[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 52 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H3029-H3031]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS DISASTER ELIGIBILITY ACT

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1468) to ensure that, for each small business participating 
in the 8(a) business development program that was affected by Hurricane 
Katrina of 2005, the period in which it can participate is extended by 
18 months, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1468

       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 ``Disadvantaged Business 
     Disaster Eligibility Act''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF PARTICIPATION TERM FOR VICTIMS OF 
                   HURRICANE KATRINA.

       (a) Retroactivity.--If a small business concern, while 
     participating in any program or activity under the authority 
     of paragraph (10) of section 7(j) of the Small Business Act

[[Page H3030]]

     (15 U.S.C. 636(j)), was located in a parish or county 
     described in subsection (b) and was affected by Hurricane 
     Katrina of 2005, the period during which the small business 
     concern is permitted continuing participation and eligibility 
     in such program or activity shall be extended for an 
     additional 18 months.
       (b) Parishes and Counties Covered.--Subsection (a) applies 
     to any parish in the State of Louisiana, or any county in the 
     State of Mississippi or in the State of Alabama, that has 
     been designated by the Administrator of the Small Business 
     Administration as a disaster area by reason of Hurricane 
     Katrina under disaster declaration 10176, 10177, 10178, 
     10179, 10180, or 10181.
       (c) Review and Compliance.--The Administrator of the Small 
     Business Administration shall ensure that the case of every 
     small business concern participating before the date of the 
     enactment of this Act in a program or activity covered by 
     subsection (a) is reviewed and brought into compliance with 
     this section.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Velazquez) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Katrina forced evacuation of individuals and 
business owners who are only recently recovering and rebuilding. 
Clearly, through no fault of their own, these firms have been 
disrupted.
  A number of these businesses are participants in the SBA's 8(a) 
program, the primary way that minority entrepreneurs enter the Federal 
marketplace. 8(a) is a business development initiative, and that is 
what the companies in the gulf region need right now.
  Because of the magnitude of the disaster, these companies need 
additional time in the 8(a) program. This will counterbalance the 
period of inoperability these firms experienced due to Hurricane 
Katrina. And I commend my colleague Mr. Jefferson from Louisiana for 
offering this solution.
  As currently structured, the program allows businesses to participate 
for a limited length of time. They are given 9 years and 9 years only. 
Even if the companies fail, they can never reapply and get back in.
  In this way 8(a) is different than any other SBA procurement 
initiative, which allow companies to be certified for increments of 3 
years. As long as they meet the eligibility criteria, they can continue 
being recertified without end.
  It is because of this limitation that the 8(a) program is simply not 
structured to respond to companies that have been victimized by 
disasters.
  This bill is targeted and narrow. It applies only to 8(a) program 
participants in Alabama, Mississippi, or Louisiana that were impacted 
by this disaster. At most, this represents barely 4 percent of all 8(a) 
participants. Eighteen months is not a significant amount of time, but 
it could play a major role in ensuring that these businesses are able 
to participate in the rebuilding of their home States.
  I urge support of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1468, the Disadvantaged 
Business Disaster Eligibility Act. This legislation, as the chairwoman 
indicated, would simply extend for 18 months the period of time that 
8(a) Small Business Development Program participants who enrolled in 
the program prior to August 29 of 2005 could stay in the program by 18 
months if they had their businesses primarily located in the area 
devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
  The 8(a) Small Business Development Program, administered by the 
Small Business Administration, provides a useful mechanism for aspiring 
entrepreneurs and existing small business owners who, for social or 
economic reasons, may not have the same opportunities other small 
business owners have had and face challenging barriers to their 
success.
  Entrepreneurs who participate in the 8(a) program undergo an 
extensive 9-year process, where they obtain specialized business 
training, counseling, marketing assistance, and high-level executive 
development. They also receive additional help in the form of low-
interest loans, access to government surplus office equipment, and 
bonding assistance.
  The Small Business Development Program provides many of the tools 
needed for any small business to succeed. Most significantly, the 
program assists these entrepreneurs in obtaining Federal Government 
contracts as a base from which to grow their businesses. Given the 
devastation to the gulf coast region by Hurricane Katrina, access to 
Federal Government contracts constitutes an important component of the 
region's rebirth, and I think we all agree that we all want to see the 
rebirth in that area occur.
  Tragically, as every American remembers, the late summer of 2005 
proved to be one of the most catastrophic in American history. The 9.7 
million Americans residing on the gulf coast of Alabama, Louisiana, and 
Mississippi were victims of an unprecedented natural disaster, which, 
unfortunately, has become a nightmare that is etched in all our 
memories and a daily challenge for those who lived through it.
  The storms of 2005 drowned 80 percent of New Orleans in seawater, 
killed in excess of 1,600 people, destroyed more than 200,000 gulf 
coast homes, and displaced more than 1 million of our fellow Americans. 
Starting a new business is challenging under normal circumstances. Only 
two-thirds of them make it through their first 2 years. And needless to 
say, the devastation along the gulf coast compounds this difficulty 
exponentially.
  This legislation provides some additional time for those businesses 
facing the 9-year participation deadline provided for in the 8(a) 
program to get back on their feet. Nothing in the Small Business Act 
currently allows for an extension of participation as a result of 
extraordinary circumstances such as those created by Hurricane Katrina.
  For business owners that may not have had access to their businesses 
or their customers for months, the rigidity of the Small Business Act 
seems unduly harsh. An additional 18 months of assistance to firms who 
face an uphill battle before the storms hit who are now hanging on by a 
thread after the storms have passed is truly the least that we can do.
  Today I encourage my colleagues to support this necessary 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson).
  Mr. JEFFERSON. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I am pleased 
to sponsor H.R. 1468, the Disadvantaged Business Disaster Eligibility 
Act. I would like to thank Chairwoman Velazquez as well as Ranking 
Member Chabot for their leadership in committee on this important bill. 
I would also like to thank the other members of the committee for 
voting in a bipartisan spirit to bring this measure to the floor in an 
expeditious manner.
  This bill provides that if a small business affected by Hurricane 
Katrina that participates in any section 8(a) business development 
program, the eligibility period for its participation in such program 
is extended by 18 months.
  The 8(a) program was designed as a 9-year business development 
program geared toward small businesses owned by citizens who are 
socially and economically disadvantaged. This program is of benefit to 
emerging African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and nonminority 
women-owned firms included in the program's coverage. Once the 
eligibility for the 9-year program has run out, the small business 
participating in the program is ineligible to re-enter it. When 
Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans on August 29, 2005, it 
left 80,000 businesses damaged or destroyed, 97 percent of which were 
small businesses. A significant percentage were participating in the 
8(a) program and were forced to shut down for an extended period of 
time, losing time in the program

