[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 141 (Wednesday, September 21, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5846-S5848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SMALL BUSINESS CONTRACTING FRAUD PREVENTION ACT OF 2011

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on Small Business be discharged from further consideration of S. 633 
and the Senate proceed to its consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 633) to prevent fraud in small business 
     contracting, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to address the Department of 
Veterans Affairs' role in S. 633, the Small Business Contracting Fraud 
Prevention Act of 2011.
  As introduced, S. 633 contains a provision that would require the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, through its Center for Veterans 
Enterprise, to verify the status of any small business seeking to be 
registered as a veteran-owned or service-disabled veteran-owned small 
business. S. 633 would also require the head of each Federal agency to 
confirm the status of any service-disabled veteran-owned small business 
before permitting that business to compete for Federal sole-source or 
set-aside contracts.
  I agree that governmentwide verification of veteran-owned and 
service-disabled veteran-owned small business status is an important 
step towards fraud prevention. But we must ensure that enactment of S. 
633 does not add to the backlog of veterans currently awaiting 
verification of their small businesses, and that veterans' businesses 
are not unfairly delayed in their ability to compete for contracts.
  I am pleased that Senators Landrieu and Snowe have agreed to my 
amendment to S. 633. Under my amendment, the verification provisions in 
S. 633 would not take effect until the Department of Veterans Affairs 
first certifies it possesses the necessary resources and capacity to 
undertake the new requirements imposed by S. 633. This means that the 
Department gets to set the timeline for implementing the provisions so 
that implementation is done right.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Murray 
amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a 
third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and any statements relating to the measure be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 652) was agreed to, as follows:

   (Purpose: To delay the effective date of the veterans contracting 
                              provisions)

       On page 10, beginning on line 8, strike ``Not later than 1 
     year after the date of enactment of this Act, the'' and 
     insert ``The''.
       On page 10, between lines 15 and 16, insert the following:
       (d) Effective Date.--
       (1) In general.--The amendment made by subsection (b) and 
     the requirements under subsection (c) shall take effect on 
     the date on which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (referred 
     to in this subsection as the ``Secretary'') publishes in the 
     Federal Register a determination that the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs has the necessary resources and capacity to 
     carry out the additional responsibility of determining 
     whether small business concerns registered with the VetBiz 
     database of the Department of Veterans Affairs are owned and 
     controlled by a veteran or a service-disabled veteran, as the 
     case may be, in accordance with subsection (g) of section 4 
     of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 633), as added by 
     subsection (b).
       (2) Timeline.--If the Secretary determines that the 
     Secretary is not able to publish the determination under 
     paragraph (1) before the date that is 1 year after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, not later than 
     1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, submit a 
     report containing an estimate of the date on which the 
     Secretary will publish the determination under paragraph (1) 
     to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and 
     the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the 
     Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Veterans' 
     Affairs of the House of Representatives.

  The bill (S. 633), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                 S. 633

       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 ``Small Business Contracting 
     Fraud Prevention Act of 2011''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act--
       (1) the term ``8(a) program'' means the program under 
     section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a));
       (2) the terms ``Administration'' and ``Administrator'' mean 
     the Small Business Administration and the Administrator 
     thereof, respectively;
       (3) the terms ``HUBZone'' and ``HUBZone small business 
     concern'' and ``HUBZone map'' have the meanings given those 
     terms in section 3(p) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     632(p)), as amended by this Act; and
       (4) the term ``recertification'' means a determination by 
     the Administrator that a

[[Page S5847]]

     business concern that was previously determined to be a 
     qualified HUBZone small business concern is a qualified 
     HUBZone small business concern under section 3(p)(5) of the 
     Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(5)).

     SEC. 3. FRAUD DETERRENCE AT THE SMALL BUSINESS 
                   ADMINISTRATION.

