[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4427 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4427

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a database of 
small businesses for purposes of consultation by Federal agencies prior 
        to awarding contracts relating to declared emergencies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 2005

Mr. Thompson of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Jefferson, 
   Mr. Poe, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, and Mr. Taylor of Mississippi) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a database of 
small businesses for purposes of consultation by Federal agencies prior 
        to awarding contracts relating to declared emergencies.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT AND CONSULTATION OF SMALL BUSINESS DATABASE BY 
              SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

    (a) Establishment and Consultation.--Title V of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 311 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the second section 510 as section 511; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 512. SMALL BUSINESS DATABASE FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTING RELATED TO 
              MAJOR DISASTERS AND EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES: 
              ESTABLISHMENT AND CONSULTATION.

    ``(a) Establishment of Database.--The Secretary, acting through the 
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall establish 
and maintain a database of small business concerns.
    ``(b) Included Information.--The database under subsection (a) 
shall include the following information about each small business 
concern:
            ``(1) The name of the small business concern.
            ``(2) The location of the small business concern.
            ``(3) The area served by the small business concern.
            ``(4) The type of good or service provided by the small 
        business concern.
            ``(5) Whether the small business concern is--
                    ``(A) a small business concern owned and controlled 
                by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals;
                    ``(B) a small business concern owned and controlled 
                by women; or
                    ``(C) a small business concern owned and controlled 
                by service-disabled veterans.
    ``(c) Source of Information.--
            ``(1) Submission.--Information maintained in the database 
        shall be submitted on a voluntary basis by small business 
        concerns.
            ``(2) Attestation.--Each small business concern submitting 
        information to the database shall submit--
                    ``(A) an attestation that the information submitted 
                is true; and
                    ``(B) documentation supporting such attestation.
            ``(3) Verification.--The Secretary shall verify only that 
        the documentation submitted by each small business concern 
        supports the information submitted by that small business 
        concern.
            ``(4) Enforcement penalties for misrepresentation.--Any 
        concern that is determined by the Secretary to have 
        misrepresented the status of that concern as a small business 
        concern owned and controlled by socially and economically 
        disadvantaged individuals, a small business concern owned and 
        controlled by women, or a small business concern owned and 
        controlled by service-disabled veterans for purposes of this 
        subsection shall be subject to--
            ``(5) section 1001 of title 18; and
            ``(6) sections 3729 through 3733 of title 31.
    ``(d) Availability of Database.--The database shall be made 
generally available on the Internet website of the Department.
    ``(e) Consultation of Database.--
            ``(1) Consultation required.--Before awarding a Federal 
        contract for a disaster-related activity a Federal agency shall 
        consult the database established under this section.
            ``(2) Disaster-related activity defined.--For purposes of 
        this subsection, a disaster-related activity is an activity 
        undertaken by reason of an event that is declared an emergency 
        or a disaster by the President pursuant to the Robert T. 
        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 
        U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).
    ``(f) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the terms `small 
business concern', `small business concern owned and controlled by 
socially and economically disadvantaged individuals', `small business 
concern owned and controlled by women', and `small business concern 
owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans' shall have the 
meanings given those terms under the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 
et seq.).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by adding after the items 
relating to section 509 the following:

``Sec. 510. Procurement of security countermeasures for strategic 
                            national stockpile.
``Sec. 511. Urban and other high risk area communications capabilities.
``Sec. 512. Small business database for Federal contracting related to 
                            declared emergencies: establishment and 
                            consultation.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The Secretary shall establish the database 
required under section 512 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (as 
added by subsection (a)) not later than the date that is 60 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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