II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3394 

To establish the veterans’ business center program, to improve the programs 

for veterans of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2010 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 

and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To establish the veterans’ business center program, to improve the programs for veterans of the Small Business 

Administration, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Entre5 preneurship for America’s Veterans Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VETERANS’ BUSINESS CENTER PROGRAM; OFFICE 

2 OF VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32 of the Small Business 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 657b) is amended by striking subsection 

5 (f) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(f) ONLINE COORDINATION.— 

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

8 ‘veterans’ assistance provider’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) a veterans’ business center estab10 lished under subsection (g); 

11 ‘‘(B) an employee of the Administration 

12 assigned to the Office of Veterans Business De13 velopment; and 

14 ‘‘(C) a veterans business ownership rep15 resentative designated under subsection 

16 (g)(13)(B). 

17 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Associate Admin18 istrator shall establish an online mechanism to— 

19 ‘‘(A) provide information that assists vet20 erans’ assistance providers in carrying out the 

21 activities of the veterans’ assistance providers; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) coordinate and leverage the work of 

24 the veterans’ assistance providers, including by 

25 allowing a veterans’ assistance provider to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) distribute best practices and 

2 other materials; 

3 ‘‘(ii) communicate with other vet4 erans’ assistance providers regarding the 

5 activities of the veterans’ assistance pro6 vider on behalf of veterans; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) pose questions to and request 

8 input from other veterans’ assistance pro9 viders. 

10 ‘‘(g) VETERANS’ BUSINESS CENTER PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

12 ‘‘(A) the term ‘active duty’ has the mean13 ing given that term in section 101 of title 10, 

14 United States Code; 

15 ‘‘(B) the term ‘private nonprofit organiza16 tion’ means an entity that is described in sec17 tion 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

18 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 

19 501(a) of such Code; 

20 ‘‘(C) the term ‘Reservist’ means a member 

21 of a reserve component of the Armed Forces, as 

22 described in section 10101 of title 10, United 

23 States Code; 


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1 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Service Corps of Retired 

2 Executives’ means the Service Corps of Retired 

3 Executives authorized under section 8(b)(1); 

4 ‘‘(E) the term ‘small business concern 

5 owned and controlled by veterans’— 

6 ‘‘(i) has the same meaning as in sec7 tion 3(q); and 

8 ‘‘(ii) includes a small business con9 cern— 

10 ‘‘(I) not less than 51 percent of 

11 which is owned by one or more 

12 spouses of veterans or, in the case of 

13 any publicly owned business, not less 

14 than 51 percent of the stock of which 

15 is owned by one or more spouses of 

16 veterans; and 

17 ‘‘(II) the management and daily 

18 business operations of which are con19 trolled by one or more spouses of vet20 erans; 

21 ‘‘(F) the term ‘spouse’, relating to a vet22 eran, service-disabled veteran, or Reservist, in23 cludes an individual who is the spouse of a vet24 eran, service-disabled veteran, or Reservist on 


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1 the date on which the veteran, service-disabled 

2 veteran, or Reservist died; 

3 ‘‘(G) the term ‘veterans’ business center 

4 program’ means the program established under 

5 paragraph (2)(A); and 

6 ‘‘(H) the term ‘women’s business center’ 

7 means a women’s business center described in 

8 section 29. 

9 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

11 acting through the Associate Administrator, 

12 shall establish a veterans’ business center pro13 gram, under which the Associate Administrator 

14 may provide financial assistance to a private 

15 nonprofit organization to conduct a 5-year 

16 project for the benefit of small business con17 cerns owned and controlled by veterans, which 

18 may be renewed for one or more additional 5- 

19 year periods. 

20 ‘‘(B) FORM OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

21 Financial assistance under this subsection may 

22 be in the form of a grant, a contract, or a coop23 erative agreement. 

