116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1615 
AN ACT 
To transfer the responsibility of verifying small business con-
cerns owned and controlled by veterans or service-dis-
abled veterans to the Small Business Administration, 
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Verification Alignment and Service-disabled Business 
Adjustment Act’’ or the ‘‘VA–SBA Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Transfer date. 
Sec. 3. Amendment to and transfer of veteran-owned and service-disabled vet-
eran-owned business database. 
Sec. 4. Additional requirements for database. 
Sec. 5. Procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled 
by service-disabled veterans. 
Sec. 6. Certification for small business concerns owned and controlled by vet-
erans. 
Sec. 7. Status of self-certified small business concerns owned and controlled by 
service-disabled veterans. 
Sec. 8. Transfer of the Center for Verification and Evaluation of the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs to the Small Business Administra-
tion. 
Sec. 9. Report. 
Sec. 10. Determination of budgetary effects. 
SEC. 2. TRANSFER DATE. 
For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘transfer date’’ 
means the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, except that such date may be extended an un-
limited number of times by a period of not more than 6 
months if the Administrator of the Small Business Admin-
istration and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs jointly 
issue a notice to Congress and the Law Revision Counsel 
of the House of Representatives containing— 
(1) a certification that such extension is nec-
essary;
(2) the rationale for and the length of such ex-
tension; and 
(3) a plan to comply with the requirements of 
this Act within the timeframe of the extension. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO AND TRANSFER OF VETERAN- 
OWNED AND SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN- 
OWNED BUSINESS DATABASE. 
(a) AMENDMENT OF VETERAN-OWNED AND SERV-
ICE-DISABLED
VETERAN-OWNED
BUSINESS
DATA-
BASE.—Effective on the transfer date, section 8127 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (e)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘the Administrator’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘section 36 of the Small Business Act’’; 
(2) in subsection (f)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary’’ each place 
such term appears, other than in the last place 
such term appears under paragraph (2)(A), and 
inserting ‘‘the Administrator’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘small 
business concerns owned and controlled by vet-
erans with service-connected disabilities’’ each 
place such term appears and inserting ‘‘small
business concerns owned and controlled by serv-
ice-disabled veterans’’; 
(C) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘to access’’ and inserting ‘‘to obtain from 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs’’; and 
(ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) For purposes of this subsection— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 
‘‘(I) verify an individual’s status as a vet-
eran or a service-disabled veteran; and 
‘‘(II) establish a system to permit the Ad-
ministrator to access, but not alter, such 
verification; and 
‘‘(ii) the Administrator shall verify— 
‘‘(I) the status of a business concern as a 
small business concern; and 
‘‘(II) the ownership and control of such 
business concern. 
‘‘(C) The Administrator may not certify a concern 
under subsection (b) or section 36A if the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs cannot provide the verification described 
under subparagraph (B)(i)(I).’’; 
(D) by striking paragraphs (4) and (7);
(E) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 
(6) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively, and 
redesignating paragraph (8) as paragraph (6); 
(F) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, 
by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘The 
Administrator’’; and 
(G) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated— 
(i) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘verify the status 
of the concern as a small business 
concern or the ownership or control of 
the concern’’ and inserting ‘‘certify 
the status of the concern as a small 
business concern owned and controlled 
by veterans (under section 36A) or a 
small business concern owned and 
controlled by service-disabled veterans 
(under section 36(g))’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘verification’’ 
and inserting ‘‘certification’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (B)— 
(I) in clause (i), by striking 
‘‘small business concern owned and 
controlled by veterans with service- 
connected disabilities’’ and inserting
‘‘small business concern owned and 
controlled by service-disabled vet-
erans’’; and 
(II) in clause (ii)— 
(aa) by amending subclause 
(I) to read as follows: 
‘‘(I) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or 
the Administrator; or’’; and 
(bb) in subclause (II), by 
striking ‘‘the contracting officer 
of the Department’’ and inserting 
‘‘the applicable contracting offi-
cer’’; and 
(iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 
(3) by redesignating subsection (k) (relating to 
definitions) as subsection (l); 
(4) by inserting after subsection (j) (relating to 
annual reports) the following: 
‘‘(k) ANNUAL
TRANSFER
FOR
CERTIFICATION 
COSTS.—For each fiscal year, the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall reimburse the Administrator in an amount 
necessary to cover any cost incurred by the Administrator 
for certifying small business concerns owned and con-
trolled by veterans that do not qualify as small business 
concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans
for the Secretary for purposes of this section and section 
8128 of this title. The Administrator is authorized to ac-
cept such reimbursement. The amount of any such reim-
bursement shall be determined jointly by the Secretary 
and the Administrator and shall be provided from fees col-
lected by the Secretary under multiple-award schedule 
contracts. Any disagreement about the amount shall be 
resolved by the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget.’’; and 
(5) subsection (l) (relating to definitions), as so 
redesignated, by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) The term Administrator means the Admin-
istrator of the Small Business Administration.’’. 