       Section 16 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 645) is 
     amended--
       (1) in subsection (d)--
       (A) in paragraph (1)--
       (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
     ``Whoever'' and all that follows through ``oneself or 
     another'' and inserting the following: ``A person shall be 
     subject to the penalties and remedies described in paragraph 
     (2) if the person misrepresents the status of any concern or 
     person as a small business concern, a qualified HUBZone small 
     business concern, a small business concern owned and 
     controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged 
     individuals, a small business concern owned and controlled by 
     women, or a small business concern owned and controlled by 
     service-disabled veterans, in order to obtain for any 
     person'';
       (ii) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
       ``(A) prime contract, subcontract, grant, or cooperative 
     agreement to be awarded under subsection (a) or (m) of 
     section 8, or section 9, 15, 31, or 36;'';
       (iii) by striking subparagraph (B);
       (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as 
     subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively; and
       (v) in subparagraph (C), as so redesignated, by striking 
     ``, shall be'' and all that follows and inserting a period;
       (B) in paragraph (2)--
       (i) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as 
     subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; and
       (ii) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
       ``(C) be subject to the civil remedies under subchapter III 
     of chapter 37 of title 31, United States Code (commonly known 
     as the `False Claims Act');''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3)(A) In the case of a violation of paragraph (1)(A), 
     (g), or (h), for purposes of a proceeding described in 
     subparagraph (A) or (C) of paragraph (2), the amount of the 
     loss to the Federal Government or the damages sustained by 
     the Federal Government, as applicable, shall be an amount 
     equal to the amount that the Federal Government paid to the 
     person that received a contract, grant, or cooperative 
     agreement described in paragraph (1)(A), (g), or (h), 
     respectively.
       ``(B) In the case of a violation of subparagraph (B) or (C) 
     of paragraph (1), for the purpose of a proceeding described 
     in subparagraph (A) or (C) of paragraph (2), the amount of 
     the loss to the Federal Government or the damages sustained 
     by the Federal Government, as applicable, shall be an amount 
     equal to the portion of any payment by the Federal Government 
     under a prime contract that was used for a subcontract 
     described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (1), 
     respectively.
       ``(C) In a proceeding described in subparagraph (A) or (B), 
     no credit shall be applied against any loss or damages to the 
     Federal Government for the fair market value of the property 
     or services provided to the Federal Government.'';
       (2) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
       ``(e) Any representation of the status of any concern or 
     person as a small business concern, a HUBZone small business 
     concern, a small business concern owned and controlled by 
     socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, a small 
     business concern owned and controlled by women, or a small 
     business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled 
     veterans, in order to obtain any prime contract, subcontract, 
     grant, or cooperative agreement described in subsection 
     (d)(1) shall be made in writing or through the Online 
     Representations and Certifications Application process 
     required under section 4.1201 of the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation, or any successor thereto.''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(g) A person shall be subject to the penalties and 
     remedies described in subsection (d)(2) if the person 
     misrepresents the status of any concern or person as a small 
     business concern, a qualified HUBZone small business concern, 
     a small business concern owned and controlled by socially and 
     economically disadvantaged individuals, a small business 
     concern owned and controlled by women, or a small business 
     concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans--
       ``(1) in order to allow any person to participate in any 
     program of the Administration; or
       ``(2) in relation to a protest of a contract award or 
     proposed contract award made under regulations issued by the 
     Administration.
       ``(h)(1) A person that submits a request for payment on a 
     contract or subcontract that is awarded under subsection (a) 
     or (m) of section 8, or section 9, 15, 31, or 36, shall be 
     deemed to have submitted a certification that the person 
     complied with regulations issued by the Administration 
     governing the percentage of work that the person is required 
     to perform on the contract or subcontract, unless the person 
     states, in writing, that the person did not comply with the 
     regulations.
       ``(2) A person shall be subject to the penalties and 
     remedies described in subsection (d)(2) if the person--
       ``(A) uses the services of a business other than the 
     business awarded the contract or subcontract to perform a 
     greater percentage of work under a contract than is permitted 
     by regulations issued by the Administration; or
       ``(B) willfully participates in a scheme to circumvent 
     regulations issued by the Administration governing the 
     percentage of work that a contractor is required to perform 
     on a contract.''.

     SEC. 4. VETERANS INTEGRITY IN CONTRACTING.

