IIB 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1772
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JUNE 25, 2003
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship 
AN ACT 
To improve small business advocacy, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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of the impact of regulations on small businesses, the 
role of small business in the Nation’s economy, and 
the barriers to the growth of small businesses. 
(6) The research, information, and expertise 
provided by an independent office of small business 
advocacy will be a valuable source of information 
and advice for Congress and Federal agencies with 
which the office will work on behalf of small busi-
nesses. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to ensure that there exists an entity that 
has the statutory independence and adequate finan-
cial resources to effectively advocate for and on be-
half of small business; 
(2) to require that such an entity report to the 
Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Committee 
on Small Business of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre-
neurship of the Senate, and to the Administrator of 
the Small Business Administration in order to keep 
them fully and currently informed about issues and 
regulations affecting small business concerns and the 
necessity for corrective action by the regulatory 
agency or Congress;
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(3) to provide a separate authorization for ap-
propriations for such an entity; and 
(4) to strengthen the role of the Small Business 
and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombuds-
man by ensuring continued cooperation between the 
Ombudsman and the Office of Advocacy of the 
Small Business Administration. 
SEC. 3. APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF COUNSEL OF ADVOCACY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of Public Law 94–
305 (15 U.S.C. 634a) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘There is estab-
lished’’; 
(2) by striking the second sentence; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) The management of the Office shall be vested 
in a Chief Counsel for Advocacy who shall be appointed 
from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, and who should be appointed 
without regard to political affiliation and on the basis of 
fitness to perform the duties of the office. 
‘‘(c) No individual may be appointed under sub-
section (b) if such individual has served as an officer or 
employee of the Small Business Administration during the 
5-year period preceding the date of such individual’s ap-
pointment.
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‘‘(d) An individual serving as Chief Counsel on the 
date of the expiration of any term of the President may 
not continue to serve as Chief Counsel for more than 1 
year after such date unless such individual is reappointed
after such date by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate. The preceding sentence shall 
not apply in the case of the expiration of a term of an 
individual holding the office of President if such individual 
is elected to the office of President for a term successive 
to such term.’’. 
(b) INCUMBENT CHIEF COUNSEL FOR ADVOCACY.—
The individual serving as the Chief Counsel for Advocacy 
of the Small Business Administration on the date of the 
enactment of this Act shall continue to serve in that posi-
tion after such date in accordance with section 201 of 
Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634a), as amended by this 
section. 
SEC. 4. PRIMARY FUNCTIONS OF OFFICE OF ADVOCACY. 
Section 202 of Public Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634b) 
is amended—
(1) in paragraph (6) by striking ‘‘to minority 
enterprises’’ and inserting ‘‘to small business con-
cerns owned and controlled by socially and economi-
cally disadvantaged individuals, to small business 
concerns owned and controlled by women, and to
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small business concerns owned and controlled by vet-
erans’’; 
(2) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘minority en-
terprises’’ and inserting ‘‘small business concerns 
owned and controlled by socially and economically 
disadvantaged individuals, small business concerns 
owned and controlled by women, and small business 
concerns owned and controlled by veterans’’; 
(3) in paragraph (8) by striking ‘‘minority and 
other small business enterprises’’ and inserting 
‘‘small business concerns owned and controlled by 
socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, 
small business concerns owned and controlled by 
women, small business concerns owned and con-
trolled by veterans, and other small businesses’’; 
(4) in paragraph (9) by striking ‘‘complete’’ 
and inserting ‘‘compete’’; 
(5) by striking paragraph (11); 
(6) by redesignating paragraph (12) as para-
graph (11); 
(7) in paragraph (11) (as so redesignated)—
(A) by striking ‘‘serviced-disabled’’ and in-
serting ‘‘service-disabled’’; and 
(B) by striking the period at the end and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
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(8) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(12) make such recommendations and submit 
such reports as the Chief Counsel determines appro-
priate to the President, to the Chairmen and Rank-
ing Members of the Committee on Small Business of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, 
and to the Administrator of the Small Business Ad-
ministration, with respect to issues and regulations 
affecting small businesses and the necessity for cor-
rective action by any Federal agency or by Con-
gress.’’. 
SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of Public Law 94–
305 (15 U.S.C. 634c) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘The Office of Ad-
vocacy shall also perform’’; and 
(2) in subsection (a) (as so designated)—
(A) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (5) by striking the period 
at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) maintain economic databases and make 
the information contained therein available to the
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Administrator of the Small Business Administration 
and to Congress; 
‘‘(7) carry out the responsibilities of the Chief 
Counsel under chapter 6 of title 5, United States 
Code; and 
‘‘(8) maintain a memorandum of understanding 
with the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory 
Enforcement Ombudsman regarding methods and 
procedures for cooperation between the Ombudsman 
and the Office of Advocacy and transmit a copy of 
such memorandum to the Committee on Small Busi-
ness of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 
the Senate.’’. 
(b) APPROPRIATION REQUEST.—Section 203 of Pub-
lic Law 94–305 (15 U.S.C. 634c) is further amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b)(1) For each fiscal year, the Chief Counsel shall 
transmit the Office of Advocacy’s appropriation estimate 
and request to the Office of Management and Budget, the 
Committee on Small Business of the House of Representa-
tives, the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre-
neurship of the Senate, and the Committees on Appropria-
tions of the House of Representatives and the Senate.