showing that the small business concern qualifies as a small
business concern owned and controlled by socially disadvan-
taged individuals.
‘‘(14) This subsection shall not be construed as modify-
ing or superseding eligibility requirements for participa-
tion in any other program established by this Act.
‘‘(15) This subsection applies to each of fiscal years
1994 through 2000.’’.
SEC. 6. ENCOURAGEMENT OF INNOVATIVE PAYMENT METH-
ODS.
Section 15(k)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
644(k)(5)) is amended by striking the semicolon at the end
and inserting the following: ‘‘, and encourage procurement
officials to implement innovative payment methods, includ-
ing, but not limited to, advance payments or payments for
mobilization costs, in the award or negotiation of contracts
to small business concerns,’’.
SEC. 7. MAINTAINING SMALL BUSINESS ACCESS TO CON-
TRACTING OPPORTUNITIES.
Section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637)
is amended—
(1) in subsection (e)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘the
small purchase threshold’’ each place it appears and
inserting ‘‘$25,000’’;
(2) in subsection (g)(1), by redesignating sub-
paragraphs (A), (B), (C), (D), and (E) as subpara-
graphs (B), (C), (D), (E), and (F), respectively, and
by inserting before subparagraph (B), as so redesig-
nated, the following:
‘‘(A) the proposed procurement is conducted by
means of electronic commerce under the Federal Ac-
quisition Computer Network System established pur-
suant to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Act;’’;
(3) in subsection (e)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘(B)’’
and all that follows before clause (i) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(B) an executive agency soliciting offers for the
purchase of property or services shall post in a public
place at the contracting office a notice of the contract-
ing opportunity (meeting the standards of subsection
(f)) and receive offers in response to such notice for
a period of not less than 10 days—’’; and
(4) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(4) Whenever an executive agency conducts a procure-
ment by means of electronic commerce under the Federal
Acquisition Computer Network System established pursu-
ant to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act, the
solicitation of offers shall prescribe a deadline for the sub-
mission of offers that—
‘‘(A) in the case of a solicitation to furnish a
commercial item, is not less than 5 days;
‘‘(B) in the case of a solicitation to furnish any
other type of product, is not less than 10 days;
‘‘(C) in the case of a solicitation to furnish advi-
sory and assistance services, is not less than 20 days;
and
‘‘(D) in the case of solicitation to furnish any
other type of service, is not less than 15 days.’’.
SEC. 8. SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD.
(a) MEASURING EFFECT ON SMALL BUSINESS PAR-
TICIPATION.—Until October 1, 1999, procuring activities
shall report procurement awards with a dollar value of at
least $10,000, but less than $100,000, in conformity with
the procedures or the reporting of a contract award in excess
of $25,000 that were in effect on October 1, 1992.
(b) FAST PAYMENT PROCEDURES.—
(1) 
RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
THE
ADMINIS-
TRATOR.—The Administrator of the Small Business
Administration shall propose a modification to the
Federal Acquisition Regulation that provides for the
use of the payments terms described in paragraph (2),
and for the disbursement of payment through elec-
tronic fund transfer, whenever circumstance permits.
(2) REQUIRED PAYMENT TERMS.—Unless miti-
gating circumstances preclude, the payment terms for
a purchase or classes of purchases made pursuant to
simplified acquisition procedures shall require pay-
ment, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 39
of title 31, United States Code, not later than 15 days
after the date of receipt of a proper invoice for prod-
ucts delivered or services performed if—
(A) in the case of a purchase of property,
title to the property will vest in the Government
upon delivery of the property to the Government
or to a common carrier; and
(B) in the case of property or services for
which payment is due before the Government’s
acceptance of the property or services, the vendor
provides commercial or other appropriate war-
ranties assuring that the property or services
purchased conform to the requirements set forth
in the Government’s purchase offer.
SEC. 9. EXPEDITED RESOLUTION OF CONTRACT ADMINIS-
TRATION MATTERS.
(a) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Federal Acquisi-
tion Regulation shall include provisions that require a con-
tracting officer—
(1) to make every reasonable effort to respond in
writing within 30 days to any written request to a
matter relating to the administration of a contact
that is received from a small business concern; and
(2) in the event that the contracting officer is
unable to render a decision within the 30-day period,
to transmit to the contractor within such period a
written notification of a specific date by which the
contracting officer expects to render a decision.
(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section
shall be considered as creating any rights under the Con-
tract Disputes Act of 1978.
(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘small busi-
ness concern’’ means a business concern that meets the re-
quirements of section 3(a) of the Small Business Act and
the regulations promulgated pursuant to such section.
SEC. 10. PROTECTIONS FOR SMALL BUSINESS.
Section 15(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
644(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)(1)’’
and by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(2) No contracting procurement agency shall use any
market acceptance criterion which would preclude small
business concerns from being eligible for the contract award
solely on the basis of being unable to supply a quantity
of product when the same amount of product could be ob-
tained from a number of small business suppliers.’’.
