Home > 106th Congressional Bills > H.R. 1568 (rh) To provide technical, financial, and procurement assistance to veteran owned small businesses, and for other purposes. [Reported in House] ...H.R. 1568 (rh) To provide technical, financial, and procurement assistance to veteran owned small businesses, and for other purposes. [Reported in House] ...
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1568
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 30, 1999
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To provide technical, financial, and procurement assistance to veteran
owned small businesses, 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 ``Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Development Act of 1999''.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 101. Findings.
Sec. 102. Purpose.
Sec. 103. Definitions.
TITLE II--VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Sec. 201. Veterans business development in the Small Business
Administration.
Sec. 202. National Veterans Business Development Corporation.
Sec. 203. Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs.
TITLE III--TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Sec. 301. SCORE program.
Sec. 302. Entrepreneurial assistance.
Sec. 303. Business development and management assistance for military
reservists' small businesses.
TITLE IV--FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Sec. 401. General business loan program.
Sec. 402. Assistance to active duty military reservists.
Sec. 403. Microloan program.
Sec. 404. Delta loan program.
Sec. 405. State development company program.
TITLE V--PROCUREMENT ASSISTANCE
Sec. 501. Subcontracting.
Sec. 502. Participation in Federal procurement.
TITLE VI--REPORTS AND DATA COLLECTION
Sec. 601. Reporting requirements.
Sec. 602. Report on small business and competition.
Sec. 603. Annual report of the Administrator.
Sec. 604. Data and information collection.
TITLE VII--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 701. Administrator's order.
Sec. 702. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.
Sec. 703. Study of fixed-asset small business loans.
TITLE I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 101. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Veterans of the United States Armed Forces have been
and continue to be vital to the small business enterprises of
the United States.
(2) In serving the United States, veterans often faced
great risks to preserve the American dream of freedom and
prosperity.
(3) The United States has done too little to assist
veterans, particularly service-disabled veterans, in playing a
greater role in the economy of the United States by forming and
expanding small business enterprises.
(4) Medical advances and new medical technologies have made
it possible for service-disabled veterans to play a much more
active role in the formation and expansion of small business
enterprises in the United States.
(5) The United States must provide additional assistance
and support to veterans to better equip them to form and expand
small business enterprises, thereby enabling them to realize
the American dream that they fought to protect.
SEC. 102. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to expand existing and establish new
assistance programs for veterans who own or operate small businesses.
This Act accomplishes this purpose by--
(1) expanding the eligibility for certain small business
assistance programs to include veterans;
(2) directing certain departments and agencies of the
United States to take actions that enhance small business
assistance to veterans; and
(3) establishing new institutions to provide small business
assistance to veterans or to support the institutions that
provide such assistance.
SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS.
(a) Small Business Act.--Section 3 of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 632) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(q) Definitions Relating to Veterans.--In this Act, the following
definitions apply:
``(1) Service-disabled veteran.--The term `service-disabled
veteran' means a veteran with a disability that is service-
connected (as defined in section 101(16) of title 38, United
States Code).
``(2) Small business concern owned and controlled by
service-disabled veterans.--The term `small business concern
owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans' means a
small business concern--
``(A) not less than 51 percent of which is owned by
one or more service-disabled veterans or, in the case
of any publicly owned business, not less than 51
percent of the stock of which is owned by one or more
service-disabled veterans; and
``(B) the management and daily business operations
of which are controlled by one or more service-disabled
veterans or, in the case of a veteran with permanent
and severe disability, the spouse or permanent
caregiver of such veteran.
``(3) Small business concern owned and controlled by
veterans.--The term `small business concern owned and
controlled by veterans' means a small business concern--
``(A) not less than 51 percent of which is owned by
one or more veterans or, in the case of any publicly
owned business, not less than 51 percent of the stock
of which is owned by one or more veterans; and
``(B) the management and daily business operations
of which are controlled by one or more veterans.
``(4) Veteran.--The term `veteran' has the meaning given
the term in section 101(2) of title 38, United States Code.''.
(b) Applicability to This Act.--In this Act, the definitions
contained in section 3(q) of the Small Business Act, as added by this
section, apply.
TITLE II--VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
SEC. 201. VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN THE SMALL BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION.
(a) In General.--Section 4(b)(1) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 633(b)(1)) is amended--
(1) in the fifth sentence, by striking ``four Associate
Administrators'' and inserting ``five Associate
Administrators''; and
(2) by inserting after the fifth sentence the following:
``One such Associate Administrator shall be the Associate
Administrator for Veterans Business Development, who shall
administer the Office of Veterans Business Development
established under section 32.''.
