[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3898 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3898

  To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to 
 establish Veterans Business Outreach Centers and Technical Mentoring 
                         Assistance Committees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2005

   Mr. Akin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to 
 establish Veterans Business Outreach Centers and Technical Mentoring 
                         Assistance Committees.

    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 ``Entrepreneur Soldiers Empowerment 
Act''.

SEC. 2. VETERANS BUSINESS OUTREACH CENTERS AND TECHNICAL AND MENTORING 
              ASSISTANCE COMMITTEES.

    (a) Establishment.--Section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
657c) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(c) Veterans Business Outreach Centers.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Administrator, acting through the 
        Associate Administrator for Veterans Business Development, 
        shall establish Veterans Business Outreach Centers to offer 
        business planning assistance to veterans.
            ``(2) Number and location.--The Administrator shall 
        establish not less than one Veterans Business Outreach Center 
        in each geographic region.
            ``(3) Duties.--The duties of each Veterans Business 
        Outreach Center are as follows:
                    ``(A) To provide business planning assistance to 
                veterans.
                    ``(B) To offer information about continuity 
                planning for small businesses in the event of an owner 
                or essential employee who is a member of the National 
                Guard or Reserve Components of the Armed Forces being 
                called to serve on active duty.
    ``(d) Technical and Mentoring Assistance Committees.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Administrator, acting through the 
        Associate Administrator for Veterans Business Development, 
        shall establish a Technical and Mentoring Assistance Committee 
        in each District Office service location where no Veterans 
        Business Outreach Center has been established.
            ``(2) Responsibilities.--A Technical and Mentoring 
        Assistance Committee established pursuant to paragraph (1) 
        shall--
                    ``(A) identify and recruit local volunteers to 
                serve as veterans business mentors to provide 
                assistance and guidance to members of the Reserve 
                Component who own small businesses or are entrepreneurs 
                and to the family members of such members and the 
                caretakers of such member's businesses while such 
                members are serving on active duty;
                    ``(B) plan and initiate training and outreach 
                seminars and programs designed to support small 
                business ownership among members of the Reserve 
                Component, their family members, veterans, and service-
                disabled veterans;
                    ``(C) prepare a plan every five years and submit 
                such plan to the Administrator for approval; and
                    ``(D) prepare and submit to the Administrator an 
                annual budget request based on the plan and the State 
                veteran population.
            ``(3) Membership.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each Technical and Mentoring 
                Assistance Committee shall be composed of members 
                appointed by the Administrator and shall include the 
                following individuals:
                            ``(i) The District Director of the 
                        Administration or the Regional Administrator.
                            ``(ii) The Director of Veterans Affairs for 
                        each State served by the Committee.
                            ``(iii) The Director of the Small Business 
                        Development Center for each State served by the 
                        Committee.
                    ``(B) Volunteer members.--The Administrator shall 
                consult with and encourage the voluntary participation 
                as members of the Committee of the following 
                individuals:
                            ``(i) The Director of Economic Development 
                        for each State served by the Committee.
                            ``(ii) The Director of the Employer Support 
                        of the Guard and Reserve for each State served 
                        by the Committee.
                            ``(iii) The Adjutant General of the 
                        National Guard for each State served by the 
                        Committee.
                            ``(iv) The Director of the Service Corps of 
                        Retired Executives for each State served by the 
                        Committee.
                            ``(v) Small business owners who are 
                        veterans and members of the Reserve Component.
                            ``(vi) Representatives of State and local 
                        small business associations.
                            ``(vii) The State adjutants of 
                        Congressionally chartered veterans service 
                        organizations.
                            ``(viii) Small business owners and mentors 
                        who are veterans and who have expertise in the 
                        following areas:
                                    ``(I) Lending.
                                    ``(II) Accounting.
                                    ``(III) Insurance.
                                    ``(IV) Taxation.
                                    ``(V) Legal service.
                                    ``(VI) Business planning.
                                    ``(VII) Marketing.
            ``(4) No compensation.--Members of the Technical and 
        Mentoring Assistance Committees shall serve without pay.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out subparagraphs (c) and (d) of section 32 of 
the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657c), as added by subsection (a)--
            (1) $200,000 for each Veterans Business Outreach Center 
        established pursuant to section 32(c) of such Act for fiscal 
        year 2006 and each subsequent fiscal year; and
            (2) $20,000 for each Technical and Mentoring Assistance 
        Committee established pursuant to section 32(d) of such Act for 
        fiscal year 2006 and each subsequent fiscal year.
                                 <all>