I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4983
To amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to include expansion
of business development by individuals with disabilities among the public
policy goals of State and local development companies.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 26, 2000
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr.
GONZALEZ, Mr. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. UDALL of
Colorado, Ms. BERKLEY, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, and Mr. PHELPS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small
Business
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to
include expansion of business development by individuals
with disabilities among the public policy goals of State
and local development companies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Capital for
Individuals With Disabilities Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States is experiencing the great-
est period of prolonged economic prosperity in the
Nation’s history.
(2) More than 99 percent of the employers in
the United States are small business owners, and
they employ 52 percent of the Nation’s private sec-
tor workers.
(3) There are segments of the American popu-
lation that have yet to experience the benefits of the
Nation’s historic economic growth.
(4) Every American should be able to partici-
pate in our national prosperity and Congress should
encourage entrepreneurship among all Americans.
(5) Increased access to capital for entre-
preneurs means increased access to opportunity.
(6) There are 49,000,000 individuals with dis-
abilities in the United States.
(7) Fifteen percent of working age adults in the
United States are disabled small business owners.
(8) Congress should encourage and increase en-
trepreneurship among individuals with disabilities in
the United States.
(9) Increased access to capital for entre-
preneurs who are individuals with disabilities means
increased business opportunities for such individuals.
(10) Increased business opportunities for entre-
preneurs who are individuals with disabilities will
create more jobs for all Americans, benefit the na-
tional economy, and help provide a sense of accom-
plishment and self-worth for the disabled entre-
preneur.
SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BY INDI-
VIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 501(d)(3)(C) of the Small
Business Investment Act (15 U.S.C. 695(d)(3)(C)) is
amended by inserting before the comma at the end ‘‘or
business development by individuals with disabilities’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 103 of the
Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 662)
is amended—
(1) in paragraph (15), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end;
(2) in paragraph (16), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(17) the term ‘disability’ has the meaning
given such term in section 3(2) of the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102).’’.
Æ