (B)— 

14 ‘‘(i) may be awarded in addition to 

15 any loan made under subparagraph (B); 

16 ‘‘(ii) shall not exceed $25,000; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) shall be made only to a small 

18 business concern— 

19 ‘‘(I) that provides a business plan 

20 demonstrating viability for not less 

21 than 3 years after the date of the ap22 plication for that grant; 

23 ‘‘(II) with 10 or fewer employees; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(III) that has not received a 

2 grant under subparagraph (B) during 

3 the 2-year period ending on the date 

4 of the application for that grant.’’. 

5 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

6 20(e)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) 

7 is amended by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(C) GRANT ASSISTANCE FOR MILITARY

10 RESERVISTS’ SMALL BUSINESSES.—There are 

11 authorized to be appropriated for grants under 

12 section 7(b)(3)(B)— 

13 ‘‘(i) $5,000,000 for the first fiscal 

14 year beginning after the date of enactment 

15 of the Military Reservist and Veteran 

16 Small Business Reauthorization Act of 

17 2007; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) $5,000,000 for each of the 2 fis19 cal years following the fiscal year described 

20 in clause (i).’’. 

21 SEC. 102. NONCOLLATERALIZED LOANS. 

22 Section 7(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

23 636(b)(3)) is amended by inserting after subparagraph 

24 (G), as added by this Act, the following: 


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1 ‘‘(H)(i) Notwithstanding any other provi2 sion of law, the Administrator may make a loan 

3 under this paragraph of not more than 

4 $100,000 without collateral. 

5 ‘‘(ii) The Administrator may defer pay6 ment of principal and interest on a loan de7 scribed in clause (i) during the longer of— 

8 ‘‘(I) the 1-year period beginning on 

9 the date of the initial disbursement of the 

10 loan; and 

11 ‘‘(II) the period during which the rel12 evant essential employee is on active 

13 duty.’’. 

14 SEC. 103. APPLICATION PERIOD. 

15 Section 7(b)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 636(b)(3)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘90 days’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘1 year’’. 

18 SEC. 104. PREAPPROVAL PROCESS. 

19 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible 

20 Reservist’’ means a Reservist who— 

21 (1) has not been ordered to active duty; 

22 (2) expects to be ordered to active duty during 

23 a period of military conflict (as that term is defined 

24 in section 7(n)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 636(n)(1)); and 


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1 (3) can reasonably demonstrate that the small 

2 business concern for which that Reservist is a key 

3 employee will suffer economic injury in the absence 

4 of that Reservist. 

5 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

7 establish a preapproval process, under which— 

8 (1) the Administrator may approve a loan or 

9 grant to a small business concern under section 

10 7(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 636(b)(3)), as amended by this Act, before an eligi12 ble Reservist employed by that small business con13 cern is activated; and 

14 (2) the Administrator shall distribute funds for 

15 any loan or grant approved under paragraph (1) if 

16 that eligible Reservist is activated. 

17 SEC. 105. OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PRO18 GRAM. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in con21 sultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the 

22 Secretary of Defense, shall develop a comprehensive out23 reach and technical assistance program (in this section re24 ferred to as the ‘‘program’’) to— 


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1 (1) market the loans and grants available under 

2 section 7(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 636(b)(3)), as amended by this Act, to Reservists, 

4 and family members of Reservists, that are on active 

5 duty and that are not on active duty; and 

6 (2) provide technical assistance to a small busi7 ness concern applying for a loan or grant under that 

8 section. 

9 (b) COMPONENTS.—The program shall— 

10 (1) incorporate appropriate websites maintained 

11 by the Administration, the Department of Veterans 

12 Affairs, and the Department of Defense; and 

13 (2) require that information on the program is 

14 made available to small business concerns directly 

15 through— 

16 (A) the district offices and resource part17 ners of the Administration, including small 

18 business development centers, women’s business 

19 centers, and the Service Corps of Retired Ex20 ecutives; and 

21 (B) other Federal agencies, including the 

22 Department of Veterans Affairs and the De23 partment of Defense. 

24 (c) REPORT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 

3 6 months thereafter until the date that is 30 months 

4 after such date of enactment, the Administrator 

5 shall submit to Congress a report on the status of 

6 the program. 