24 ‘‘(3) VETERANS’ BUSINESS CENTERS.—Each 

25 private nonprofit organization that receives financial 


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1 assistance under this subsection shall establish or 

2 operate a veterans’ business center (which may in3 clude establishing or operating satellite offices in the 

4 region described in paragraph (5) served by that pri5 vate nonprofit organization) that provides to vet6 erans (including service-disabled veterans), Reserv7 ists, and the spouses of veterans (including service8 disabled veterans) and Reservists— 

9 ‘‘(A) financial advice, including training 

10 and counseling on applying for and securing 

11 business credit and investment capital, pre12 paring and presenting financial statements, and 

13 managing cash flow and other financial oper14 ations of a small business concern; 

15 ‘‘(B) management advice, including train16 ing and counseling on the planning, organiza17 tion, staffing, direction, and control of each 

18 major activity and function of a small business 

19 concern; 

20 ‘‘(C) marketing advice, including training 

21 and counseling on identifying and segmenting 

22 domestic and international market opportuni23 ties, preparing and executing marketing plans, 

24 developing pricing strategies, locating contract 


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1 opportunities, negotiating contracts, and using 

2 public relations and advertising techniques; and 

3 ‘‘(D) advice, including training and coun4 seling, for Reservists and the spouses of Reserv5 ists. 

6 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A private nonprofit 

8 organization desiring to receive financial assist9 ance under this subsection shall submit an ap10 plication to the Associate Administrator at such 

11 time and in such manner as the Associate Ad12 ministrator may require. 

13 ‘‘(B) 5-YEAR PLAN.—Each application de14 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include a 5- 

15 year plan on proposed fundraising and training 

16 activities relating to the veterans’ business cen17 ter. 

18 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION AND NOTIFICA19 TION.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

20 on which a private nonprofit organization sub21 mits an application under subparagraph (A), 

22 the Associate Administrator shall approve or 

23 deny the application and notify the applicant of 

24 the determination. 


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1 ‘‘(D) AVAILABILITY OF APPLICATION.— 

2 The Associate Administrator shall make every 

3 effort to make the application under subpara4 graph (A) available online. 

5 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBILITY.—The Associate Adminis6 trator may select to receive financial assistance 

7 under this subsection— 

8 ‘‘(A) a Veterans Business Outreach Center 

9 established by the Administrator under section 

10 8(b)(17) on or before the day before the date 

11 of enactment of this subsection; or 

12 ‘‘(B) private nonprofit organizations lo13 cated in various regions of the United States, 

14 as the Associate Administrator determines is 

15 appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(6) SELECTION CRITERIA.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Associate Admin18 istrator shall establish selection criteria, stated 

19 in terms of relative importance, to evaluate and 

20 rank applicants under paragraph (5)(C) for fi21 nancial assistance under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—The selection criteria es23 tablished under this paragraph shall include— 

24 ‘‘(i) the experience of the applicant in 

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1 signed to impart or upgrade the business 

2 skills of veterans, and the spouses of vet3 erans, who own or may own small business 

4 concerns; 

5 ‘‘(ii) for an applicant for initial finan6 cial assistance under this subsection— 

7 ‘‘(I) the ability of the applicant 

8 to begin operating a veterans’ busi9 ness center within a minimum amount 

10 of time; and 

11 ‘‘(II) the geographic region to be 

12 served by the veterans’ business cen13 ter; 

14 ‘‘(iii) the demonstrated ability of the 

15 applicant to— 

16 ‘‘(I) provide managerial coun17 seling and technical assistance to en18 trepreneurs; and 

19 ‘‘(II) coordinate services provided 

20 by veterans services organizations and 

21 other public or private entities; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) for any applicant for a renewal 

23 of financial assistance under this sub24 section, the results of the most recent ex25 amination under paragraph (10) of the 


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1 veterans’ business center operated by the 

2 applicant. 

3 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.— 

4 The Associate Administrator shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) make publicly available the selec6 tion criteria established under this para7 graph; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) include the criteria in each solici9 tation for applications for financial assist10 ance under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(7) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—The amount of 

12 financial assistance provided under this subsection 

13 to a private nonprofit organization for each fiscal 

14 year shall be— 

15 ‘‘(A) not less than $150,000; and 

16 ‘‘(B) not more than $200,000. 

