I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 794
To amend the Small Business Act to authorize small business concerns
owned and controlled by individuals with disabilities to participate in
business development programs established by that Act, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 3, 1993
Mr. RAMSTAD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Small Business
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to authorize small business
concerns owned and controlled by individuals with dis-
abilities to participate in business development programs
established by that Act, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Americans with Dis-
abilities Business Development Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Section 2 of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 631) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection:
‘‘(i) The Congress finds that—
‘‘(1) approximately 43,000,000 Americans have
1 or more physical or mental disabilities, and this
number is increasing as the population as a whole
is growing older;
‘‘(2) census data, national polls, and other stud-
ies have documented that individuals with disabil-
ities, as a group, occupy an inferior status in our so-
ciety, and are severely disadvantaged socially, voca-
tionally, economically, and educationally;
‘‘(3) individuals with disabilities have faced
many of the same discriminatory obstacles in devel-
oping small businesses as have groups previously
recognized as ‘socially and economically disadvan-
taged’ under the Small Business Act;
‘‘(4) the Nation’s proper goals regarding indi-
viduals with disabilities are to assure equality of op-
portunity, full participation, independent living, and
economic self-sufficiency for such individuals; and
‘‘(5) these goals can be advanced by providing
the maximum practicable opportunities for the
growth and development of small business concerns
owned and controlled by individuals with disabil-
ities.’’.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to assist the legitimate business interests of
small business concerns owned and controlled by in-
dividuals with disabilities;
(2) to permit small business concerns owned
and controlled by individuals with disabilities to par-
ticipate in business development programs estab-
lished by the Small Business Act; and
(3) to eliminate, insofar as possible, discrimina-
tion against individuals with disabilities in obtaining
capital and other production assistance.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
Section 3(f) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
632(f)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(f) DISABILITY.—For the purposes of this Act, the
term ‘disability’ means a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits 1 or more of the major life activi-
ties of an individual, and the terms ‘with disabilities’ and
‘with a disability’ mean having 1 or more disabilities.’’.
SEC. 4. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES.
(a) POLICY STATEMENT.—Section 2(f)(1)(C) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631(f)(1)(C)) is amended
by inserting ‘‘Americans with disabilities,’’ after ‘‘Asian
Pacific Americans,’’.
(b) SMALL BUSINESS AND CAPITAL OWNERSHIP DE-
VELOPMENT PROGRAM.—Section 8(a)(5) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(5)) is amended by adding
at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘For the purposes
of this subsection, individuals with disabilities shall be con-
sidered to be socially disadvantaged individuals.’’.
(c) CONTRACT CLAUSE.—The contract clause con-
tained in section 8(d)(3) of the Small Business Act is
amended in the last sentence of subparagraph (C) of such
clause by inserting ‘‘Americans with disabilities,’’ after
‘‘Asian Pacific Americans,’’.
SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO SMALL BUSINESS
ACT.
The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is
amended—
(1) in section 3(e)—
(A) by striking ‘‘the handicapped’’ and in-
serting ‘‘individuals with disabilities’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘handicapped individuals’’
each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘in-
dividuals with disabilities’’;
(2) in section 7(a)(10)—
(A) by striking ‘‘the handicapped’’ and in-
serting ‘‘individuals with disabilities’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘handicapped individual’’
and inserting ‘‘individual with disabilities’’; and
(3) in subsection 7(h)—
(A) by striking ‘‘handicapped individuals’’
and inserting ‘‘individuals with disabilities’’;
(B) by striking ‘‘handicapped individual’’
and inserting ‘‘individual with disabilities’’; and
(C) by striking paragraph (3).
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall
take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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