       (a) Definition.--Section 3(q)(1) of the Small Business Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 632(q)(1)) is amended by striking ``means a 
     veteran'' and all that follows and inserting the following: 
     ``means--
       ``(A) a veteran with a service-connected disability rated 
     by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs as zero percent or more 
     disabling; or
       ``(B) a former member of the Armed Forces who is retired, 
     separated, or placed on the temporary disability retired list 
     for physical disability under chapter 61 of title 10, United 
     States Code.''.
       (b) Veterans Contracting.--Section 4 of the Small Business 
     Act (15 U.S.C. 633) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:
       ``(g) Veteran Status.--
       ``(1) In general.--A business concern seeking status as a 
     small business concern owned and controlled by service-
     disabled veterans shall--
       ``(A) submit an annual certification indicating that the 
     business concern is a small business concern owned and 
     controlled by service-disabled veterans by means of the 
     Online Representations and Certifications Application process 
     required under section 4.1201 of the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation, or any successor thereto; and
       ``(B) register with--
       ``(i) the Central Contractor Registration database 
     maintained under subpart 4.11 of the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation, or any successor thereto; and
       ``(ii) the VetBiz database of the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs, or any successor thereto.
       ``(2) Verification of status.--
       ``(A) Veterans affairs.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     shall determine whether a business concern registered with 
     the VetBiz database of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or 
     any successor thereto, as a small business concern owned and 
     controlled by veterans or a small business concern owned and 
     controlled by service-disabled veterans is owned and 
     controlled by a veteran or a service-disabled veteran, as the 
     case may be.
       ``(B) Federal agencies generally.--The head of each Federal 
     agency shall--
       ``(i) for a sole source contract awarded to a small 
     business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled 
     veterans or a contract awarded with competition restricted to 
     small business concerns owned and controlled by service-
     disabled veterans under section 36, determine whether a 
     business concern submitting a proposal for the contract is a 
     small business concern owned and controlled by service-
     disabled veterans; and
       ``(ii) use the VetBiz database of the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs, or any successor thereto, in determining 
     whether a business concern is a small business concern owned 
     and controlled by service-disabled veterans.
       ``(3) Debarment and suspension.--If the Administrator 
     determines that a business concern knowingly and willfully 
     misrepresented that the business concern is a small business 
     concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, 
     the Administrator may debar or suspend the business concern 
     from contracting with the United States.''.
       (c) Integration of Databases.--The Administrator for 
     Federal Procurement Policy and the Secretary of Veterans 
     Affairs shall ensure that data is shared on an ongoing basis 
     between the VetBiz database of the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs and the Central Contractor Registration database 
     maintained under subpart 4.11 of the Federal Acquisition 
     Regulation.
       (d) Effective Date.--
       (1) In general.--The amendment made by subsection (b) and 
     the requirements under subsection (c) shall take effect on 
     the date on which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (referred 
     to in this subsection as the ``Secretary'') publishes in the 
     Federal Register a determination that the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs has the necessary resources and capacity to 
     carry out the additional responsibility of determining 
     whether small business concerns registered with the VetBiz 
     database of the Department of Veterans Affairs are owned and 
     controlled by a veteran or a service-disabled veteran, as the 
     case may be, in accordance with subsection (g) of section 4 
     of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 633), as added by 
     subsection (b).
       (2) Timeline.--If the Secretary determines that the 
     Secretary is not able to publish the determination under 
     paragraph (1) before the date that is 1 year after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, not later than 
     1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, submit a 
     report containing an estimate of the date on which the 
     Secretary will publish the determination under paragraph (1) 
     to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and 
     the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the 
     Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Veterans' 
     Affairs of the House of Representatives.

     SEC. 5. SECTION 8(A) PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTS.

       (a) Review of Effectiveness.--Section 8(a) of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:

[[Page S5848]]

       ``(22) Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
     of this paragraph, and every 3 years thereafter, the 
     Comptroller General of the United States shall--
       ``(A) conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the 
     program under this subsection, including an examination of--
       ``(i) the number and size of contracts applied for, as 
     compared to the number received by, small business concerns 
     after successfully completing the program;
       ``(ii) the percentage of small business concerns that 
     continue to operate during the 3-year period beginning on the 
     date on which the small business concerns successfully 
     complete the program;
       ``(iii) whether the business of small business concerns 
     increases during the 3-year period beginning on the date on 
     which the small business concerns successfully complete the 
     program; and
       ``(iv) the number of training sessions offered under the 
     program; and
       ``(B) submit to the Committee on Small Business and 
     Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 
     Business of the House of Representatives a report regarding 
     each evaluation under subparagraph (A).''.
       (b) Other Improvements.--In order to improve the 8(a) 
     program, the Administrator shall--
       (1) not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
     this Act, begin to--
       (A) evaluate the feasibility of--
       (i) using additional third-party data sources;
       (ii) making unannounced visits of sites that are selected 
     randomly or using risk-based criteria;
       (iii) using fraud detection tools, including data-mining 
     techniques; and
       (iv) conducting financial and analytical training for the 
     business opportunity specialists of the Administration;
       (B) evaluate the feasibility and advisability of amending 
     regulations applicable the 8(a) program to require that 
     calculations of the adjusted net worth or total assets of an 
     individual include assets held by the spouse of the 
     individual; and
       (C) develop a more consistent enforcement strategy that 
     includes the suspension or debarment of contractors that 
     knowingly make misrepresentations in order to qualify for the 
     8(a) program; and
       (2) not later than 1 year after the date on which the 
     Comptroller General submits the report under section 
     8(a)(22)(B) of the Small Business Act, as added by subsection 
     (c), issue, in final form, proposed regulations of the 
     Administration that--
       (A) determine the economic disadvantage of a participant in 
     the 8(a) program based on the income and asset levels of the 
     participant at the time of application and annual 
     recertification for the 8(a) program; and
       (B) limit the ability of a small business concern to 
     participate in the 8(a) program if an immediate family member 
     of an owner of the small business concern is, or has been, a 
     participant in the 8(a) program, in the same industry.