7 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

8 paragraph (1) shall include— 

9 (A) for the 6-month period before the date 

10 of that report— 

11 (i) the number of loans and grants 

12 approved under section 7(b)(3) of the 

13 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(3)), 

14 as amended by this Act; 

15 (ii) the number of loans and grants 

16 disbursed under that section; and 

17 (iii) the total amount disbursed under 

18 that section; and 

19 (B) recommendations, if any, to make the 

20 program more effective in serving small busi21 ness concerns that employ Reservists. 


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1 TITLE II—NATIONAL RESERVIST 

2 ENTERPRISE TRANSITION 

3 AND SUSTAINABILITY 

4 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Reservist 

6 Enterprise Transition and Sustainability Act of 2007’’. 

7 SEC. 202. PURPOSE. 

8 The purpose of this title is to establish a program 

9 to— 

10 (1) provide managerial, financial, planning, de11 velopment, technical, and regulatory assistance to 

12 small business concerns owned and operated by Re13 servists; 

14 (2) provide managerial, financial, planning, de15 velopment, technical, and regulatory assistance to 

16 the temporary heads of small business concerns 

17 owned and operated by Reservists; 

18 (3) create a partnership between the Small 

19 Business Administration, the Department of De20 fense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to as21 sist small business concerns owned and operated by 

22 Reservists; 

23 (4) utilize the service delivery network of small 

24 business development centers, women’s business cen25 ters, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, and cenVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:48 Mar 30, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1005.IS S1005

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1 ters operated by the National Veterans Business De2 velopment Corporation to expand the access of small 

3 business concerns owned and operated by Reservists 

4 to programs providing business management, devel5 opment, financial, procurement, technical, regu6 latory, and marketing assistance; 

7 (5) utilize the service delivery network of small 

8 business development centers, women’s business cen9 ters, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, and cen10 ters operated by the National Veterans Business De11 velopment Corporation to quickly respond to an acti12 vation of Reservists that own and operate small 

13 business concerns; and 

14 (6) utilize the service delivery network of small 

15 business development centers, women’s business cen16 ters, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, and cen17 ters operated by the National Veterans Business De18 velopment Corporation to assist Reservists that own 

19 and operate small business concerns in preparing for 

20 future military activations. 

21 SEC. 203. NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE BUSINESS AS22 SISTANCE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21(a)(1) of the Small 

24 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(a)(1)) is amended by insert25 ing ‘‘any small business development center, women’s 


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1 business center, Veterans Business Outreach Center, or 

2 center operated by the National Veterans Business Devel3 opment Corporation providing enterprise transition and 

4 sustainability assistance to Reservists under section 37,’’ 

5 after ‘‘any women’s business center operating pursuant to 

6 section 29,’’. 

7 (b) PROGRAM.—The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

8 631 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating section 37 (15 U.S.C. 631 

10 note) as section 38; and 

11 (2) by inserting after section 36 the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 37. RESERVIST ENTERPRISE TRANSITION AND SUS13 TAINABILITY. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall estab15 lish a program to provide business planning assistance to 

16 small business concerns owned and operated by Reservists. 

17 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘activated’ and ‘activation’ mean 

19 having received an order placing a Reservists on ac20 tive duty, as defined by section 101(1) of title 10, 

21 United States Code; 

22 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Administrator’ means the Ad23 ministrator of the Small Business Administration, 

24 acting through the Associate Administrator for 

25 Small Business Development Centers; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Association’ means the associa2 tion established under section 21(a)(3)(A); 

3 ‘‘(4) the term ‘eligible applicant’ means— 

4 ‘‘(A) a small business development center 

5 that is accredited under section 21(k); 

6 ‘‘(B) a women’s business center; 

7 ‘‘(C) a Veterans Business Outreach Center 

8 that receives funds from the Office of Veterans 

9 Business Development; or 

10 ‘‘(D) an information and assistance center 

11 operated by the National Veterans Business 

12 Development Corporation under section 33; 

13 ‘‘(5) the term ‘enterprise transition and sus14 tainability assistance’ means assistance provided by 

