[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6368 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6368


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 26, 2018

 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 
                          and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To encourage R&D small business set-asides, to encourage SBIR and STTR 
       participants to serve as mentors under the Small Business 
    Administration's mentor-protege program, to promote the use of 
             interagency contracts, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Encouraging Small Business 
Innovators''.

SEC. 2. INCLUDING TESTING AND EVALUATION IN THE DEFINITION OF R&D.

    Section 9(e)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)(5)) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as 
        clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively;
            (2) by striking ``means any activity'' and inserting the 
        following: ``means--
                    ``(A) any activity''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following: ``and
                    ``(B) any testing or evaluation in connection with 
                such an activity;''.

SEC. 3. ENCOURAGING PARTICIPATION IN THE MENTOR-PROTEGE PROGRAM.

    Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(tt) Encouraging Participation in the Mentor-Protege Program.--
The Administrator shall provide an increase to the past performance 
rating of any small business concern that has participated in the SBIR 
or STTR program that serves as a mentor under section 45 to a small 
business concern that seeks to participate in the SBIR or STTR 
program.''.

SEC. 4. PROMOTING THE USE OF GOVERNMENT-WIDE AND OTHER INTERAGENCY 
              CONTRACTS.

    (a) Promoting Interagency Acquisitions.--Section 865 of the Duncan 
Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public 
Law 110-417) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``all interagency acquisitions'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by adding ``all interagency assisted 
                        acquisitions'' before ``include''; and
                            (ii) by adding ``and'' at the end;
                    (C) by striking subparagraph (B);
                    (D) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
                subparagraph (B);
                    (E) in subparagraph (B), as so redesignated, by 
                adding ``all interagency assisted acquisitions'' before 
                ``include''; and
            (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) The term `assisted acquisition' means a type of 
        interagency acquisition where a servicing agency performs 
        acquisition activities on a requesting agency's behalf, such as 
        awarding and administering a contract, task order, or delivery 
        order.''.
    (b) GSA Assistance With Certain Small Business Contract Awards.--
            Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as 
        amended by section 4, is further amended by adding at the end 
        the following:
    ``(uu) GSA Assistance With Certain Small Business Contract 
Awards.--The Administrator of the General Services Administration may 
assist another agency with the process of awarding a contract to a 
small business concern under the SBIR or STTR program or under a small 
business set-aside.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 25, 2018.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.