SEC. 11. DEADLINES FOR ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS.
(a) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Proposed amendments
to the Federal Acquisition Regulation or proposed Small
Business Administration regulations shall be published not
later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act for the purpose of obtaining public comment pursuant
to either section 22 of the Office of Federal Procurement
Policy Act or the Administrative Procedures Act, as appro-
priate. The public shall be afforded not less than 60 days
to submit comments.
(b) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Final regulations shall be
published and become effective not later than 270 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 12. ANNUAL REPORTS.
(a) CORRECTION OF DATA.—The Administrator for
Federal Procurement Policy, in consultation with the Ad-
ministration, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of
Defense, and other appropriate agencies, shall supervise the
collection of data (either actual data or data acquired by
valid statistical sample) on—
(1) the number of small business concerns owned
and controlled by socially disadvantaged individuals
or owned and controlled by women;
(2) the number of such small business concerns
which compete for or otherwise apply for Federal con-
tracts; and
(3) the number and dollar amounts of Federal
contracts awarded to such small business concerns.
Such statistics shall be gathered on an annual basis and
shall be done by industry category or classes of such cat-
egories.
(b) REPORTS.—On the basis of the statistics required
to be collected under subsection (a), and on the basis of other
sources of relevant information, the President shall report
annually to Congress on the progress that small business
concerns described in subsection (a) are making in obtain-
ing a fair and equitable share of Federal procurement dol-
lars. The President shall also assess the extent to which the
Federal procurement system, or parts thereof, continues to
require affirmative actions, such as the goals set forth in
section 15(g) of the Small Business Act (as amended by sec-
tion 5 of this Act) in order to remedy past or presently
remaining discrimination against such small business con-
cerns.
SEC. 13. SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED BY WOMEN.
(a) SUBCONTRACT PARTICIPATION.—Section 8(d) of
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C 637(d)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and small business concerns
owned and controlled by socially and economically
disadvantaged individuals’’ both places it appears in
paragraph (1), both places it appears in paragraph
(3)(A), in paragraph (4)(D), in subparagraphs (A)
and (F) of paragraph (6), and in paragraph (10)(B)
and inserting ‘‘, small business concerns owned and
controlled by socially disadvantaged individuals, and
small business concerns owned and controlled by
women’’;
(2) by striking subparagraph (D) in paragraph
(3) and inserting the following:
‘‘(E) Contractors acting in good faith may relay
on written representations by their subcontractors re-
garding their status as either small business concern,
a small business concern owned and controlled by so-
cially disadvantaged individuals, or a small business
concern owned and controlled by women.’’;
(3) in paragraph (3), by inserting after subpara-
graph (C) the following new subparagraph (D):
‘‘(D) The term ‘small business concern owned
and controlled by women’ shall mean a small business
concern—
‘‘(i) which is at least 51 percent owned by
one or more women; or, in the case of any pub-
licly owned business, at least 51 percent of the
stock of which is owned by one or more women;
and
‘‘(ii) whose management and daily business
operations are controlled by one or more
women.’’;
(4) in paragraph (4)(E), by inserting ‘‘and for
small business concerns owned and controlled by
women’’ after ‘‘as defined in paragraph (3) of this
subsection’’; and
(5) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking ‘‘and small
business concerns owned and controlled by the socially
and economically disadvantaged individuals’’ and in-
serting ‘‘, small business concerns owned and con-
trolled by socially disadvantaged individuals, and
small business concerns owned and controlled by
women’’.
(b) MISREPRESENTATIONS
OF
STATUS.—(1) Sub-
section (d)(1) of section 16 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 645) is
amended by striking ‘‘or ‘small business concern owned and
controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged indi-
viduals’ ’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘, or a ‘small busi-
ness concern owned and controlled by socially and economi-
cally disadvantaged individuals’, or a ‘small business con-
cern owned and controlled by socially disadvantaged indi-
viduals’, or a ‘small business concern owned and controlled
by women’ ’’.
(2) Subsection (e) of such section is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘or ‘small business concern owned and controlled by
socially and economically disadvantaged individuals’ ’’ and
inserting ‘‘, or a ‘small business concern owned and con-
trolled by socially and economically disadvantaged individ-
uals’, or a ‘small business concern owned and controlled by
socially disadvantaged individuals’, or a ‘small business
concern owned and controlled by women’ ’’.
(c) DEFINITION.—Section 3 of such Act (15 U.S.C.
632) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(n) For the purposes of this Act, a small business con-
cern is a small business concern owned and controlled by
women if—
‘‘(1) at least 51 percent of small business concern
is owned by 1 or more women or, in the case of pub-
licly owned business, at least 51 percent of the stock
of which is owned by 1 or more women; and
‘‘(2) the management and daily business oper-
ations of the business are controlled by 1 or more
women.’’.
Æ
HR 4263 CDH——2