17 ‘‘(8) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

19 ‘‘(i) INITIAL FINANCIAL ASSIST20 ANCE.—Except as provided in clause (ii) 

21 and subparagraph (E), a private nonprofit 

22 organization that receives financial assist23 ance under this subsection shall provide 

24 non-Federal contributions for the operation 

25 of the veterans’ business center established 


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1 by the private nonprofit organization in an 

2 amount equal to— 

3 ‘‘(I) in each of the first and sec4 ond years of the project, not less than 

5 33 percent of the amount of the fi6 nancial assistance received under this 

7 subsection; and 

8 ‘‘(II) in each of the third through 

9 fifth years of the project, not less 

10 than 50 percent of the amount of the 

11 financial assistance received under 

12 this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(ii) RENEWALS.—A private nonprofit 

14 organization that receives a renewal of fi15 nancial assistance under this subsection 

16 shall provide non-Federal contributions for 

17 the operation of the veterans’ business cen18 ter established by the private nonprofit or19 ganization in an amount equal to not less 

20 than 50 percent of the amount of the fi21 nancial assistance received under this sub22 section. 

23 ‘‘(B) FORM OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

24 Not more than 50 percent of the non-Federal 

25 share for a project carried out using financial 


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1 assistance under this subsection may be in the 

2 form of in-kind contributions. 

3 ‘‘(C) TIMING OF DISBURSEMENT.—The 

4 Associate Administrator may disburse not more 

5 than 25 percent of the financial assistance 

6 awarded to a private nonprofit organization be7 fore the private nonprofit organization obtains 

8 the non-Federal share required under this para9 graph with respect to that award. 

10 ‘‘(D) FAILURE TO OBTAIN NON-FEDERAL

11 FUNDING.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a private non13 profit organization that receives financial 

14 assistance under this subsection fails to ob15 tain the non-Federal share required under 

16 this paragraph during any fiscal year, the 

17 private nonprofit organization may not re18 ceive a disbursement under this subsection 

19 in a subsequent fiscal year or a disburse20 ment for any other project funded by the 

21 Administration, unless the Administrator 

22 makes a written determination that the 

23 private nonprofit organization will be able 

24 to obtain a non-Federal contribution. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) RESTORATION.—A private non2 profit organization prohibited from receiv3 ing a disbursement under clause (i) in a 

4 fiscal year may receive financial assistance 

5 in a subsequent fiscal year if the organiza6 tion obtains the non-Federal share re7 quired under this paragraph for the subse8 quent fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘(E) WAIVER OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Upon request by a 

11 private nonprofit organization, and in ac12 cordance with this subparagraph, the Ad13 ministrator may waive, in whole or in part, 

14 the requirement to obtain non-Federal 

15 funds under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal 

16 year. The Administrator may not waive the 

17 requirement for a private nonprofit organi18 zation to obtain non-Federal funds under 

19 this subparagraph for more than a total of 

20 2 fiscal years. 

21 ‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In deter22 mining whether to waive the requirement 

23 to obtain non-Federal funds under this 

24 subparagraph, the Administrator shall con25 sider— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the economic conditions af2 fecting the private nonprofit organiza3 tion; 

4 ‘‘(II) the impact a waiver under 

5 this subparagraph would have on the 

6 credibility of the veterans’ business 

7 center program; 

8 ‘‘(III) the demonstrated ability of 

9 the private nonprofit organization to 

10 raise non-Federal funds; and 

11 ‘‘(IV) the performance of the pri12 vate nonprofit organization. 

13 ‘‘(iii) LIMITATION.—The Adminis14 trator may not waive the requirement to 

15 obtain non-Federal funds under this sub16 paragraph if granting the waiver would un17 dermine the credibility of the veterans’ 

18 business center program. 

19 ‘‘(9) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—A veterans’ busi20 ness center may enter into a contract with a Federal 

21 department or agency to provide specific assistance 

22 to veterans, service-disabled veterans, Reservists, or 

23 the spouses of veterans, service-disabled veterans, or 

24 Reservists. Performance of such contract shall not 

25 hinder the veterans’ business center in carrying out 


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1 the terms of the grant received by the veterans’ 

2 business centers from the Administrator. 

