[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 95 (Wednesday, July 19, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7901-S7902]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           NATIONAL VETERANS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

  Ms. SNOWE. The Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business 
Development Act of 1999 created the National Veterans Business 
Development Corporation--The Veterans Corporation--to address gaps in 
providing small business and entrepreneurship assistance to veterans 
and service-disabled veterans. These services are to be delivered 
through newly created, community-based veterans business resource 
centers, VBRCs. The legislation authorized Federal funding through 
fiscal year 2004, with the requirement that the Corporation ``institute 
and implement a plan to raise private funds and become a self-
sustaining corporation.''
  While the Veterans Corporation's purpose and mission are well-
intentioned, in practice, the Corporation has been unable to become 
self-sustaining and continues to rely on congressional appropriations. 
Furthermore, the Corporation's funding concerns have diminished its 
ability to create a vibrant national network of VBRCs. The 
Corporation's struggles have led it astray from the original intent of 
the law and hurt its delivery of services to our Nation's veterans. As 
such, my colleagues and I are introducing legislation to reauthorize 
the Veterans Corporation and to improve the direction of the 
Corporation as it works to serve veteran and service-disabled veteran 
entrepreneurs.
  Although the Veterans Corporation has fallen on hard times, its 
vision of assisting veterans with their business needs is still 
admirable. In fact, according to the Small Business Administration, 
about 22 percent of veterans were either purchasing or starting a new 
business or considering doing so in 2004. Moreover, almost 72 percent 
of these new veteran entrepreneurs planned to employ at least one 
person at the outset of their new venture. Supporting veterans' small 
business needs has become increasingly important as soldiers begin to 
return from continuing U.S. military operations worldwide.
  I have worked hard to put the Veterans Corporation on the track to 
success and to support the veteran entrepreneurs and veteran-owned 
small businesses that it serves. I have led efforts to ensure proper 
oversight of the Corporation, as well as assisted the Corporation 
through appropriate legislative action.
  As Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship, I requested a Government Accountability Office, GAO, 
study, released in August 2004, to ensure that the Veterans Corporation 
was meeting its responsibilities and the needs of our Nation's 
veterans. The GAO report concluded that the Veterans Corporation faced 
a number of challenges in achieving self-sufficiency, noting that 
dramatically lower-than-expected revenues delayed the estimated date 
for achieving self-sustaining operations from fiscal year 2004 to 
fiscal year 2009. The GAO was also concerned with the Corporation's 
distinction as a government corporation,'' as determined by the Office 
of Management and Budget and the Department of Justice. This 
determination subjected the Corporation to numerous agency requirements 
and drained significant resources away from serving veterans. Again, 
this designation inhibited the Corporation's ability to become self-
sustaining.
  In the fall of 2004, I introduced emergency legislation that was 
passed into law to clarify the Corporation's status as a ``quasi-
private entity,'' not a ``government corporation.'' At the time, this 
legislation relieved the 12-employee Corporation from burdensome 
Federal agency reporting requirements.
  Following the enactment of this legislation, many of my colleagues 
and I encouraged the Corporation to work hard to get its fiscal house 
in order and to focus on reaching out to veterans in local communities, 
particularly through VBRCs. Unfortunately, the Corporation's most 
recent efforts to become self-sustaining have yielded insufficient 
results. Furthermore, since its inception, the Corporation has only 
succeeded in establishing four VBRCs. Therefore, it is appropriate to 
restructure the corporation to meet the original intent of the law and 
to better serve our veteran entrepreneurs.

[[Page S7902]]

  I would like to thank Senators Kerry, Talent, and Akaka for working 
together with me to craft the bipartisan ``Veterans Corporation 
Reauthorization Act of 2006.'' We believe that this bill will clarify 
current law directing the Veterans Corporation, improve the 
Corporation's services to veterans by stressing the need to create 
VBRCs, and protecting the American taxpayer by ensuring that the 
Corporation meets its self-sustaining requirement.
  More specifically, this legislation will focus the Corporation's 
purpose and mission to emphasize establishing a national network of 
information and assistance centers for use by veterans and the public.
  This bill would strictly guide the Corporation's ability to access 
public funds. Although the legislation would reauthorize funding at $2 
million for fiscal year 2007-fiscal year 2009, the funds would be 
directed through the Small Business Administration's Office of 
Veterans' Business Development. These funds would only be allocated to 
the Corporation if it first matches those funds on a dollar-for-dollar 
basis. Any funds not expended would revert back to the Treasury. 
Furthermore, there is a provision that restricts the amount of revenue 
the Corporation can raise from fee-for-service tools or direct charge, 
to the veteran receiving services.
  Our legislation also reinforces current law by requiring that the 
Veterans Corporation must develop a plan to become self-sustaining and 
would add the requirement that the Corporation include an independent 
audit in its annual report to Congress, and includes a GAO audit to 
ensure review and compliance.
  Finally, the legislation will postpone the transfer of duties from 
the SBA's Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs to the 
Corporation, and improve notification of the Corporation's services to 
veterans and transitioning service members.

                          ____________________