[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2461 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2461

To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the responsibility of 
 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to verify the veteran status of the 
owners of small business concerns listed in the database maintained by 
                             the Secretary.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 18, 2009

   Ms. Herseth Sandlin (for herself and Mr. Boozman) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the responsibility of 
 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to verify the veteran status of the 
owners of small business concerns listed in the database maintained by 
                             the Secretary.

    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 ``Veterans Small Business Verification 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF RESPONSIBILITY OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS TO VERIFY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP.

    (a) Clarification.--Subsection (f) of section 8127 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``To be eligible'';
                    (B) by inserting after ``or the veteran.'' the 
                following new sentence: ``Application for inclusion in 
                the database shall constitute permission under section 
                552a of title 5 (commonly referred to as the Privacy 
                Act) for the Secretary to access such personal 
                information maintained by the Secretary as may be 
                necessary to verify the information contained in the 
                application.''; and
                    (C) by inserting after the sentence added by 
                subparagraph (B) the following new subparagraph:
            ``(B) If the Secretary receives an application for 
        inclusion in the database from an individual whose status as a 
        veteran cannot be verified because the Secretary does not 
        maintain information with respect to the veteran status of the 
        individual, the Secretary may not include the small business 
        concern owned or controlled by the individual in the database 
        maintained by the Secretary until the Secretary receives such 
        information as may be necessary to verify that the individual 
        is a veteran.''; and
            (2) by amending paragraph (4) to read as follows:
    ``(4) No small business concern may be listed in the database until 
the Secretary has verified that--
            ``(A) the small business concern is owned and controlled by 
        veterans; and
            ``(B) in the case of a small business concern for which the 
        person who owns or controls the concern indicates that the 
        person is a veteran with a service-connected disability, that 
        the person is a veteran with a service-connected disability.''.
    (b) Applicability.--In the case of a small business concern 
included in the database as of the date of the enactment of this Act 
for which, as of such date, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has not 
verified the status of such concern in accordance with paragraph (4) of 
subsection (f) of section 8127 of title 38, United States Code, as 
amended by subsection (a), not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall notify the person who owns 
or controls the concern that--
            (1) the Secretary is required to verify the status of the 
        concern in accordance with such paragraph;
            (2) verification of such status shall require that the 
        person who owns or controls the concern apply for inclusion in 
        the database in accordance with such subsection, as so amended;
            (3) application for inclusion in the database shall 
        constitute permission under section 552a of title 5, United 
        States Code (commonly referred to as the Privacy Act), for the 
        Secretary to access such personal information maintained by the 
        Secretary as may be necessary to verify the information 
        contained in the application; and
            (4) the person who owns or controls the concern must submit 
        to the Secretary an affirmative acknowledgment of the 
        requirement under paragraph (3) within 90 days of receiving the 
        Secretary's notice of such requirement or the concern shall be 
        removed from the database.
                                 <all>