II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3691 

To amend the Small Business Act, to reform and reauthorize the National 

Veterans Business Development Corporation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2006 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. AKAKA, and Mr. TALENT) 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 reform and reauthorize 

the National Veterans Business Development Corporation, 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 ‘‘Veterans Corporation 

5 Reauthorization Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES OF THE CORPORATION. 

7 (a) PURPOSES.—Section 33(b) of the Small Business 

8 Act (15 U.S.C. 657c(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(1) to establish and maintain a national net4 work of information and assistance centers for use 

5 by veterans and the public by— 

6 ‘‘(A) providing information regarding small 

7 business oriented employment or development 

8 programs; 

9 ‘‘(B) providing access to studies and re10 search concerning the management, financing, 

11 and operation of small business enterprises, 

12 small business participation in international 

13 markets, export promotion, and technology 

14 transfer; 

15 ‘‘(C) providing referrals to business ana16 lysts who can provide direct counseling to vet17 eran small business owners regarding the sub18 jects described in this section; 

19 ‘‘(D) serving as an information clearing20 house for business development and entrepre21 neurial assistance materials, as well as other 

22 veteran assistance materials, as deemed nec23 essary, that are provided by Federal, State and 

24 local governments; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) providing assistance to veterans and 

2 service-disabled veterans in efforts to gain ac3 cess to Federal prime contracts and sub4 contracts; and’’; and 

5 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘including 

6 service-disabled veterans’’ and inserting ‘‘particu7 larly service-disabled veterans’’. 

8 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF THE CORPORATION. 

9 (a) APPOINTMENTS TO THE BOARD.—Section 

10 33(c)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657c(c)(2)) 

11 is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT OF VOTING MEMBERS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall, 

14 after considering recommendations proposed 

15 under subparagraph (B), appoint the 9 voting 

16 members of the Board, all of whom shall be 

17 United States citizens, and not more than 5 of 

18 whom shall be members of the same political 

19 party. 

20 ‘‘(B) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Recommenda21 tions shall be submitted to the President for ap22 pointments under this paragraph by the chair23 man or ranking member (or both) of the Com24 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

25 or the Committee on Veterans Affairs (or both) 


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1 of the Senate or the Committee on Small Busi2 ness or the Committee on Veterans Affairs (or 

3 both) of the House of Representatives. 

4 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION WITH VETERAN OR5 GANIZATIONS.—Recommendations under sub6 paragraph (B) shall be made after consultation 

7 with such veteran service organizations as are 

8 determined appropriate by the member of Con9 gress making the recommendation. 

10 ‘‘(D) CONSIDERATIONS.—Consideration for 

11 eligibility for membership on the Board shall in12 clude business experience, knowledge of vet13 erans’ issues, and ability to raise funds for the 

14 Corporation. 

15 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION ON INTERNAL REC16 OMMENDATIONS.—No member of the Board 

17 may recommend an individual for appointment 

18 to another position on the Board.’’. 

19 (b) TERMS.—Section 33(c)(6) of the Small Business 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 657c(c)(6)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(6) TERMS OF APPOINTED MEMBERS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 

23 Board of Directors appointed under paragraph 

24 (2) shall serve for a term of 4 years. 


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1 ‘‘(B) UNEXPIRED TERMS.—Any member of 

2 the Board of Directors appointed to fill a va3 cancy occurring before the expiration of the 

4 term for which the member’s predecessor was 

5 appointed shall be appointed only for the re6 mainder of the term. A member of the Board 

7 of Directors may not serve beyond the expira8 tion of the term for which the member is ap9 pointed.’’. 

10 (c) REMOVAL OF BOARD MEMBERS.—Section 33(c) 

11 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657c(c)) is amended 

12 by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(12) REMOVAL OF MEMBERS.—With the ap14 proval of a majority of the Board of Directors and 

15 the approval of the chairmen and ranking members 

16 of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre17 neurship and the Committee on Veterans Affairs of 

18 the Senate, the Corporation may remove a member 

19 of the Board of Directors that is deemed unable to 

20 fulfill his or her duties, as established under this 

21 section.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. TIMING OF TRANSFER OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

2 DUTIES. 

3 Section 33(h) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 657c(h)) is amended by striking ‘‘October 1, 2006’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘October 1, 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 Section 33(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

8 657c(k)(1)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘, through the Office of 

11 Veteran’s Business Development of the Admin12 istration,’’ after ‘‘to the Corporation’’; and 

13 (B) by striking subparagraphs (A) through 

14 (D) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

16 ‘‘(B) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

17 ‘‘(C) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2009.’’; 

18 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(2) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administration 

22 shall require, as a condition of any grant (or 

23 amendment or modification thereto) made to 

24 the Corporation under this section, that a 

25 matching amount (excluding any fees collected 

26 from recipients of such assistance) equal to the 


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1 amount of such grant be provided from sources 

2 other than the Federal Government. 

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 33 per4 cent of the total revenue of the Corporation, in5 cluding the funds raised for use at the Vet6 eran’s Business Resource Centers, may be ac7 quired from fee-for-service tools or direct 

8 charge to the veteran receiving services, as de9 scribed in this section, except that the amount 

10 of any such fee or charge may not exceed the 

11 amount of such fee or charge in effect on the 

12 date of enactment of the Veterans Corporation 

13 Reauthorization Act of 2006. 

14 ‘‘(C) MISSION-RELATED LIMITATION.—The 

15 Corporation may not engage in revenue pro16 ducing programs, services, or related business 

17 ventures that are not intended to carry out the 

18 mission and activities described in section (b). 

19 ‘‘(D) RETURN TO TREASURY.—Funds ap20 propriated under this section that have not been 

21 expended at the end of the fiscal year for which 

22 they were appropriated shall revert back to the 

23 Treasury.’’; and 

24 (3) by striking paragraph (3). 


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1 SEC. 6. PRIVATIZATION. 

2 Section 33 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 657c) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking subsections (f) and (i); and 

5 (2) by redesignating subsections (g), (h), (j), 

6 and (k) as subsections (f) through (i), respectively; 

7 and 

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

9 ‘‘(j) PRIVATIZATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—Not later than 

11 6 months after the date of enactment of the Vet12 erans Corporation Reauthorization Act of 2006, the 

13 Corporation shall develop, institute, and implement a 

14 plan to raise private funds and become a self-sus15 taining corporation. 

16 ‘‘(2) GAO AUDIT AND REPORT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) AUDIT.—The Comptroller General of 

18 the United States shall conduct an audit of the 

19 Corporation, in accordance with generally ac20 cepted accounting principles and generally ac21 cepted audit standards. 

22 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The audit required by 

23 this paragraph shall include— 

24 ‘‘(i) an evaluation of the efficacy of 

25 the Corporation in carrying out the pur26 poses under section (b); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an analysis of the feasibility of 

2 the sustainability plan developed by the 

3 Corporation. 

4 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

5 after the date of enactment of the Veterans 

6 Corporation Reauthorization Act of 2006, the 

7 Comptroller General shall submit a report on 

8 the audit conducted under this paragraph to 

9 the Committee on Small Business and Entre10 preneurship and the Committee on Veterans Af11 fairs of the Senate and to the Committee on 

12 Small Business and the Committee on Veterans 

13 Affairs of the House of Representatives.’’. 

Æ 


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