I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2461 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.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Veterans Small Business Verification Act.

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.