(b) TRANSFER
OF REQUIREMENTS RELATING
TO 
DATABASE TO THE SMALL BUSINESS ACT.—Effective on 
the transfer date, subsection (f) of section 8127 of title 
38, United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)), 
is transferred to section 36 of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 657f), inserted so as to appear after subsection (e). 
(c) CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—The following 
amendments shall take effect on the transfer date: 
(1) 
SMALL
BUSINESS
ACT.—Section 
3(q)(2)(C)(i)(III) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 632(q)(2)(C)(i)(III)) is amended by striking
‘‘section 8127(f) of title 38, United States Code’’ 
and inserting ‘‘section 36’’. 
(2) TITLE 38.—Section 8128 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 
8127(f) of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36 of 
the Small Business Act’’. 
SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR DATABASE. 
(a) ADMINISTRATION ACCESS TO DATABASE BEFORE 
THE TRANSFER DATE.—During the period between the 
date of the enactment of this Act and the transfer date, 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide the Admin-
istrator of the Small Business Administration with access 
to the contents of the database described under section 
8127(f) of title 38, United States Code. 
(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
or the amendments made by this Act may be construed— 
(1) as prohibiting the Administrator of the 
Small Business Administration from combining the 
contents of the database described under section 
8127(f) of title 38, United States Code, with other 
databases maintained by the Administration; or 
(2) as requiring the Administrator to use any 
system or technology related to the database de-
scribed under section 8127(f) of title 38, United 
States Code, on or after the transfer date to comply
with the requirement to maintain a database under 
subsection (f) of section 36 of the Small Business 
Act (as transferred pursuant to section 3(b) of this 
Act). 
(c) RECOGNITION OF THE ISSUANCE OF JOINT REG-
ULATIONS.—The date specified under section 1832(e) of 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2017 (15 U.S.C. 632 note) shall be deemed to be October 
1, 2018. 
SEC. 5. PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESS 
CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY 
SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS. 
(a) PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESS 
CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DIS-
ABLED VETERANS.—Section 36 of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 657f) is amended— 
(1) by striking subsections (d) and (e); 
(2) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), and 
(c) as subsections (c), (d), and (e) respectively; 
(3) by inserting before subsection (c), as so re-
designated, the following: 
‘‘(a) CONTRACTING OFFICER DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘contracting officer’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 2101 of title 41, 
United States Code.
‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION
OF SMALL BUSINESS CON-
CERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED 
VETERANS.—With respect to a procurement program or 
preference established under this Act that applies to prime 
contractors, the Administrator shall— 
‘‘(1) certify the status of the concern as a 
‘small business concern owned and controlled by 
service-disabled veterans’; and 
‘‘(2) require the periodic recertification of such 
status.’’; 
(4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by 
striking ‘‘and that the award can be made at a fair 
market price’’ and inserting ‘‘, that the award can 
be made at a fair market price, and if each concern 
is certified by the Administrator as a small business 
concern owned and controlled by service-disabled 
veterans’’; and 
(5) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) 
CERTIFICATION
REQUIREMENT.—Notwith-
standing subsection (c), a contracting officer may only 
award a sole source contract to a small business concern 
owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans or a 
contract on the basis of competition restricted to small 
business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled 
veterans if such a concern is certified by the Administrator
as a small business concern owned and controlled by serv-
ice-disabled veterans. 