15 an eligible applicant to a small business concern 

16 owned and operated by a Reservist, who has been 

17 activated or is likely to be activated in the next 12 

18 months, to develop and implement a business strat19 egy for the period while the owner is on active duty 

20 and 6 months after the date of the return of the 

21 owner; 

22 ‘‘(6) the term ‘Reservists’ means any person 

23 who is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a member of a reserve component of 

2 the Armed Forces, as defined by section 10101 

3 of title 10, United States Code; and 

4 ‘‘(B) on active status, as defined by section 

5 101(d)(4) of title 10, United States Code; 

6 ‘‘(7) the term ‘small business development cen7 ter’ means a small business development center as 

8 described in section 21 of the Small Business Act 

9 (15 U.S.C. 648); 

10 ‘‘(8) the term ‘State’ means each of the several 

11 States of the United States, the District of Colum12 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin 

13 Islands, American Samoa, and Guam; and 

14 ‘‘(9) the term ‘women’s business center’ means 

15 a women’s business center described in section 29 of 

16 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656). 

17 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY.—The Administrator may award 

18 grants, in accordance with the regulations developed under 

19 subsection (d), to eligible applicants to assist small busi20 ness concerns owned and operated by Reservists by— 

21 ‘‘(1) providing management, development, fi22 nancing, procurement, technical, regulatory, and 

23 marketing assistance; 


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1 ‘‘(2) providing access to information and re2 sources, including Federal and State business assist3 ance programs; 

4 ‘‘(3) distributing contact information provided 

5 by the Department of Defense regarding activated 

6 Reservists to corresponding State directors; 

7 ‘‘(4) offering free, one-on-one, in-depth coun8 seling regarding management, development, financ9 ing, procurement, regulations, and marketing; 

10 ‘‘(5) assisting in developing a long-term plan 

11 for possible future activation; and 

12 ‘‘(6) providing enterprise transition and sus13 tainability assistance. 

14 ‘‘(d) RULEMAKING.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con16 sultation with the Association and after notice and 

17 an opportunity for comment, shall promulgate regu18 lations to carry out this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—The Administrator shall pro20 mulgate final regulations not later than 180 days of 

21 the date of enactment of the Military Reservist and 

22 Veteran Small Business Reauthorization Act of 

23 2007. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—The regulations developed by 

2 the Administrator under this subsection shall estab3 lish— 

4 ‘‘(A) procedures for identifying, in con5 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, States 

6 that have had a recent activation of Reservists; 

7 ‘‘(B) priorities for the types of assistance 

8 to be provided under the program authorized by 

9 this section; 

10 ‘‘(C) standards relating to educational, 

11 technical, and support services to be provided 

12 by a grantee; 

13 ‘‘(D) standards relating to any national 

14 service delivery and support function to be pro15 vided by a grantee; 

16 ‘‘(E) standards relating to any work plan 

17 that the Administrator may require a grantee 

18 to develop; and 

19 ‘‘(F) standards relating to the educational, 

20 technical, and professional competency of any 

21 expert or other assistance provider to whom a 

22 small business concern may be referred for as23 sistance by a grantee. 

24 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible applicant de2 siring a grant under this section shall submit an ap3 plication to the Administrator at such time, in such 

4 manner, and accompanied by such information as 

5 the Administrator may reasonably require. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

7 under paragraph (1) shall describe— 

8 ‘‘(A) the activities for which the applicant 

9 seeks assistance under this section; and 

10 ‘‘(B) how the applicant plans to allocate 

11 funds within its network. 

12 ‘‘(3) MATCHING NOT REQUIRED.—Subpara13 graphs (A) and (B) of section 21(a)(4), requiring 

14 matching funds, shall not apply to grants awarded 

15 under this section. 

16 ‘‘(f) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE.—The Administrator shall 

18 award grants not later than 60 days after the pro19 mulgation of final rules and regulations under sub20 section (d). 

21 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—Each eligible applicant award22 ed a grant under this section shall receive a grant 

23 in an amount— 

24 ‘‘(A) not less than $150,000 per fiscal 

25 year; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) not greater than $500,000 per fiscal 

2 year. 

