II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1784 

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

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2007 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Ms. CANTWELL, and Ms. LANDRIEU) 

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 and Opportunity 

6 Act of 2007’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act— 

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

10 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—VETERANS BUSINESS 

2 DEVELOPMENT 

3 SEC. 101. INCREASED FUNDING FOR THE OFFICE OF VET4 ERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro6 priated to the Office of Veterans Business Development 

7 of the Administration, to remain available until ex8 pended— 

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 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that any amounts provided pursuant to this section 

14 that are in excess of amounts provided to the Administra15 tion for the Office of Veterans Business Development in 

16 fiscal year 2007, should be used to support Veterans Busi17 ness Outreach Centers. 

18 SEC. 102. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE. 

19 Section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

20 657b) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(d) INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

23 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

24 President shall establish an interagency task force to 

25 coordinate the efforts of Federal agencies necessary 


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1 to increase capital and business development oppor2 tunities for, and increase the award of Federal con3 tracting and subcontracting opportunities to, small 

4 business concerns owned and controlled by service5 disabled veterans and small business concerns owned 

6 and controlled by veterans (in this section referred 

7 to as the ‘task force’). 

8 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the task 

9 force shall include— 

10 ‘‘(A) the Administrator, who shall serve as 

11 chairperson of the task force; 

12 ‘‘(B) a representative from— 

13 ‘‘(i) the Department of Veterans Af14 fairs; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the Department of Defense; 

16 ‘‘(iii) the Administration (in addition 

17 to the Administrator); 

18 ‘‘(iv) the Department of Labor; 

19 ‘‘(v) the General Services Administra20 tion; and 

21 ‘‘(vi) the Office of Management and 

22 Budget; and 

23 ‘‘(C) 4 representatives of veterans service 

24 organizations, selected by the President. 


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1 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The task force shall coordinate 

2 administrative and regulatory activities and develop 

3 proposals relating to— 

4 ‘‘(A) increasing capital access and capacity 

5 of small business concerns owned and controlled 

6 by service-disabled veterans and small business 

7 concerns owned and controlled by veterans 

8 through loans, surety bonding, and franchising; 

9 ‘‘(B) increasing access to Federal con10 tracting and subcontracting for small business 

11 concerns owned and controlled by service-dis12 abled veterans and small business concerns 

13 owned and controlled by veterans through in14 creased use of contract reservations, expanded 

15 mentor-prote ́ge ́ assistance, and matching such 

16 small business concerns with contracting oppor17 tunities; 

18 ‘‘(C) increasing the integrity of certifi19 cations of status as a small business concern 

20 owned and controlled by service-disabled vet21 erans or a small business concern owned and 

22 controlled by veterans; 

23 ‘‘(D) reducing paperwork and administra24 tive burdens on veterans in accessing business 


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1 development and entrepreneurship opportuni2 ties; and 

3 ‘‘(E) making other improvements relating 

4 to the support for veterans business develop5 ment by the Federal Government. 

6 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.—The task force shall submit 

7 an annual report regarding its activities and pro8 posals to— 

9 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Small Business 

10 and Entrepreneurship and the Committee on 

11 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Small Business 

13 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

14 House of Representatives.’’. 

15 SEC. 103. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF SBA ADVISORY COM16 MITTEE ON VETERANS BUSINESS AFFAIRS. 

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

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

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

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

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

22 (b) PERMANENT EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—Sec23 tion 203 of the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small 

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

25 is amended by striking subsection (h). 


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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 03:04 Jul 14, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1784.IS S1784

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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 ‘Reservist’ means any person who 

23 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 and Oppor23 tunity Act of 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 $75,000 per fiscal year; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) not greater than $300,000 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 and Opportunity Act of 2007; 

7 and 

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

9 years following the fiscal year described in sub10 paragraph (A). 

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

12 The Administrator may carry out the program au13 thorized by this section only with amounts appro14 priated in advance specifically to carry out this sec15 tion.’’. 

