[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5525 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5525

   To amend the Small Business Act to improve the National Veterans 
                   Business Development Corporation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 4, 2008

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Small Business Act to improve the National Veterans 
                   Business Development Corporation.

    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 ``Inclusion of Veteran Service 
Organizations in the National Veterans Business Development Corporation 
Board Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF NATIONAL VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 
              CORPORATION.

    (a) Improvement.--Section 33(c) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 657c(c)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``nine'' and inserting 
        ``11'';
            (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following 
        new paragraph (2):
            ``(2) Appointment of voting members.--
                    ``(A) Presidential appointments.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The President shall, 
                        after considering recommendations submitted 
                        under clause (ii), appoint 7 of the 11 voting 
                        members of the Board, all of whom shall be 
                        United States citizens, and not more than 5 of 
                        whom shall be members of the same political 
                        party.
                            ``(ii) Recommendations.--Recommendations 
                        shall be submitted to the President for 
                        appointments under this subparagraph by the 
                        chairman or ranking member (or both) of the 
                        Committee on Small Business and 
                        Entrepreneurship or the Committee on Veterans' 
                        Affairs (or both) of the Senate or the 
                        Committee on Small Business or the Committee on 
                        Veterans' Affairs (or both) of the House of 
                        Representatives.
                    ``(B) Congressional appointments.--The chairmen of 
                the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 
                and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate 
                and the Committee on Small Business and the Committee 
                on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives 
                shall jointly appoint 4 of the 11 voting members of the 
                Board who shall be representatives of a congressionally 
                chartered veterans' service organization or military 
                service organization.
                    ``(C) Limitation on internal recommendations.--No 
                member of the Board may recommend an individual for 
                appointment to a position on the Board.'';
            (3) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the following 
        new sentences: ``The president and directors of each of the 3 
        veterans business resource centers that have received grants 
        from the Corporation that are located in Flint, Michigan, St. 
        Louis, Missouri, and Boston, Massachusetts, shall provide 
        expertise and advice to the Board of Directors, as 
        appropriate.'';
            (4) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking the second sentence 
        and inserting the following new sentence: ``No member of the 
        Board may serve after the expiration of the term for which that 
        member is appointed.''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(12) Removal of members.--With the approval of a majority 
        of the Board of Directors and the approval of the chairmen and 
        ranking members of the Committee on Small Business and 
        Entrepreneurship and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
        Senate, the Corporation may remove a member of the Board who is 
        determined to be unable to fulfill the member's duties under 
        this section.
            ``(13) Meetings.--All meetings of the Board of Directors 
        shall be conducted in public and members of the general public 
        shall have access to such meetings. The Board shall record 
        minutes for each meeting and make such minutes available on the 
        Internet website of the Corporation. Two meetings shall be held 
        in Washington, DC, each year.
            ``(14) Notice to stakeholders.--The Board of Directors 
        shall establish a list of stakeholders in the Corporation and 
        shall, to the extent possible, provide to each individual on 
        the list notice of the meetings and agenda of the Board. If 
        providing such notice is not possible, the Board shall make 
        such notice publicly available on the Internet website of the 
        Corporation.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 33(c)(6)(B) of the Small 
Business Act (14 U.S.C. 657c(c)(6)(B)) is amended by striking ``by the 
President''.
    (c) Congressional Appointments.--Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, two appointments shall be made under 
subparagraph (B) of section 33(c)(2) of the Small Business Act, as 
added by subsection (a). Upon the expiration of each the first two 
terms of appointment of members of the Board of Directors of the 
National Veterans Business Development Corporation that expire after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, an additional appointment shall 
be made under that subparagraph.
                                 <all>