[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 19, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1834-H1835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            UNIFYING SMALL BUSINESS TERMINOLOGY ACT OF 2016

  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4325) to amend the Small Business Act to modify the 
anticipated value of certain contracts reserved exclusively for small 
business concerns.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4325

       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 ``Unifying Small Business 
     Terminology Act of 2016''.

     SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF THE ANTICIPATED VALUE OF CERTAIN 
                   CONTRACTS RESERVED EXCLUSIVELY FOR SMALL 
                   BUSINESS CONCERNS.

       (a) In General.--Section 15(j)(1) of the Small Business Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 644(j)(1)) is amended by striking ``greater than 
     $2,500 but not greater than $100,000'' and inserting 
     ``greater than the micro-purchase threshold defined in 
     section 1902(a) of title 41, United States Code, but not 
     greater than the simplified acquisition threshold''.
       (b) Technical Amendment.--Section 3(m) of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(m)) is amended to read as 
     follows:
       ``(m) Simplified Acquisition Threshold.--In this Act, the 
     term `simplified acquisition threshold' has the meaning given 
     such term in section 134 of title 41, United States Code.''.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. CHABOT. 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 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, many of the contracting provisions in the Small Business 
Act were written in the 1960s and 1970s. As such, they predate the 
government's move to a set of standardized contracting terms in 1984.
  In reality, this means that the Small Business Act uses outdated 
terms that make it hard to read in conjunction with other laws. Even 
the SBA has adopted the new terminology in their regulations, given 
that over 30 years have passed since it was first adopted.

[[Page H1835]]

  My colleague and the ranking member of the Small Business Committee, 
Ms. Velazquez of New York, introduced H.R. 4325 to update the Small 
Business Act. Thanks to her efforts, we will no longer use different 
terms for micropurchase or simplified acquisition than the rest of the 
government. This will make it easier for small businesses to understand 
the law and for contracting officers to implement the law.
  This legislation was included as part of a larger bill that passed 
the Small Business Committee in January, and it received bipartisan 
support.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support and pass H.R. 4325.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4325, the Unifying Small 
Business Terminology Act of 2016. There are many places in which the 
statutes and regulations small businesses must understand are overly 
complex.
  This problem is compounded by inconsistencies in the language. For 
example, there are entire sections of the Small Business Act that are 
one long sentence with multiple commas and clauses.
  The act also predates many other statutes and regulations that we now 
use to govern how agencies purchase goods and services.
  As such, the act uses outdated terminology when discussing Federal 
contracting. Additionally, there are places in which the definitions 
vary between the act and the corresponding regulations.
  One such case is when a contract must be reserved for award to small 
businesses. While the act indicates that contracts valued over $2,000 
and below $100,000 are to be reserved for small businesses, other 
statutes and even SBA's own regulations point to different values or 
use the terms the values are supposed to represent.
  This causes confusion not only among small businesses, but also to 
contracting officers as they are left to determine which values to use.
  That is why I introduced H.R. 4325, the Unifying Small Business 
Terminology Act of 2016. The bill amends the Small Business Act so that 
it has the same terms that are used in titles 10 and 41 of the United 
States Code and in SBA's own regulation when referring to procurement 
rules.
  This will ensure that there is no confusion among contracting 
personnel as to which opportunities should be set aside for small 
businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, our committee hears from small businesses almost daily 
about how difficult it is to navigate the Federal marketplace.
  With businesses having to be familiar with small-business 
regulations, the Federal Acquisition Regulations, and each agency's own 
FAR supplement, as well as other statutes, the very least we can do is 
to make sure that all the terminology is consistent.
  The changes made in H.R. 4325 will unify the terminology, providing 
much-needed certainty to both contracting officers and small 
businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, in closing, the gentlewoman's bill is simply 
good government. We shouldn't have different terms and different laws 
if we are talking about the same thing.
  Federal contracting is confusing enough for small businesses without 
the use of arcane terminology. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to vote 
to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 4325.
  I would like to thank the gentlewoman, the ranking member, Ms. 
Velazquez, for her leadership in this matter.
  Mr. Speaker, 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. Chabot) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 4325.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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