I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2974 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require that not less than 10 

percent of the amounts made available for certain high-speed rail projects 

be expended through small business concerns owned and controlled by 

socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011 

Ms. MOORE (for herself and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require that 

not less than 10 percent of the amounts made available 

for certain high-speed rail projects be expended through 

small business concerns owned and controlled by socially 

and economically disadvantaged individuals, 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. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Encouraging the participation in Federal 

2 contracting of small businesses owned and controlled 

3 by socially and economically disadvantaged individ4 uals is in the Federal Government’s interest, helps 

5 spur competition and innovation, and supports com6 munity-level economic revitalization and entrepre7 neurship. 

8 (2) Small businesses are key engines of eco9 nomic growth, but they have had difficulties access10 ing Federal contracting and procurement opportuni11 ties and participating in federally funded projects, 

12 particularly in the area of transportation. 

13 (3) Congress has supported efforts to ensure 

14 that small businesses owned and controlled by so15 cially and economically disadvantaged individuals are 

16 regular participants in projects funded by agencies 

17 throughout the Federal Government. 

18 (4) The United States Department of Trans19 portation has used Disadvantaged Business Enter20 prise programs to ensure nondiscrimination in the 

21 award and administration of contracts by entities re22 ceiving funds through the Department’s highway, 

23 transit, and airport financial assistance programs. 

24 (5) Congress and the Department have also 

25 worked to ensure that— 


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1 (A) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise 

2 programs are narrowly tailored to provide a 

3 level playing field on which small businesses 

4 owned and controlled by socially and economi5 cally disadvantaged individuals can compete 

6 fairly for contracts awarded by entities receiv7 ing Department assistance; 

8 (B) only small businesses that meet the eli9 gibility requirements for Disadvantaged Busi10 ness Enterprise programs are permitted to par11 ticipate in such programs; 

12 (C) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise 

13 programs assist the development of small busi14 nesses that can compete successfully in the 

15 marketplace outside of such programs; and 

16 (D) recipients of Department assistance 

17 have appropriate flexibility in providing oppor18 tunities for small businesses owned and con19 trolled by socially and economically disadvan20 taged individuals. 

21 (6) Congress has supported efforts to encourage 

22 veteran-owned small businesses to participate in 

23 Federal contracting and procurement opportunities, 

24 including by creating and strengthening programs 

25 and institutions for veterans who own or operate 


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1 small businesses and requiring the President to es2 tablish an annual Government-wide goal of at least 

3 3 percent for the award of procurement contracts to 

4 small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. 

5 SEC. 2. PARTICIPATION OF DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS EN6 TERPRISES IN HIGH-SPEED RAIL PROJECTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 261 of title 49, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 26107. Disadvantaged business enterprises 

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

12 (b), not less than 10 percent of the amounts made avail13 able for any project under sections 26101 and 26106 shall 

14 be expended through small business concerns owned and 

15 controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged indi16 viduals. 

17 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.—If the 

19 Secretary determines that the requirement of sub20 section (a) will prevent the satisfactory completion of 

21 a project described in such subsection because of a 

22 lack of competitive bids by small business concerns 

23 owned and controlled by socially and economically 

24 disadvantaged individuals, the Secretary may, with 

25 respect to such project, reduce the percentage stated 


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1 in such subsection to the extent necessary to ensure 

2 satisfactory completion of such project. 

3 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—If the Secretary 

4 reduces the percentage as provided in paragraph (1), 

5 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report de6 scribing the reduction and how the Secretary deter7 mined that the reduction was necessary to ensure 

8 satisfactory completion of the project involved. 

9 ‘‘(c) UNIFORM CERTIFICATION CRITERIA.—The Sec10 retary shall establish minimum uniform criteria for a re11 cipient of funds under section 26101 or 26106 to use in 

12 certifying whether a small business concern qualifies for 

13 purposes of this section. Such minimum criteria shall in14 clude on-site visits, personal interviews, licenses, analysis 

15 of stock ownership, listing of equipment, analysis of bond16 ing capacity, listing of work completed, resume of prin17 cipal owners, financial capacity, and type of work pre18 ferred. 

19 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE WITH COURT ORDERS.—Nothing 

20 in this section limits the eligibility of a person to receive 

21 funds made available under section 26101 or 26106 if the 

22 person is prevented, in whole or in part, from satisfying 

23 a requirement of this section because a Federal court 

24 issues a final order finding that such requirement is un25 constitutional. 


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1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

2 definitions apply: 

3 ‘‘(1) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

4 ‘small business concern’ has the meaning given such 

5 term in section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 632(a)), except that such term does not in7 clude any concern, or group of concerns controlled 

8 by the same socially and economically disadvantaged 

9 individual or individuals, which has gross receipts 

10 over the preceding 3 fiscal years averaging in excess 

11 of $19,570,000 per year. The Secretary shall adjust 

12 annually for inflation the threshold amount in the 

13 preceding sentence. 

14 ‘‘(2) SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN15 TAGED INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘socially and eco16 nomically disadvantaged individuals’ has the mean17 ing given such term in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the 

18 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)) and 

19 relevant subcontracting regulations issued under 

20 such Act, except that women shall be presumed to 

21 be socially and economically disadvantaged individ22 uals.’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 


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1 after the item relating to section 26106 the following new 

2 item: 

‘‘26107. Disadvantaged business enterprises.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING VETERAN4 OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Govern6 ment should continue to encourage participation by vet7 eran-owned small businesses in Federal contracting and 

8 procurement opportunities and federally funded projects, 

9 including by making veteran-owned businesses a key part 

10 of the small business programs of the Department of 

11 Transportation and other Federal agencies. 

Æ 


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