[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 82 (Thursday, May 17, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SMALL BUSINESS FAIRNESS IN CONTRACTING ACT

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                               speech of

                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 10, 2007

  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support 
of H.R. 1873--the Small Business Fairness in Contracting Act.
  The 10th Edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines 
fairness as being: impartial, honest; free from self-interest, 
prejudice, or favoritism. For too long small businesses have been 
overlooked, short changed and under-funded. For the first time in over 
a decade this House voted on a bill to open the $380 billion federal 
marketplace to small businesses across the country.
  Mr. Chairman, this bill will not only bring about strong economic 
growth but also create jobs. This bill does that by: Ensuring that new 
regulations and databases are added to encourage and promote fairness 
in the use of small businesses in government contracting; increasing 
the overall national goal of using contracts with small businesses; and 
increasing the goal for contracts with disadvantaged and women-owned 
businesses. These changes are vital to small businesses all over this 
country.
  For the past 6 years, the government has failed to meet its 23 
percent small business contracting goal. This has cost small business 
$10 billion in lost contracting opportunities.
  In the 3rd district of Florida, small business owner Lisa Wolf of 
Wolf Technologies informed me that she faces many contracting problems 
and loss of business due to the bundling of small projects into large 
mega contracts. Ms. Wolf owns a geotechnical engineering firm and has 
gained a reputation for helping clients exceed their goals; she cannot 
effectively do this without small Federal contracts.
  Entrepreneurs and small businesses like Lisa Wolf's are key players 
in the economy of Florida.
  Florida has an estimated total of 1,837,800 small businesses and 29 
percent of them are women-owned firms.
  According to the Florida Small Business Development Center:

       The stability and growth of Florida's economy depends 
     largely on the vitality of our state's small businesses who 
     are a diverse group of entrepreneurs and innovators. This 
     large and growing group keeps the Florida economy productive.

  This bill ensures that more Federal contracts are available to small 
firms like Lisa's and also increases the procurement opportunities for 
the small, disadvantaged and women-owned businesses.
  Mr. Chairman, this bill is not only a great investment to my home 
State of Florida but most importantly to our nation's small businesses 
and I strongly support it.

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