I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5425 
To amend the Small Business Act to enhance the Office of Rural Affairs, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 13, 2023 
Mr. GOLDEN of Maine (for himself, Mr. MANN, Mr. PAPPAS, and Ms. 
TENNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Small Business 
A BILL 
To amend the Small Business Act to enhance the Office 
of Rural Affairs, 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. OFFICE OF RURAL AFFAIRS OF THE SMALL 
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. 
Section 26 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 653) 
is amended— 
(1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(b) 
APPOINTMENT
OF
ASSISTANT
ADMINIS-
TRATOR.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be admin-
istered by an Assistant Administrator, who shall be 
an employee in the competitive service. 
‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Assistant Admin-
istrator shall— 
‘‘(A) have education or professional experi-
ence with, or knowledge of, rural affairs and 
issues relating to small business concerns; and 
‘‘(B) have experience providing develop-
ment assistance to rural small business con-
cerns.’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘small 
business concerns located in rural areas’’ and 
inserting ‘‘rural small business concerns’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘provide information’’ 
and inserting ‘‘promote’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘concerning the’’ and 
all that follows through the semicolon at 
the end and inserting the following: ‘‘poli-
cies and programs of the Administration 
and of other Federal departments and 
agencies for assisting rural small business 
concerns;’’; 
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‘‘(2) invite representatives from district offices 
of the Administration, resource partners, Federal 
and State agencies, and other interested persons to 
participate in such webinars and outreach events. 
‘‘(e) REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall sub-
mit to the Committee on Small Business of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, 
and make publicly make available on a website of 
the Administration, a report on the activities of the 
Office during the one-year period immediately pre-
ceding the date of submission of the report. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report required under 
paragraph (1) shall include the following: 
‘‘(A) The operational details of the Office, 
including the name of the Assistant Adminis-
trator, the budget of the Office, and the num-
ber of full-time employees employed by or de-
tailed to the Office. 
‘‘(B) A summary of the activities con-
ducted under subsection (c). 
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‘‘(C) The number of webinars and out-
reach events conducted by the Administration 
to promote policies and programs described in 
paragraphs (3) of subsection (c) and to provide 
information described in (4) of such subsection. 
‘‘(D) An analysis of gaps in lending pro-
grams of the Administration in serving the 
needs of rural small business concerns. 
‘‘(E) Information gathered from any 
webinars and outreach events conducted by the 
Administration during the period covered by the 
report. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ASSISTANT
ADMINISTRATOR.—The term 
‘Assistant Administrator’ means the Assistant Ad-
ministrator of the Office of Rural Affairs appointed 
under subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) RESOURCE
PARTNERS.—The term ‘re-
source partners’ means— 
‘‘(A) small business development centers; 
‘‘(B) women’s business centers (described 
under section 29); 
‘‘(C) chapters of the Service Corps of Re-
tired Executives (established under section 
8(b)(1)(B)); and 
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‘‘(D) Veteran Business Outreach Centers 
(described under section 32). 
‘‘(3) RURAL SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The 
term ‘rural small business concern’ means a small 
business concern located in a rural area.’’. 
Æ 
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