     SEC. 6. HUBZONE IMPROVEMENTS.

       (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to reform and 
     improve the HUBZone program of the Administration.
       (b) In General.--The Administrator shall--
       (1) ensure the HUBZone map is--
       (A) accurate and up-to-date; and
       (B) revised as new data is made available to maintain the 
     accuracy and currency of the HUBZone map;
       (2) implement policies for ensuring that only HUBZone small 
     business concerns determined to be qualified under section 
     3(p)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(5)) are 
     participating in the HUBZone program, including through the 
     appropriate use of technology to control costs and maximize, 
     among other benefits, uniformity, completeness, simplicity, 
     and efficiency;
       (3) submit to the Committee on Small Business and 
     Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 
     Business of the House of Representatives a report regarding 
     any application to be designated as a HUBZone small business 
     concern or for recertification for which the Administrator 
     has not made a determination as of the date that is 60 days 
     after the date on which the application was submitted or 
     initiated, which shall include a plan and timetable for 
     ensuring the timely processing of the applications; and
       (4) develop measures and implement plans to assess the 
     effectiveness of the HUBZone program that--
       (A) require the identification of a baseline point in time 
     to allow the assessment of economic development under the 
     HUBZone program, including creating additional jobs; and
       (B) take into account--
       (i) the economic characteristics of the HUBZone; and
       (ii) contracts being counted under multiple socioeconomic 
     subcategories.
       (c) Employment Percentage.--Section 3(p) of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (5), by adding at the end the following:
       ``(E) Employment percentage during interim period.--
       ``(i) Definition.--In this subparagraph, the term `interim 
     period' means the period beginning on the date on which the 
     Administrator determines that a HUBZone small business 
     concern is qualified under subparagraph (A) and ending on the 
     day before the date on which a contract under the HUBZone 
     program for which the HUBZone small business concern submits 
     a bid is awarded.
       ``(ii) Interim period.--During the interim period, the 
     Administrator may not determine that the HUBZone small 
     business is not qualified under subparagraph (A) based on a 
     failure to meet the applicable employment percentage under 
     subparagraph (A)(i)(I), unless the HUBZone small business 
     concern--

       ``(I) has not attempted to maintain the applicable 
     employment percentage under subparagraph (A)(i)(I); or
       ``(II) does not meet the applicable employment percentage--

       ``(aa) on the date on which the HUBZone small business 
     concern submits a bid for a contract under the HUBZone 
     program; or
       ``(bb) on the date on which the HUBZone small business 
     concern is awarded a contract under the HUBZone program.''; 
     and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(8) Hubzone program.--The term `HUBZone program' means 
     the program established under section 31.
       ``(9) Hubzone map.--The term `HUBZone map' means the map 
     used by the Administration to identify HUBZones.''.
       (d) Redesignated Areas.--Section 3(p)(4)(C)(i) of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)(4)(C)(i)) is amended to read 
     as follows:
       ``(i) 3 years after the first date on which the 
     Administrator publishes a HUBZone map that is based on the 
     results from the 2010 decennial census; or''.

     SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT ON SUSPENSION, DEBARMENT, AND 
                   PROSECUTION.

       The Administrator shall submit an annual report to the 
     Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 
     Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
     Representatives that contains--
       (1) the number of debarments from participation in programs 
     of the Administration issued by the Administrator during the 
     1-year period preceding the date of the report, including--
       (A) the number of debarments that were based on a 
     conviction; and
       (B) the number of debarments that were fact-based and did 
     not involve a conviction;
       (2) the number of suspensions from participation in 
     programs of the Administration issued by the Administrator 
     during the 1-year period preceding the date of the report, 
     including--
       (A) the number of suspensions issued that were based upon 
     indictments; and
       (B) the number of suspensions issued that were fact-based 
     and did not involve an indictment;
       (3) the number of suspension and debarments issued by the 
     Administrator during the 1-year period preceding the date of 
     the report that were based upon referrals from offices of the 
     Administration, other than the Office of Inspector General;
       (4) the number of suspension and debarments issued by the 
     Administrator during the 1-year period preceding the date of 
     the report based upon referrals from the Office of Inspector 
     General; and
       (5) the number of persons that the Administrator declined 
     to debar or suspend after a referral described in paragraph 
     (8), and the reason for each such decision.

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