3 ‘‘(10) EXAMINATION AND DETERMINATION OF

4 VIABILITY.— 

5 ‘‘(A) EXAMINATION.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Associate Ad7 ministrator shall conduct an annual exam8 ination of the programs and finances of 

9 each veterans’ business center established 

10 or operated using financial assistance 

11 under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(ii) FACTORS.—In conducting the ex13 amination under clause (i), the Associate 

14 Administrator shall consider whether the 

15 veterans’ business center has failed— 

16 ‘‘(I) to provide the information 

17 required to be provided under sub18 paragraph (B), or the information 

19 provided by the center is inadequate; 

20 ‘‘(II) the center has failed to 

21 comply with a requirement for partici22 pation in the veterans’ business center 

23 program, as determined by the Assist24 ant Administrator, including— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) failure to acquire or 

2 properly document a non-Federal 

3 share; 

4 ‘‘(bb) failure to establish an 

5 appropriate partnership or pro6 gram for marketing and outreach 

7 to small business concerns; 

8 ‘‘(cc) failure to achieve re9 sults described in a financial as10 sistance agreement; and 

11 ‘‘(dd) failure to provide to 

12 the Administrator a description 

13 of the amount and sources of any 

14 non-Federal funding received by 

15 the center; 

16 ‘‘(III) to carry out the 5-year 

17 plan under in paragraph (4)(B); or 

18 ‘‘(IV) to meet the eligibility re19 quirements under paragraph (5). 

20 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION PROVIDED.—In the 

21 course of an examination under subparagraph 

22 (A), the veterans’ business center shall provide 

23 to the Associate Administrator— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an itemized cost breakdown of ac2 tual expenditures for costs incurred during 

3 the most recent full fiscal year; 

4 ‘‘(ii) documentation of the amount of 

5 non-Federal contributions obtained and ex6 pended by the veterans’ business center 

7 during the most recent full fiscal year; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) with respect to any in-kind con9 tribution under paragraph (8)(B), verifica10 tion of the existence and valuation of such 

11 contributions. 

12 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF VIABILITY.—The 

13 Associate Administrator shall analyze the re14 sults of each examination under this paragraph 

15 and, based on that analysis, make a determina16 tion regarding the viability of the programs and 

17 finances of each veterans’ business center. 

18 ‘‘(D) DISCONTINUATION OF FUNDING.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Associate Ad20 ministrator may discontinue an award of 

21 financial assistance to a private nonprofit 

22 organization at any time if the Associate 

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1 ter operated by that organization is not 

2 viable. 

3 ‘‘(ii) RESTORATION.—The Associate 

4 Administrator may continue to provide fi5 nancial assistance to a private nonprofit 

6 organization in a subsequent fiscal year if 

7 the Associate Administrator determines 

8 under subparagraph (C) that the veterans’ 

9 business center is viable. 

10 ‘‘(11) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

12 subparagraph (B), a veterans’ business center 

13 established or operated using financial assist14 ance provided under this subsection may not 

15 disclose the name, address, or telephone num16 ber of any individual or small business concern 

17 that receives advice from the veterans’ business 

18 center without the consent of the individual or 

19 small business concern. 

20 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—A veterans’ business 

21 center may disclose information described in 

22 subparagraph (A)— 

23 ‘‘(i) if the Administrator or Associate 

24 Administrator is ordered to make such a 

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1 nal enforcement action initiated by a Fed2 eral or State agency; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) to the extent that the Adminis4 trator or Associate Administrator deter5 mines that such a disclosure is necessary 

6 to conduct a financial audit of a veterans’ 

7 business center. 

8 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION USE OF INFORMA9 TION.—This paragraph does not— 

10 ‘‘(i) restrict access by the Adminis11 trator to program activity data; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) prevent the Administrator from 

13 using information not described in sub14 paragraph (A) to conduct surveys of indi15 viduals or small business concerns that re16 ceive advice from a veterans’ business cen17 ter. 

18 ‘‘(D) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator 

19 shall issue regulations to establish standards for 

20 requiring disclosures under subparagraph 

21 (B)(ii). 

22 ‘‘(12) REPORT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

24 days after the end of each fiscal year, the Asso25 ciate Administrator shall submit to the ComVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:11 May 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3394.IS S3394

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1 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

2 of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

3 Business of the House of Representatives a re4 port on the effectiveness of the veterans’ busi5 ness center program in each region during the 

6 most recent full fiscal year. 