[[Page H3031]]

through a series of events far beyond their control. It is only right 
and fair that we extend the period of eligibility so that the affected 
disadvantaged businesses are allowed to grow and flourish and enjoy the 
full 9 years of the program.
  Nineteen months since Katrina struck, most of our 8(a) firms across 
the gulf coast are still struggling to return.
  This bill is about equity and fairness at a time when the road to 
recovery has been anything but fair for disadvantaged firms in the 
region. For example, in the time just following the storm, 90 percent 
of the $2 billion in initial contracts were awarded to companies based 
outside of the three primary affected States and to large concerns. 
Minority businesses received just 1.5 percent of the first $1.6 billion 
spent there. Women-owned businesses received even less. This was the 
outcome in spite of laws such as the Stafford Act, which require 
contracting officials to prioritize awards to local businesses and to 
reach a goal of 5 percent of contracts to minority-owned businesses.
  The continued recovery from Katrina is made up of many interconnected 
issues, and we cannot fully recover without addressing all of them. 
Helping small businesses, as this and other bills such as the RECOVER 
Act do, restores jobs that our citizens can return home to and puts our 
businesses back on track. It broadens the tax base of our region and 
helps with our recovery.
  I look forward to continuing to work on the Small Business Committee 
with Ms. Velazquez and Mr. Chabot to address the needs of small 
businesses in the gulf region.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Chabot) for his support and cooperation in helping expedite 
this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1468, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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