109 HR 4474 IH: Minority-Owned Venture Empowerment Act of 2005 U.S. House of Representatives 2005-12-08 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 109th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4474 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 8, 2005 Mr. Barrow (for himself, Ms. Velázquez, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Davis of Alabama, Mr. Clay, Mr. Scott of Georgia, Mrs. Christensen, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Owens, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Towns, Mr. Wynn, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mr. Case, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Ford, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Ms. Lee, Ms. Bean, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Lipinski, Ms. McKinney, and Ms. Linda T. Sánchez of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business A BILL To enhance the section 8(a) program of the Small Business Act.

1.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Minority-Owned Venture Empowerment Act of 2005. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents Sec. 2. Findings Title I—Pre-8(a) Phase Sec. 101. Purpose Sec. 102. Technical assistance program Title II—Modifications to 8(a) Program Sec. 201. Purpose Sec. 202. Administration of section 8(a) program Title III—Post-8(a) Assistance Sec. 1. Purpose Sec. 2. Retention of status after completion of 8(a) program Sec. 3. Restricted competition for small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Minority-owned businesses play a vital role in shaping the Nation’s economy, having an impact in communities across the country, generating $700,000,000 in revenue, and employing nearly 5,000,000 people. (2)Businesses owned by minorities have a rapid growth rate, as much as 8.5 percent annually, which is three times higher than the average for United States firms, and minority owned firms represent 15 percent of all United States businesses. (3)Despite the phenomenal growth of minority entrepreneurship, it lags behind mainstream businesses, facing numerous barriers and obstacles. (4)While the purchasing power of the Federal Government is an effective way to expand entrepreneurship, minority business owners continue to have limited opportunities to break into the Federal marketplace, largely due to several factors including a lack of credit, denial of contracts, and unequal treatment by large contractors. (5)The section 8(a) program of the Small Business Administration acts as an important catalyst for helping minority entrepreneurs overcome these barriers and aiding in their overall growth and development. (6)From its inception, the program has been responsible for the growth of more than 20,000 companies in every State across the Nation, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which have received over $100 billion in government contracts and are currently employing more than 200,000 people. (7)In the nearly 20 years since the last comprehensive modernization of the 8(a) program, the Federal marketplace has changed significantly. (8)The changes in the buying strategies of Federal agencies have cost minority entrepreneurs billions of dollars in lost contracting opportunities, and last year alone the section 8(a) program suffered a record loss of $2,400,000,000, a drop of one-fifth in the program level leaving a significant number of minority business owners locked out of the Federal marketplace. (9)The section 8(a) program, which bridges the entrepreneurial divide, is important to minority business development, and to operate at its fullest potential, it must be supported by agency heads, modernized by Congress on a regular basis, and adequately funded.