16 TITLE III—RESERVIST 

17 PROGRAMS 

18 SEC. 301. RESERVIST PROGRAMS. 

19 (a) APPLICATION PERIOD.—Section 7(b)(3)(C) of the 

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

21 by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and inserting ‘‘1 year’’. 

22 (b) PRE-CONSIDERATION PROCESS.— 

23 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

24 ‘‘eligible Reservist’’ means a Reservist who— 

25 (A) has not been ordered to active duty; 


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1 (B) expects to be ordered to active duty 

2 during a period of military conflict; and 

3 (C) can reasonably demonstrate that the 

4 small business concern for which that Reservist 

5 is a key employee will suffer economic injury in 

6 the absence of that Reservist. 

7 (2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 

8 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

9 Administrator shall establish a pre-consideration 

10 process, under which the Administrator— 

11 (A) may collect all relevant materials nec12 essary for processing a loan to a small business 

13 concern under section 7(b)(3) of the Small 

14 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(3)) before an 

15 eligible Reservist employed by that small busi16 ness concern is activated; and 

17 (B) shall distribute funds for any loan ap18 proved under subparagraph (A) if that eligible 

19 Reservist is activated. 

20 (c) OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PRO21 GRAM.— 

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

23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis24 trator, in consultation with the Secretary of Vet25 erans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense, shall deVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:04 Jul 14, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1784.IS S1784

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1 velop a comprehensive outreach and technical assist2 ance program (in this subsection referred to as the 

3 ‘‘program’’) to— 

4 (A) market the loans available under sec5 tion 7(b)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 636(b)(3)) to Reservists, and family 

7 members of Reservists, that are on active duty 

8 and that are not on active duty; and 

9 (B) provide technical assistance to a small 

10 business concern applying for a loan under that 

11 section. 

12 (2) COMPONENTS.—The program shall— 

13 (A) incorporate appropriate websites main14 tained by the Administration, the Department 

15 of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of De16 fense; and 

17 (B) require that information on the pro18 gram is made available to small business con19 cerns directly through— 

20 (i) the district offices and resource 

21 partners of the Administration, including 

22 small business development centers, wom23 en’s business centers, and the Service 

24 Corps of Retired Executives; and 


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1 (ii) other Federal agencies, including 

2 the Department of Veterans Affairs and 

3 the Department of Defense. 

4 (3) REPORT.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 

6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

7 and every 6 months thereafter until the date 

8 that is 30 months after such date of enactment, 

9 the Administrator shall submit to Congress a 

10 report on the status of the program. 

11 (B) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted 

12 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 

13 (i) for the 6-month period ending on 

14 the date of that report— 

15 (I) the number of loans approved 

16 under section 7(b)(3) of the Small 

17 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)(3)); 

18 (II) the number of loans dis19 bursed under that section; and 

20 (III) the total amount disbursed 

21 under that section; and 

22 (ii) recommendations, if any, to make 

23 the program more effective in serving small 

24 business concerns that employ Reservists. 


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1 SEC. 302. RESERVIST LOANS. 

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

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

4 striking ‘‘$1,500,000’’ each place such term appears and 

5 inserting ‘‘$2,000,000’’. 

6 (b) LOAN INFORMATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator and the 

8 Secretary of Defense shall develop a joint website 

9 and printed materials providing information regard10 ing any program for small business concerns that is 

11 available to veterans or Reservists. 

12 (2) MARKETING.—The Administrator is author13 ized— 

14 (A) to advertise and promote the program 

15 under section 7(b)(3) of the Small Business Act 

16 jointly with the Secretary of Defense and vet17 erans’ service organizations; and 

18 (B) to advertise and promote participation 

19 by lenders in such program jointly with trade 

20 associations for banks or other lending institu21 tions. 

