I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4203 
To amend the Small Business Act with respect to the procurement program 
for women-owned small business concerns, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 19, 2012 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. CHU, and Ms. 
HAHN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Small Business 
A BILL 
To amend the Small Business Act with respect to the pro-
curement program for women-owned small business con-
cerns, 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 ‘‘Women’s Procurement 
Program Improvement Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR WOMEN-OWNED 
SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 
Section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
637(m)) is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking subparagraph (D); 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 
subparagraph (D) respectively; and 
(C) by striking subparagraph (F), and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(E) each of the concerns— 
‘‘(i) is certified by a Federal agency, 
a State government, or a national certi-
fying entity approved by the Adminis-
trator, as a small business concern owned 
and controlled by women; or 
‘‘(ii) is certified by the Administrator 
as a small business concern owned and 
controlled by women.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘subpara-
graph (2)(A)’’ inserting the following: ‘‘paragraph 
(2)(A) or paragraph (7)(A)’’; 
(3) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘under para-
graph (2)(F)’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘under paragraph (2)(E)’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS FOR ECONOMI-
CALLY
DISADVANTAGED
WOMEN-OWNED
SMALL 
BUSINESSES.—In accordance with this section, a 
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contracting officer may award a sole source contract 
to any small business concern meeting the require-
ments of section 8(m)(2)(A) of this Act if— 
‘‘(A) such concern is determined to be a 
responsible contract with respect to perform-
ance of such contract opportunity and the con-
tracting officer does not have a reasonable ex-
pectation that 2 or more businesses meeting the 
requirements of section 8(m)(2)(A) will submit 
offers; 
‘‘(B) the anticipated award price of the 
contract (including options) will not exceed— 
‘‘(i) $6,500,000 in the case of a con-
tract opportunity assigned a standard in-
dustrial code for manufacturing; or 
‘‘(ii) $4,000,000 in the case of any 
other contract opportunity; and 
‘‘(C) in the estimation of the contracting 
officer, the contract award can be made at a 
fair and reasonable price. 
‘‘(8) SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS FOR WOMEN- 
OWNED
SMALL
BUSINESSES
IN
SUBSTANTIALLY 
UNDERREPRESENTED
INDUSTRIES.—In accordance 
with this section, a contracting officer may award a 
sole source contract to any small business concerns 
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meeting the requirements of section 8(m)(3) of this 
Act if— 
‘‘(A) such concern is determined to be a 
responsible contract with respect to perform-
ance of such contract opportunity and the con-
tracting officer does not have a reasonable ex-
pectation that 2 or more businesses meeting the 
requirements of section 8(m)(3) will submit of-
fers; 
‘‘(B) the anticipated award price of the 
contract (including options) will not exceed— 
‘‘(i) $6,500,000 in the case of a con-
tract opportunity assigned a standard in-
dustrial code for manufacturing; or 
‘‘(ii) $4,000,000 in the case of any 
other contract opportunity; and 
‘‘(C) in the estimation of the contracting 
officer, the contract award can be made at a 
fair and reasonable price.’’. 
Æ 
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