‘‘(h) ENFORCEMENT; PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(1) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In car-
rying out this section, the Administrator shall estab-
lish procedures relating to— 
‘‘(A) the filing, investigation, and disposi-
tion by the Administration of any challenge to 
the eligibility of a small business concern to re-
ceive assistance under this section (including a 
challenge, filed by an interested party, relating 
to the veracity of a certification made or infor-
mation provided to the Administration by a 
small business concern under subsection (b)); 
and 
‘‘(B) verification by the Administrator of 
the accuracy of any certification made or infor-
mation provided to the Administration by a 
small business concern under subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) EXAMINATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) EXAMINATION OF APPLICANTS.—The 
procedures established under paragraph (1) 
shall provide for a program of examinations by 
the Administrator of any small business concern 
making a certification or providing information
to the Administrator under subsection (b), to 
determine the veracity of any statements or in-
formation provided as part of such certification 
or otherwise provided under subsection (b). 
‘‘(B) EXAMINATION
OF
CERTIFIED
CON-
CERNS.—The 
procedures 
established 
under 
paragraph (1) shall provide for the examination 
of risk-based samples of small business con-
cerns certified under subsection (b), or of any 
small business concern that the Administrator 
believes poses a particular risk or with respect 
to which the Administrator receives specific and 
credible information alleging that the small 
business concern no longer meets eligibility re-
quirements to be certified as a small business 
concern owned and controlled by service-dis-
abled veterans. 
‘‘(3) PENALTIES.—In addition to the penalties 
described in section 16(d), any small business con-
cern that is determined by the Administrator to have 
misrepresented the status of that concern as a small 
business concern owned and controlled by service- 
disabled veterans for purposes of subsection (b), 
shall be subject to—
‘‘(A) section 1001 of title 18, United 
States Code; 
‘‘(B) sections 3729 through 3733 of title 
31, United States Code; and 
‘‘(C) section 8127(g) of title 38, United 
States Code. 
‘‘(i) PROVISION OF DATA.—Upon the request of the 
Administrator, the head of any Federal department or 
agency shall promptly provide to the Administrator such 
information as the Administrator determines to be nec-
essary to carry out subsection (b) or to be able to certify 
the status of the concern as a small business concern 
owned and controlled by veterans under section 36A.’’. 
(b) PENALTIES FOR MISREPRESENTATION.—Section 
16 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subsection (d)(1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘, a’’ and inserting ‘‘, a 
‘small business concern owned and controlled by 
service-disabled veterans’, a ‘small business con-
cern owned and controlled by veterans’, a’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘9, 15, 
or 31’’ and inserting ‘‘8, 9, 15, 31, 36, or 
36A’’; and
(2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘, a’’ and in-
serting ‘‘, a ‘small business concern owned and con-
trolled by service-disabled veterans’, a ‘small busi-
ness concern owned and controlled by veterans’, a’’. 
SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS 
OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VETERANS. 
The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 36 the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 36A. CERTIFICATION OF SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS 
OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VETERANS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the program es-
tablished under section 8127 of title 38, United States 
Code, the Administrator shall— 
‘‘(1) certify the status of the concern as a 
‘small business concern owned and controlled by vet-
erans’; and 
‘‘(2) require the periodic recertification of such 
status. 
‘‘(b) ENFORCEMENT; PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(1) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In car-
rying out this section, the Administrator shall estab-
lish procedures relating to— 
‘‘(A) the filing, investigation, and disposi-
tion by the Administration of any challenge to