22 SEC. 303. NONCOLLATERALIZED LOANS. 

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

24 636(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(G)(i) Notwithstanding any other provi26 sion of law, the Administrator may make a loan 


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1 under this paragraph of not more than $50,000 

2 without collateral. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The Administrator may defer pay4 ment of principal and interest on a loan de5 scribed in clause (i) during the longer of— 

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

7 the date of the initial disbursement of the 

8 loan; and 

9 ‘‘(II) the period during which the rel10 evant essential employee is on active 

11 duty.’’. 

12 SEC. 304. LOAN PRIORITY. 

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

14 636(b)(3)), as amended by this Act, is amended by adding 

15 at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(H) The Administrator shall give priority 

17 to any application for a loan under this para18 graph and shall process and make a determina19 tion regarding such applications prior to proc20 essing or making a determination on other loan 

21 applications under this subsection, on a rolling 

22 basis.’’. 


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1 SEC. 305. RELIEF FROM TIME LIMITATIONS FOR VETERAN2 OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES. 

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

4 632(q)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) RELIEF FROM TIME LIMITATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any time limitation 

7 on any qualification, certification, or period of 

8 participation imposed under this Act on any 

9 program available to small business concerns 

10 shall be extended for a small business concern 

11 that— 

12 ‘‘(i) is owned and controlled by— 

13 ‘‘(I) a veteran who was called or 

14 ordered to active duty under a provi15 sion of law specified in section 

16 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10, United 

17 States Code, on or after September 

18 11, 2001; or 

19 ‘‘(II) a service-disabled veteran 

20 who became such a veteran due to an 

21 injury or illness incurred or aggra22 vated in the active military, naval, or 

23 air service during a period of active 

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1 ferred to in subclause (I) on or after 

2 September 11, 2001; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) was subject to the time limitation 

4 during such period of active duty. 

5 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—Upon submission of 

6 proper documentation to the Administrator, the 

7 extension of a time limitation under subpara8 graph (A) shall be equal to the period of time 

9 that such veteran who owned or controlled such 

10 a concern was on active duty as described in 

11 that subparagraph.’’. 

12 SEC. 306. SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS. 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

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

15 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En16 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

17 Business of the House of Representatives a report describ18 ing— 

19 (1) the types of assistance needed by service20 disabled veterans who wish to become entrepreneurs; 

21 and 

22 (2) any resources that would assist such serv23 ice-disabled veterans. 


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1 SEC. 307. STUDY ON OPTIONS FOR PROMOTING POSITIVE 

2 WORKING RELATIONS BETWEEN EMPLOYERS 

3 AND THEIR RESERVE COMPONENT EMPLOY4 EES. 

5 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Defense 

6 shall conduct a study on options for promoting positive 

7 working relations between employers and Reserve compo8 nent employees of such employers, including assessing op9 tions for improving the time in which employers of Reserv10 ists are notified of the call or order of such members to 

11 active duty other than for training. 

12 (b) REPORT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec15 retary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate 

16 committees of Congress a report on the study con17 ducted under subsection (a). 

18 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

19 paragraph (1) shall— 

20 (A) provide a quantitative and qualitative 

21 assessment of— 

22 (i) what measures, if any, are being 

23 taken to inform Reservists of the obliga24 tions and responsibilities of such members 

25 to their employers; 


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1 (ii) how effective such measures have 

2 been; and 

3 (iii) whether there are additional 

4 measures that could be taken to promote 

5 positive working relations between Reserv6 ists and their employers, including any 

7 steps that could be taken to ensure that 

8 employers are timely notified of a call to 

9 active duty; and 

10 (B) assess whether there has been a reduc11 tion in the hiring of Reservists by business con12 cerns because of— 

13 (i) any increase in the use of Reserv14 ists after September 11, 2001; or 

15 (ii) any change in any policy of the 

16 Department of Defense relating to Reserv17 ists after September 11, 2001. 

18 (c) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE19 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit20 tees of Congress’’ means— 

21 (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

22 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

23 of the Senate; and 


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1 (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

2 Committee on Small Business of the House of Rep3 resentatives. 

Æ 


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