H. R. 561 
One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE SECOND SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty 
An Act 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the oversight of contracts awarded 
by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to small business concerns owned and con-
trolled by veterans, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Business Opportunities 
for Veterans Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON SUBCONTRACTS UNDER CONTRACTS WITH 
SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY 
VETERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8127 of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (k) as subsection (l); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (j) the following new sub-
section (k): 
‘‘(k) LIMITATIONS
ON SUBCONTRACTING.—(1)(A) The require-
ments applicable to a covered small business concern under section 
46 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657s) shall apply with 
respect to a small business concern owned and controlled by vet-
erans that is awarded a contract under this section. 
‘‘(B) For purposes of applying the requirements of section 46 
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657s) pursuant to subpara-
graph (A), the term ‘similarly situated entity’ used in such section 
46 includes a subcontractor for a small business concern owned 
and controlled by veterans described in such subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(2) The Secretary may award a contract under this section 
only after the Secretary obtains from the offeror a certification 
that the offeror will comply with the requirements described in 
paragraph (1)(A) if awarded the contract. Such certification shall— 
‘‘(A) specify the exact performance requirements applicable 
under such paragraph; and 
‘‘(B) explicitly acknowledge that the certification is subject 
to section 1001 of title 18. 
‘‘(3)(A) The Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utili-
zation for the Department, established pursuant to section 15(k) 
of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(k)), and the Chief Acquisi-
tion Officer of the Department, established pursuant to section 
1702 of title 41, shall jointly implement a process using the systems 
described in section 16(g)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
645(g)(2)), and any other relevant systems available, to monitor 
compliance with this subsection.
H. R. 561—2 
‘‘(B) The Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utiliza-
tion and the Chief Acquisition Officer shall jointly refer any viola-
tions or suspected violations of this subsection to the Inspector 
General of the Department. 
‘‘(C) If the Secretary determines, in consultation with the 
Inspector General of the Department, that a small business concern 
that is awarded a contract under this section did not act in good 
faith with respect to the requirements described in paragraph (1)(A), 
the small business concern shall be subject to any or all of the 
following consequences— 
‘‘(i) referral to the Debarment and Suspension Committee 
of the Department; 
‘‘(ii) a fine under section 16(g)(1) of the Small Business 
Act (15 U.S.C. 645(g)(1)); and 
‘‘(iii) prosecution for violating section 1001 of title 18. 
‘‘(D) Not later than November 30 for each of fiscal years 2021 
through 2025, the Inspector General shall submit to the Committees 
on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives 
a report for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year during which 
the report is submitted that includes, for the fiscal year covered 
by the report— 
‘‘(i) the number of referred violations and suspected viola-
tions received under subparagraph (B); and 
‘‘(ii) the disposition of such referred violations, including 
the number of small business concerns suspended or debarred 
from Federal contracting or referred to the Attorney General 
for prosecution.’’. 
(b) APPLICATION.—Subsection (k) of section 8127 of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with 
respect to a contract entered into after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.