[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1552 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1552

  To provide for grants through the Small Business Administration for 
losses suffered by general aviation small business concerns as a result 
            of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 16, 2001

    Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Burns, Mr. 
 Johnson, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Cleland, and Mr. Wellstone) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for grants through the Small Business Administration for 
losses suffered by general aviation small business concerns as a result 
            of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

    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 ``General Aviation Small Business 
Assistance Act.''

SEC. 2. GENERAL AVIATION SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS.

    Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is 
amended by inserting immediately after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) General aviation small business grants.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, the Administration shall, upon 
                application, make grants to general aviation small 
                business concerns for direct and incremental losses 
                incurred by such small business concerns as a result of 
                the Federal ground stop order issued by the Secretary 
                of Transportation on September 11, 2001, or any such 
                subsequent order issued by the Department of 
                Transportation that adversely affects General Aviation 
                Small Business.
                    ``(B) Grant amounts.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A grant under 
                        subparagraph (A) shall be made in an amount 
                        equal to the amount of direct and incremental 
                        losses incurred by a general aviation small 
                        business concern during the period beginning on 
                        September 11, 2001, and ending on December 31, 
                        2001, to the extent that such losses are not 
                        compensated for by insurance or otherwise.
                            ``(ii) Maximum grant.--The amount of a 
                        grant under this paragraph may not exceed 
                        $6,000,000.
                            ``(iii) Waiver authority.--The 
                        Administrator may, at the discretion of the 
                        Administrator, waive the aggregate grant 
                        amounts established under clause (ii).
                            ``(iv) Documentation.--The amount of the 
                        grant payable under this paragraph may not 
                        exceed the incremental loss that the business 
                        demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the 
                        Administrator, using sworn financial statements 
                        or other appropriate data.
                    ``(C) No disaster declaration required.--For 
                purposes of assistance under this paragraph, no 
                declaration of a disaster area shall be required.
                    ``(D) Extended application period.--Notwithstanding 
                any other provision of law, the Administrator shall 
                accept applications of assistance under this program 
                until September 10, 2002, with respect to small 
                business concerns adversely affected by the terrorist 
                attacks perpetrated against the United States on 
                September 11, 2001.
                    ``(E) Audits.--The Small Business Administration 
                may audit financial statements or other appropriate 
                data of any business receiving assistance under this 
                paragraph for not more than 3 years after the grant has 
                been finalized. The business shall provide any requests 
                for information that the Administration may request 
                while conducting such audit.
                    ``(F) Definitions.--As used in this paragraph--
                            ``(i) the term `general aviation small 
                        business concern' means a small business 
                        concern that is a regular provider of general 
                        aviation services, such as aircraft rentals, 
                        crop dusting, flight training instruction, 
                        repair, and other fixed based services; and
                            ``(ii) the term `incremental loss' does not 
                        include any loss that the Administration 
                        determines would have been incurred if the 
                        terrorist attacks on the United States that 
                        occurred on September 11, 2001, had not 
                        occurred.''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated, $400,000,000 to carry out 
section 7(b)(4) of the Small Business Act, as added by this Act.

SEC. 4. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.

    Section 7(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(b)) is 
amended in the undesignated matter at the end--
            (1) by striking ``, (2), and (4)'' and inserting ``and 
        (2)''; and
            (2) by striking ``, (2), or (4)'' and inserting ``(2)''.
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