[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4897 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4897

   To amend the Small Business Act to establish a program to provide 
  Federal contracting assistance to small business concerns owned and 
                          controlled by women.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 19, 2000

  Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Mrs. Kelly, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mr. 
    Davis of Illinois, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. 
 Hinojosa, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Gonzalez, 
   Mr. Moore, Mrs. Napolitano, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Udall of New 
 Mexico, Mr. Baird, Mr. Udall of Colorado, and Ms. Berkley) introduced 
   the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small 
                                Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Small Business Act to establish a program to provide 
  Federal contracting assistance to small business concerns owned and 
                          controlled by women.

    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 ``Equity in Contracting for Women Act 
of 2000''.

SEC. 2. PROCUREMENT PROGRAM FOR WOMEN'S SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.

    Section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(m) Procurement Program for Women's Small Business Concerns.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection, the following 
        definitions apply:
                    ``(A) Contracting officer.--The term `contracting 
                officer' has the meaning given such term in section 
                27(f)(5) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy 
                Act (41 U.S.C. 423(f)(5)).
                    ``(B)  Small business concern owned and controlled 
                by women.--The term `small business concern owned and 
                controlled by women' means any small business concern--
                            ``(i) that is not less than 51 percent 
                        owned by 1 or more women who are economically 
                        disadvantaged; and
                            ``(ii) the management and daily business 
                        operations of which are controlled by 1 or more 
                        women.
            ``(2) Authority to set aside contracts.--Notwithstanding 
        any other provision of law and in accordance with this 
        subsection, a contracting officer may set aside to be awarded 
        only to a small business concern owned and controlled by women 
        any contract for the procurement of goods or services by the 
        Federal Government, if--
                    ``(A) the concern is determined to be a responsible 
                contractor with respect to the performance of such 
                contract;
                    ``(B) the contracting officer has a reasonable 
                expectation that 2 or more small business concerns 
                owned and controlled by women will submit offers for 
                the contract;
                    ``(C) the contract is for the procurement of goods 
                or services with respect to an industry identified by 
                the Administrator pursuant to paragraph (3);
                    ``(D) the anticipated award price of the contract 
                (including options) does not exceed--
                            ``(i) $5,000,000, in the case of a contract 
                        assigned a standard industrial classification 
                        code for manufacturing; or
                            ``(ii) $3,000,000, in the case of all other 
                        contracts;
                    ``(E) in the estimation of the contracting officer, 
                the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable 
                price; and
                    ``(F) the concern--
                            ``(i) is certified as a small business 
                        concern owned and controlled by women by a 
                        Federal agency or by a State or local 
                        government; or
                            ``(ii) certifies to the contracting officer 
                        that it is a small business concern owned and 
                        controlled by women and provides adequate 
                        documentation, in accordance with standards 
                        established by the Administration, to support 
                        such certification.
            ``(3) Identification of industries.--The Administrator 
        shall conduct a study to identify industries in which small 
        business concerns owned and controlled by women are 
        underrepresented with respect to Federal procurement 
        contracting.
            ``(4) Enforcement; penalties.--
                    ``(A) Verification of eligibility.--In carrying out 
                this subsection, the Administrator shall establish 
                procedures relating to--
                            ``(i) the filing, investigation, and 
                        disposition by the Administration of any 
                        challenge to the eligibility of a small 
                        business concern to receive assistance under 
                        this subsection (including a challenge, filed 
                        by an interested party, relating to the 
                        veracity of a certification made or information 
                        provided to the Administration by a small 
                        business concern under paragraph (2)(F)); and
                            ``(ii) verification by the Administrator of 
                        the accuracy of any certification made or 
                        information provided to the Administration by a 
                        small business concern under paragraph (2)(F).
                    ``(B) Examinations.--The procedures established 
                under subparagraph (A) may provide for program 
                examinations (including random program examinations) by 
                the Administrator of any small business concern making 
                a certification or providing information to the 
                Administrator under paragraph (2)(F).
                    ``(C) Provision of data.--Upon the request of the 
                Administrator, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 
                Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of the 
                Interior (or the Assistant Secretary for Indian 
                Affairs), shall promptly provide to the Administrator 
                such information as the Administrator determines to be 
                necessary to carry out this subsection.
                    ``(D) Penalties.--In addition to the penalties 
                described in section 16(d), any small business concern 
                that is determined by the Administrator to have 
                misrepresented the status of that concern as a small 
                business concern owned and controlled by women for 
                purposes of this subsection, shall be subject to--
                            ``(i) section 1001 of title 18, United 
                        States Code; and
                            ``(ii) sections 3729 through 3733 of title 
                        31, United States Code.''.
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