[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 71 (Monday, May 11, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2761-S2762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. King):
  S. 1266. A bill to expand the HUBZone program for communities 
affected by base realignment and closure, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise to introduce legislation to better 
tailor the HUBZone program to meet the needs of communities affected by 
the closure of U.S. military installations through the Base Closure and 
Realignment, or BRAC, process. I am pleased to be joined by my 
colleague from Maine, Senator King, in introducing this legislation, 
the HUBZone Expansion Act of 2015.
  This issue hits close to home for both Senator King and me. When 
Loring Air Force Base closed in 1994 through the BRAC process, my home 
of Aroostook County lost 15 percent of its population. Senator King 
lives in Brunswick, ME, which also experienced a considerable drop in 
population when it lost a major naval air station in 2011.
  Military bases are often the economic heart of the towns and cities 
in which they are located, and communities can struggle for years to 
overcome the closure of those facilities as the redevelopment process 
is often lengthy and riddled with bureaucratic hurdles.
  In recognition of these challenges, Congress passed legislation 
providing HUBZone status for 5 years to military facilities closed 
through the BRAC process. This status allows small businesses located 
on former military bases or in ``economically distressed communities'' 
with high rates of poverty or unemployment to obtain certain Federal 
contracting preferences.
  According to the Small Business Administration, there are currently 
107 BRAC-related HUBZones in the U.S. Unfortunately, for many of the 
communities surrounding closed military bases, HUBZone status has not 
always had the intended effect. One of the reasons is simple. The law 
defines the geographic boundaries of a BRAC-related HUBZone to be the 
same as the boundaries of the closed base. When combined with the 
requirement that 35 percent of the employees of a qualifying business 
live within the HUBZone, redevelopment efforts are slowed or stalled. 
Very few people actually live on these former bases, making it 
difficult, if not impossible, for businesses and job seekers alike to 
meet the HUBZone requirements.
  We have seen this very situation play out following the closure of 
the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, which closed as a result of the 
2005 BRAC round. When the Navy left, Brunswick and its neighbor, 
Topsham, lost more than 2,400 military and civilian personnel. These 
two towns have a combined population of just 22,000, so losing these 
jobs has taken a significant economic toll. Because so few people live 
within the actual boundaries of the former naval air station, its 
HUBZone designation does not provide the help these communities need.
  To address this first concern, our legislation would permit 
prospective employees who live just outside of the boundaries of the 
closed base to count toward the 35 percent requirement. Employees who 
live in the census tracts touching the boundaries of the closed base, 
and in census tracts that touch those census tracts, would be included, 
providing a large enough pool of potential workers for qualifying 
businesses to locate within the HUBZone.
  A second reason that businesses have difficulty benefiting from the 
HUBZone program is because closed bases are given HUBZone status for a 
limited time, only 5 years. Local economic development agencies working 
to attract new businesses to a former base cannot begin until a base is 
closed, and this process can take many years. Because HUBZone 
preferences only apply for 5 years from closure, businesses often lose 
years of program eligibility. In fact, the Association of Defense 
Communities reports that in the seven years following the 2005 BRAC 
round, only \1/3\ of former base property has been transferred to local 
authorities for redevelopment. Our legislation would address this 
problem by extending the period of time for which a closed base is 
eligible for HUBZone status from 5 years after closure to 8 years.
  Steve Levesque, the Executive Director of the Midcoast Regional 
Redevelopment Authority, oversees the redevelopment of the former 
Brunswick Naval Air Station. Steve supports this legislation, 
explaining that BRAC facilities do not have adequate residential areas 
needed to support the 35 percent residency requirement and that 
businesses cannot ``realize the HUBZone benefits for BRAC'd 
installations as envisioned by Congress.''
  Heather Blease is a Mainer who has explained the need for these 
changes as well. Heather is an entrepreneur who opened a small business 
at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station in 2013. She has described 
the HUBZone law as ``flawed,'' because the limited number of residences 
on the base make it nearly impossible to meet the 35 percent residency 
requirement. She says that this proposed legislation ``would make all 
the difference in the world'' for her business, and would create needed 
jobs for Mainers.
  The Association of Defense Communities also supports our effort to 
tailor the HUBZone program to make it more usable by closed military 
bases.
  I ask my colleagues to support the HUBZone Expansion Act of 2015 to 
help communities and the people most affected get back on their feet 
after the loss of a military installation, closed through the BRAC 
process.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                           Association of Defense Communities,

                                                      May 5, 2015.
     Hon. John McCain,
     Chairman, Armed Services Committee, United States Senate, 
         Washington, DC.
     Hon. Jack Reed,
     Ranking Member, Armed Services Committee, United States 
         Senate, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Mac Thornberry,
     Chairman, Armed Services Committee, House of Representatives, 
         Washington, DC.
     Hon. Adam Smith,
     Ranking Member, Armed Services Committee, House of 
         Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman McCain, Ranking Member Reed, Chairman 
     Thornberry and Ranking Member Smith: On behalf of the 
     Association of Defense Communities Board of Directors, I want 
     to express my deep appreciation for your leadership to 
     support defense communities across the country. As the 
     leading organization serving communities with active, 
     realigned or closed military installations, ADC represents 
     more than 200 communities, states, regions and their 
     partners.
       Communities impacted by the Base Realignment and Closure 
     (BRAC) process continue to face severe, long-term economic 
     distress. To assist in these communities' recovery, Congress 
     authorized additional support in the Small Business 
     Reauthorization Act

[[Page S2762]]

     of 1997, declaring that military bases closed by BRAC are 
     eligible for designation as Historically Underutilized 
     Business Zones (HUBZones). As you know, the HUBZone program 
     allows small businesses in disadvantaged areas additional 
     opportunities to compete for federal procurements. Eighteen 
     years later, the HUBZone designation remains integral for 
     attracting small businesses to these communities and is one 
     of the few available federal tools supporting a community's 
     economic transition.
       While the intent of Congress was to provide the HUBZone 
     designation to help closed military installations attract 
     small businesses, one aspect of the HUBZone program actually 
     works against these redevelopment areas. Under the current 
     law, 35 percent of a business's employees also must live in a 
     HUBZone area. Because a military installation's HUBZone area 
     encompasses only the boundaries of the former base, many 
     closed military installations do not have a substantial 
     number of HUBZone-certified residential areas from which to 
     draw a sufficient workforce for the businesses desiring to 
     locate on those properties. It often is impossible, 
     therefore, for a business looking to relocate to these 
     communities to qualify for HUBZone status. Further, there 
     traditionally are many delays in the multi-year process 
     through which local redevelopment authorities assume control 
     of former federal property, leaving little or no opportunity 
     to recruit small businesses before the statutory five-year 
     HUBZone designation has expired.
       ADC is honored to endorse the current bipartisan 
     legislative language offered by Senators King and Collins and 
     Representatives Pingree and Poliquin, and support its 
     inclusion in the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act 
     (NDAA). The proposal would (1) allow small businesses in 
     HUBZone areas to recruit personnel from a broader workforce 
     and (2) extend from five years to eight years the period for 
     which a BRAC-impacted community could be designated a 
     HUBZone. If adopted, this language would be extremely helpful 
     to communities across the country that have supported our 
     nation's military missions but now are struggling to overcome 
     distinct economic challenges. ADC is hopeful that your 
     colleagues will support this provision and its inclusion in 
     the FY 2016 NDAA as that important legislation moves forward.
       Thank you again for your leadership on this and other 
     important issues. We look forward to working with you and 
     your colleagues to further strengthen America's defense 
     communities.
           Respectfully,
                                                   Michael Cooper,
     President.

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