7 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report under this 

8 paragraph shall include, at a minimum, for 

9 each veterans’ business center established or 

10 operated using financial assistance provided 

11 under this subsection— 

12 ‘‘(i) the number of individuals receiv13 ing assistance from the veterans’ business 

14 center, including the number of such indi15 viduals who are— 

16 ‘‘(I) veterans or spouses of vet17 erans; 

18 ‘‘(II) service-disabled veterans or 

19 spouses of service-disabled veterans; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(III) Reservists or spouses of 

22 Reservists; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the number of startup small 

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1 ceiving assistance from the veterans’ busi2 ness center, including— 

3 ‘‘(I) veterans or spouses of vet4 erans; 

5 ‘‘(II) service-disabled veterans or 

6 spouses of service-disabled veterans; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(III) Reservists or spouses of 

9 Reservists; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the gross receipts of small busi11 ness concerns that receive advice from the 

12 veterans’ business center; 

13 ‘‘(iv) the employment increases or de14 creases of small business concerns that re15 ceive advice from the veterans’ business 

16 center; 

17 ‘‘(v) to the maximum extent prac18 ticable, the increases or decreases in prof19 its of small business concerns that receive 

20 advice from the veterans’ business center; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(vi) the results of the examination of 

23 the veterans’ business center under para24 graph (10). 


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1 ‘‘(13) COORDINATION OF EFFORTS AND CON2 SULTATION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) COORDINATION AND CONSULTA4 TION.—To the extent practicable, the Associate 

5 Administrator and each private nonprofit orga6 nization that receives financial assistance under 

7 this subsection shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) coordinate outreach and other ac9 tivities with other programs of the Admin10 istration and the programs of other Fed11 eral agencies; 

12 ‘‘(ii) consult with technical representa13 tives of the district offices of the Adminis14 tration in carrying out activities using fi15 nancial assistance under this subsection; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(iii) provide information to the vet18 erans business ownership representatives 

19 designated under subparagraph (B) and 

20 coordinate with the veterans business own21 ership representatives to increase the abil22 ity of the veterans business ownership rep23 resentatives to provide services throughout 

24 the area served by the veterans business 

25 ownership representatives. 


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1 ‘‘(B) VETERANS BUSINESS OWNERSHIP

2 REPRESENTATIVES.— 

3 ‘‘(i) DESIGNATION.—The Adminis4 trator shall designate not fewer than 1 in5 dividual in each district office of the Ad6 ministration as a veterans business owner7 ship representative, who shall communicate 

8 and coordinate activities of the district of9 fice with private nonprofit organizations 

10 that receive financial assistance under this 

11 subsection. 

12 ‘‘(ii) INITIAL DESIGNATION.—The 

13 first individual in each district office of the 

14 Administration designated by the Adminis15 trator as a veterans business ownership 

16 representative under clause (i) shall be an 

17 individual that is employed by the Admin18 istration on the date of enactment of this 

19 subsection. 

20 ‘‘(14) EXISTING CONTRACTS.—An award of fi21 nancial assistance under this subsection shall not 

22 void any contract between a private nonprofit orga23 nization and the Administration that is in effect on 

24 the date of such award. 


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1 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated— 

3 ‘‘(1) to carry out subsections (a) through (f), 

4 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 

5 2013; and 

6 ‘‘(2) to carry out subsection (g)— 

7 ‘‘(A) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

8 ‘‘(B) $8,500,000 for fiscal year 2012; and 

9 ‘‘(C) $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2013.’’. 

10 (b) GAO REPORTS.— 

11 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

12 (A) the terms ‘‘small business concern’’ 

13 and ‘‘veteran’’ have the meanings given those 

14 terms under section 3 of the Small Business 

15 Act (15 U.S.C. 632); and 

16 (B) the terms ‘‘Reservist’’, ‘‘small business 

17 concern owned and controlled by veterans’’, and 

18 ‘‘veterans’ business center program’’ have the 

19 meanings given those terms in section 32(g) of 

20 the Small Business Act, as added by this sec21 tion. 

22 (2) REPORT ON ACCESS TO CREDIT.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

24 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

25 the Comptroller General of the United States 


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1 shall submit a report regarding the ability of 

2 small business concern owned and controlled by 

3 veterans to access credit to— 

4 (i) the Committee on Veterans’ Af5 fairs and the Committee on Small Business 

6 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and 

7 (ii) the Committee on Veterans’ Af8 fairs and the Committee on Small Business 

9 of the House of Representatives. 