(b) Office of Veterans Business Development; Associate
Administrator.--The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is
further amended--
(1) by redesignating section 32 as section 34; and
(2) by inserting after section 31 the following:
``SEC. 32. VETERANS PROGRAMS.
``(a) Office of Veterans Business Development.--There is
established in the Administration an Office of Veterans Business
Development, which shall be administered by the Associate Administrator
for Veterans Business Development (in this section referred to as the
`Associate Administrator') appointed under section 4(b)(1).
``(b) Associate Administrator for Veterans Business Development.--
The Associate Administrator--
``(1) shall be an appointee in the Senior Executive
Service;
``(2) shall be responsible for the formulation, execution,
and promotion of policies and programs of the Administration
that provide assistance to small business concerns owned and
controlled by veterans and small business concerns owned and
controlled by service-disabled veterans. The Associate
Administrator shall act as an ombudsman for full consideration
of veterans in all programs of the Administration; and
``(3) shall report to and be responsible directly to the
Administrator.''.
SEC. 202. NATIONAL VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is further amended
by adding after section 32 (as added by this Act) the following:
``SEC. 33. NATIONAL VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
``(a) Establishment.--There is established a federally chartered
corporation to be known as the National Veterans Business Development
Corporation (in this section referred to as the `Corporation') which
shall be incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia and
which shall have the powers granted in this section.
``(b) Purposes of the Corporation.--The purposes of the Corporation
shall be--
``(1) to expand the provision of and improve access to
technical assistance regarding entrepreneurship for the
Nation's veterans; and
``(2) to assist veterans, including service-disabled
veterans, with the formation and expansion of small business
concerns by working with and organizing public and private
resources, including those of the Small Business
Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the
Department of Labor, the Department of Commerce, the Department
of Defense, the Service Corps of Retired Executives (described
in section 8(b)(1)(B) of this Act), the Small Business
Development Centers (described in section 21 of this Act), and
the business development staffs of each department and agency
of the United States.
``(c) Board of Directors.--
``(1) In general.--The management of the Corporation shall
be vested in a Board of Directors composed of nine voting
members and three nonvoting ex officio members.
``(2) Appointment of voting members.--The President shall
appoint United States citizens to be voting members of the
Board of Directors as follows:
``(A) One from a list of individuals nominated by
the chairman of the Committee on Small Business of the
House of Representatives.
``(B) One from a list of individuals nominated by
the chairman of the Committee on Small Business of the
Senate.
``(C) One from a list of individuals nominated by
the ranking minority member of the Committee on Small
Business of the House of Representatives.
``(D) One from a list of individuals nominated by
the ranking minority members of the Committee on Small
Business of the Senate.
``(E) One from a list of individuals nominated by
the chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of
the House of Representatives.
``(F) One from a list of individuals nominated by
the chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of
the Senate.
``(G) One from a list of individuals nominated by
the ranking minority member of the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives.
``(H) One from a list of individuals nominated the
ranking minority member of the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs of the Senate.
``(I) One of the President's own choosing.
``(3) Ex officio members.--The Administrator of the Small
Business Administration, the Secretary of Defense, and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall serve as the nonvoting ex
officio members of the Board of Directors.
``(4) Chairperson.--The members of the Board of Directors
appointed under paragraph (2) shall elect one such member to
serve as chairperson of the Board of Directors for a term of 2
years.
``(5) Terms of appointed members.--
``(A) In general.--Each member of the Board of
Directors appointed under paragraph (2) shall serve a
term of 6 years, except as provided in subparagraph
(B).
``(B) Terms of initial appointees.--As designated
by the President at the time of appointment, of the
members first appointed--
``(i) three shall be for a term of 2 years;
and
``(ii) three shall be for a term of 4
years.
``(C) Unexpired terms.--Any member of the Board of
Directors appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before
the expiration of the term for which the member's
predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for
the remainder of the term. A member may serve after the
expiration of that member's term until a successor has
taken office.
``(6) Vacancies.--Any vacancy on the Board of Directors
shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment
was made. In the case of a vacancy in the office of the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration or the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and pending the appointment of a
successor, an acting appointee for such vacancy may serve as an
ex officio member.
``(7) Ineligibility for other offices.--No voting member of
the Board of Directors may be an officer or employee of the
United States while serving as a member of the Board of
Directors or during the 2-year period preceding such service.
``(8) Impartiality and nondiscrimination.--The Board of
Directors shall administer the affairs of the Corporation
fairly and impartially and without discrimination.
``(9) Obligations and expenses.--The Board of Directors
shall prescribe the manner in which the obligations of the
Corporation may be incurred and in which its expenses shall be
allowed and paid.
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