[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 50 (Thursday, April 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3027-S3028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. Warner):
  S. 2483. A bill to provide for the eligibility of small business 
concerns owned and controlled by women for assistance under the mentor-
protege program of the Department of Defense; to the Committee on Armed 
Services.


    INCLUDE WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES IN THE DoD MENTOR-PROTEGE PROGRAM

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of myself and the 
Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warner, to 
introduce a bill that will enhance an already successful program and 
have a significant impact on women owned businesses. The purpose of the 
Snowe-Warner bill is to include women-owned businesses as eligible 
participants in the Department of Defense's Mentor-Protege Program.
  In 1990, the Congress established the DoD Mentor-Protege Pilot 
Program to provide incentives for major defense contractors to furnish 
disadvantaged small business concerns with assistance. That act also 
established a participation goal of 5% for those small disadvantaged 
businesses; however, women-owned businesses were not covered under that 
legislation.
  The overall results of that legislation were impressive. According to 
the GAO, from Fiscal Year 1992 through Fiscal Year 1998, appropriated 
mentor-protege funding of about $233 million was obligated through 
cooperative agreements, separate contracts, or line items in DOD 
contracts. And, according to the Department of Defense, between 1994 
and 1997 there was a net gain of 3,342 jobs within protege firms; there 
was a net revenue gain in excess of $276 million within the protege 
firms; and mentors reported an additional $695 million in subcontract 
awards to small disadvantaged businesses during this period. So, 
clearly, our legislation had a beneficial impact on the hundreds of 
small and disadvantaged businesses that now have the opportunity to 
compete and win Defense contracts under this program.
  Then, in 1994, we passed Public Law 103-355, otherwise known as the 
Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994, which, among other 
provisions, amended Section 15 of the Small Business Act to establish a 
5% annual goal for women-owned business enterprise participation in 
federal prime contracts and subcontracts. The Act also amended Section 
8 of the Small Business Act to give women-owned businesses equal 
standing with small and small disadvantaged businesses in the 
subcontracting plans of federal prime contractors.
  And, again, the results were significant. In Fiscal Year 1997 the 
government reported that women-owned businesses received 2.5% ($5.6 
billion) of the $225 billion prime and subcontract dollars spent, up 
from 1.3% in Fiscal Year 1991 when data by gender was first collected. 
And in the latest data from Fiscal Year 1999, women-owned businesses 
accounted for 2.42% or $4.6 billion of the total $190 billion federal 
contract dollars. The percentage of Federal agencies that awarded at 
least 5% of their prime contract dollars to women-owned businesses was 
37.9% in Fiscal Year 1997, up from 20.4% in Fiscal Year 1987.
  In Fiscal Year 1997 some 5,722 women-owned businesses were involved 
in 446,332 federal prime contract actions amounting to $3.3 billion 
while another $2.3 billion was awarded to women-owned businesses in 
subcontract actions. At that time, women-owned businesses comprised 
8.3% of Federal prime contractors, were involved in 4.1% of the prime 
contract actions and received 2.1% of Federal prime contract awards.

  Why is this important? Women-owned federal contractors own much more 
substantial enterprises than the typical woman-owned firm. The average 
number of employees in women-owned federal contractor firms was 52.2 
compared to just 2.3 among all full-time women-owned firms. Women-owned 
firms involved in Federal procurement have, on average, 1,742% higher 
sales and employ 23 times more employees than the average woman-owned 
firm.

[[Page S3028]]

  Despite the resounding success of these initiatives, I must ask the 
question, ``Are we there yet?'' Not quite. Although all Executive 
Branch departments operate Mentor-Protege programs, the three agencies, 
Defense, Energy, and GSA, that account for the most contract dollars 
have never met the 5 percent goal. While Defense, the largest federal 
purchaser, provided $2.3 billion or 50% of all federal contracts going 
to women-owned businesses in Fiscal Year 1999, that amount represented 
only 1.92% of total Defense contracts.
  The other two agencies together provided 16.4% of all federal 
contracts to women-owned businesses in fiscal year 1999 but, again, 
that funding only represented 3.1% of their combined contract funding. 
Of the three agencies, the GSA came closest to meeting the 5% goal with 
4.75% of its contract dollars going to women-owned firms.
  Some agencies, however, are doing very well at meeting the 5% goal. 
Housing and Urban Development sent 14.95% of its 1999 contracts to 
women-owned businesses, Veteran's Affairs sent 5.59%, and 
appropriately, the Small Business Administration spent 15.29% of their 
contract dollars at women-owned firms.
  Mr. President, women-owned businesses are capable of doing more and 
they want to do more. Surveys indicate that when asked if the 
availability of mentor-protege programs would make them more interested 
in entering the government procurement market, 33% of women business 
owners responded favorably. Similarly, 30% of women with businesses 
more than 20 years old were among those most interested in taking part 
in a mentor-protege program.
  When Section 831 of Public Law 101-510 establishing the DoD Mentor-
Protege Pilot Program to provide incentives for major defense 
contractors to furnish disadvantaged small business concerns with 
assistance was drafted, it defined disadvantaged small business 
concerns as those owned and controlled by socially and economically 
disadvantaged individuals, Indian tribes, Hawaiians and those that 
employ the severely disabled. It did not specifically provide for the 
participation by women-owned businesses, those firms that are at least 
51% owned and whose management and daily business operations are 
controlled by one or more women.
  Mr. President, very simply, this bill will correct that, and I, 
therefore, urge my colleagues in the Senate to support the passage of 
the Snowe-Warner bill that allows us to forge two pieces good 
legislation into one better piece of legislation that benefits American 
business women and, by extension, America.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague from 
Maine as a sponsor of this very important piece of legislation that 
would allow women-owned businesses to participate in the Department of 
Defense (DOD) mentor protege program.
  Since 1990, the mentor protege program has provided small 
disadvantaged businesses increased opportunity to compete for federal 
contracts. The program accomplishes this by providing incentives to 
major defense contractors to assist qualified small business to enhance 
their abilities to compete as contractors on DOD contracts. The mentor-
protege program does not guarantee contracts to anyone. Instead, it is 
designed to equip participants with the knowledge and expertise that 
they need to win such contracts on their own, in the competitive market 
place.
  The mentor protege program has been an important tool to help achieve 
the goal--established by Congress in 1987--that DOD increase to five 
percent the total value of contracts and subcontracts awarded to small 
disadvantaged businesses. This has been a remarkable success story. For 
the past six years, the DOD has exceeded this 5% goal.
  In 1994, a similar goal was set for the DOD to award five percent of 
its annual contracts to women-owned businesses. While women-owned 
business participation in defense contracting has increased since 1994, 
we are still, however, well below the 5% goal. It seems appropriate to 
provide DOD with additional tools to assist in meeting this goal. 
Providing women-owned businesses the opportunity to participate in the 
mentor protege program will be a big step forward in expanding federal 
contracting opportunities for these businesses.
  I want to thank Senator Snowe for her leadership on this issue and 
her work on behalf of women-owned businesses around the country. I urge 
swift passage of this legislation to enhance the opportunity for women-
owned businesses to compete for, and win, DOD contracts.
                                 ______