10 (B) CONTENTS.—The report submitted 

11 under subparagraph (A) shall include an anal12 ysis of— 

13 (i) the sources of credit used by small 

14 business concerns owned and controlled by 

15 veterans and percentage of the credit ob16 tained by small business concern owned 

17 and controlled by veterans that is obtained 

18 from each source; 

19 (ii) the default rate for small business 

20 concerns owned and controlled by veterans 

21 separately for each source of credit de22 scribed in clause (i), as compared to the 

23 default rate for the source of credit for 

24 small business concerns generally; 


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1 (iii) the Federal lending programs 

2 available to provide credit to small busi3 ness concerns owned and controlled by vet4 erans; 

5 (iv) gaps, if any, in the availability of 

6 credit for small business concerns owned 

7 and controlled by veterans that are not 

8 being filled by the Federal Government or 

9 private sources; 

10 (v) obstacles faced by veterans in try11 ing to access credit; 

12 (vi) the extent to which deployment 

13 and other military responsibilities affect 

14 the credit history of veterans and Reserv15 ists; and 

16 (vii) the extent to which veterans are 

17 aware of Federal programs targeted to18 wards helping veterans access credit. 

19 (3) REPORT ON VETERANS’ BUSINESS CENTER

20 PROGRAM.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

22 after the end of the second fiscal year beginning 

23 after the date on which the veterans’ business 

24 center program is established, the Comptroller 

25 General of the United States shall evaluate the 


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1 effectiveness of the veterans’ business center 

2 program, and submit to Congress a report on 

3 the results of that evaluation. 

4 (B) CONTENTS.—The report submitted 

5 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 

6 (i) an assessment of— 

7 (I) the use of amounts made 

8 available to carry out the veterans’ 

9 business center program; 

10 (II) the effectiveness of the serv11 ices provided by each private non12 profit organization receiving financial 

13 assistance under the veterans’ busi14 ness center program; 

15 (III) whether the services de16 scribed in clause (ii) are duplicative of 

17 services provided by other veteran 

18 service organizations, programs of the 

19 Small Business Administration, or 

20 programs of another Federal depart21 ment or agency and, if so, rec22 ommendations regarding how to al23 leviate the duplication of the services; 

24 and 


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1 (IV) whether there are areas of 

2 the United States in which there are 

3 not adequate entrepreneurial services 

4 for small business concerns owned and 

5 controlled by veterans and, if so, 

6 whether there is a veterans’ business 

7 center established under the veterans’ 

8 business center program providing 

9 services to that area; and 

10 (ii) recommendations, if any, for im11 proving the veterans’ business center pro12 gram. 

13 SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR INTERAGENCY 

14 TASK FORCE. 

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

16 657b(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not less frequently than twice 

18 each year, the Administrator shall submit to Con19 gress a report on the appointments made to and ac20 tivities of the task force.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. REPEAL AND RENEWAL OF GRANTS. 

22 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered 

23 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement’’ means a grant, 

24 contract, or cooperative agreement that was— 


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1 (1) made or entered into under section 8(b)(17) 

2 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(17)); 

3 and 

4 (2) in effect on or before the date described in 

5 subsection (b)(2). 

6 (b) REPEAL.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(b) of the Small 

8 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)) is amended— 

9 (A) in paragraph (15), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (B) in paragraph (16), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

12 and inserting a period; and 

13 (C) by striking paragraph (17). 

14 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

15 by paragraph (1) shall take effect 60 days after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act. 

17 (c) TRANSITIONAL RULES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

19 provision of law, a covered grant, contract, or coop20 erative agreement shall remain in full force and ef21 fect under the terms, and for the duration, of the 

22 covered grant, contract, or agreement. 

23 (2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—Any organi24 zation that was awarded or entered into a covered 

25 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement shall be 


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1 subject to the requirements of section 32(g) of the 

2 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657b(g)) (as added 

3 by this Act). 

4 (d) RENEWAL OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—An or5 ganization that was awarded or entered into a covered 

6 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement may apply for 

7 a renewal of the grant, contract, or agreement under the 

8 terms and conditions described in section 32(g) of the 

9 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657b(g)) (as added by this 

10 Act). 

Æ 


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