3 ‘‘(g) REPORT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

5 the United States shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) initiate an evaluation of the program 

7 not later than 30 months after the disburse8 ment of the first grant under this section; and 

9 ‘‘(B) submit a report not later than 6 

10 months after the initiation of the evaluation 

11 under paragraph (1) to— 

12 ‘‘(i) the Administrator; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Small Busi14 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Small Busi17 ness of the House of Representatives. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The report under paragraph 

19 (1) shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) address the results of the evaluation 

21 conducted under paragraph (1); and 

22 ‘‘(B) recommend changes to law, if any, 

23 that it believes would be necessary or advisable 

24 to achieve the goals of this section. 

25 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated to carry out this section— 

3 ‘‘(A) $5,000,000 for the first fiscal year 

4 beginning after the date of enactment of the 

5 Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business 

6 Reauthorization Act of 2007; and 

7 ‘‘(B) $5,000,000 for each of the 3 fiscal 

8 years following the fiscal year described in sub9 paragraph (A). 

10 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON USE OF OTHER FUNDS.— 

11 The Administrator may carry out the program au12 thorized by this section only with amounts appro13 priated in advance specifically to carry out this sec14 tion.’’. 

15 TITLE III—VETERAN 

16 ENTREPRENEUR LOANS 

17 SEC. 301. AUTHORIZATION. 

18 The first sentence of section 7(a) of the Small Busi19 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636) is amended by inserting ‘‘new 

20 veteran entrepreneurs under paragraph (32) and’’ and 

21 after ‘‘loans to any qualified small business concern, in22 cluding’’. 


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1 SEC. 302. SPECIFICATIONS. 

2 Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 636(a)) is amended by adding after paragraph (31) the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(32) VETERAN ENTREPRENEUR LOANS.—Each 

6 loan to a new veteran entrepreneur under this sub7 section shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) be made directly to the new veteran 

9 entrepreneur; 

10 ‘‘(B) not exceed $100,000; and 

11 ‘‘(C) be made at the same interest rate as 

12 loans made under the second proviso of the un13 numbered paragraph of subsection (b).’’. 

14 SEC. 303. DEFINITIONS. 

15 Section 3(q) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

16 632(q)) is amended by adding after paragraph (4) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(5) NEW VETERAN ENTREPRENEUR.—The 

19 term ‘new veteran entrepreneur’ means a person 

20 who— 

21 ‘‘(A) is a veteran; 

22 ‘‘(B) is establishing a new small business 

23 concern or established a new small business 

24 concern during the 6-month period ending on 

25 the date of the request for a loan; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) does not own or control any other 

2 business.’’. 

3 TITLE IV—OTHER PROVISIONS 

4 SEC. 401. INCREASED FUNDING FOR THE OFFICE OF VET5 ERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. 

6 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Office 

7 of Veterans Business Development of the Administration, 

8 to remain available until expended— 

9 (1) $2,100,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

10 (2) $2,300,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 

11 (3) $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

12 SEC. 402. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF SBA ADVISORY COM13 MITTEE ON VETERANS BUSINESS AFFAIRS. 

14 (a) ASSUMPTION OF DUTIES.—Section 33 of the 

15 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657c) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking subsection (h); and 

17 (2) by redesignating subsections (i) through (k) 

18 as subsections (h) through (j), respectively. 

19 (b) PERMANENT EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—Sec20 tion 203 of the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small 

21 Business Development Act of 1999 (15 U.S.C. 657b note) 

22 is amended by striking subsection (h). 

23 SEC. 403. RESERVISTS STUDY. 

24 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

25 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 


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1 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En2 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

3 Business of the House of Representatives a report regard4 ing whether there has been a reduction in the hiring of 

5 Reservists by business concerns because of— 

6 (1) any increase in the use of Reservists after 

7 September 11, 2001; or 

8 (2) any change in any policy of the Department 

9 of Defense relating to Reservists after September 

10 11, 2001. 

11 SEC. 404. SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

14 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En15 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

16 Business of the House of Representatives a report describ17 ing— 

18 (1) the types of assistance needed by service19 disabled veterans who wish to become entrepreneurs; 

20 and 

21 (2) any resources that would assist such serv22 ice-disabled veterans. 

Æ 


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