[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 76 (Monday, May 18, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H3260-H3261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN OWNED SMALL BUSINESS RELIEF ACT
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1313) to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the
treatment of certain small business concerns for purposes of Department
of Veterans Affairs contracting goals and preferences.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1313
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 ``Service Disabled Veteran
Owned Small Business Relief Act''.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF TREATMENT UNDER CONTRACTING GOALS AND
PREFERENCES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) In General.--Section 8127(h) of title 38, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``rated as'' and all that
follows through ``disability.'' and inserting a period; and
(2) in paragraph (2), by amending subparagraph (C) to read
as follows:
``(C) The date that--
``(i) in the case of a surviving spouse of a veteran with a
service-connected disability rated as 100 percent disabling
or who dies as a result of a service-connected disability, is
10 years after the date of the veteran's death; or
``(ii) in the case of a surviving spouse of a veteran with
a service-connected disability rated as less than 100 percent
disabling who does not die as a result of a service-connected
disability, is three years after the date of the veteran's
death.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to
contracts awarded on or after such date.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup) and the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.
General Leave
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to add extraneous material on H.R. 1313.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Ohio?
There was no objection.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1313 would amend title 38 to allow certain
surviving spouses of service-disabled small-business owners to continue
to be classified as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business for
a 3-year period following the death of the veteran owner.
Current law limits the continuation to just the surviving spouses of
disabled veterans rated at 100 percent by VA. By changing the law, we
will enable surviving spouses of the vast majority of small businesses
owned by service-disabled veterans to make the transition from a
preferred VA contractor to the private sector market. This small change
will also provide a large measure of financial stability to surviving
spouses.
I see this as another commonsense bill, and I thank Mr. McNerney for
bringing it to us.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 1313, the Service Disabled
Veteran Owned Small Business Relief Act of
[[Page H3261]]
2015. Veterans who are rated as 100 percent disabled by the Department
of Veterans Affairs and who own at least 51 percent of their small
business receive preferred status in the Federal contracting process.
If the veteran small-business owner passes away, the surviving family
members and business partners are not allowed any time to transition
away from this preferred status, thereby putting their businesses in
jeopardy of losing any Federal contracts they may have. Last year,
there were an estimated 500,000 of these businesses nationwide.
This bill provides a 3-year transition period during which the
business would keep its preferential status and any Federal contracts
associated with that status should the veteran owner pass away.
Current law does, however, allow the surviving spouse to maintain
preferred status for up to 3 years following the death of a veteran
owner, but only if that veteran had a 100 percent service-connected
disability rating and died due to the disability.
H.R. 1313 further expands the transition period from 3 to 10 years
after the veteran owner's death if the veteran were either 100 percent
disabled or died from a service-connected disability.
H.R. 1313 is a fair policy that will ensure we protect the hard work
and investment of our service-connected disabled veterans who own small
businesses.
I would like to thank Chairman Wenstrup and Ranking Member Takano of
the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity of the Veterans' Affairs
Committee for their support of this bill and Mr. McNerney for bringing
it to us.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I, again, reserve the
balance of my time.
Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 5 minutes to the
gentleman from California (Mr. McNerney).
Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank Chairman Wenstrup
and Ranking Member Takano for their continued work on behalf of our
Nation's veterans and for bringing these commonsense bills to the floor
today.
Small businesses are the economic drivers in our communities, and we
must give them opportunities they need to grow and prosper. Veteran
entrepreneurs, in particular, are some of the most apt at starting,
managing, and growing small businesses.
In the United States, there are about 5 million veteran-owned
businesses and an estimated 500,000 service-disabled veteran-owned
small businesses. A service-disabled veteran-owned small business is
one that must be at least 51 percent directly owned and controlled by
one or more service-disabled veterans.
The Federal Government established procurement contracting goals for
small businesses in 1978 and set aside 3 percent of the total value of
all Federal contracts for veteran-owned small businesses. Although some
Federal agencies meet these goals, there are no penalties for not
meeting the 3 percent small business procurement goal. The VA is
diligent, on the other hand, in meeting this goal.
Under current law, if a veteran who was rated 100 percent disabled
and owned a service-disabled veteran-owned small business passes away,
the surviving spouse has 10 years to transition the business away from
service-disabled veteran-owned small business status for contracts that
the company has with the VA.
However, if the veteran businessowner was rated at less than 100
percent disabled or dies of a nonservice-connected injury, the
surviving spouse has only 1 year to transition the business for
contracts with the VA.
Unfortunately, this is not enough transition time for service-
disabled veteran-owned small businesses whose owner passes away and was
rated at less than 100 percent disabled to reposition the business,
putting many service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses at a
disadvantage. We need to correct this deficiency in the law.
That is why I introduced H.R. 1313, the Service Disabled Veteran
Owned Small Business Relief Act. My bill allows the service-disabled
veteran-owned small business, whose principal owner passes away and was
rated at less than 100 percent disabled at the time of death, with a
reasonable 3-year transition period from service-disabled veteran-owned
small business status with the VA.
It is only right that we provide our heroes and their families and
the employees with flexibility and certainty to ensure their businesses
continue to thrive. The loss of a veteran businessowner is already
tragic enough for their families and can put service-disabled veteran-
owned small businesses at severe risk of closing or downsizing because
of the loss of Federal contracts.
H.R. 1313 is supported by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, AMVETS,
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, The American Legion, and
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. In addition, the VA said, at
a subcommittee hearing on March 24 of this year, that the bill is a
reasonable approach.
I hope that my colleagues will join me in passing this commonsense
bill and support veteran-owned small businesses across the country.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I have no further speakers,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1313, to ensure that our
service-connected disabled-veteran small-business owners are able to
leave a legacy for their families and coworkers when they pass away.
At this point, I don't have any other speakers, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Once again, Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to
support H.R. 1313, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 1313.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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