[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H37-H39]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CAPTURING ALL SMALL BUSINESSES ACT OF 2019

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 5130) to amend the Small Business Act to adjust the 
employment size standard requirements for determining whether a 
manufacturing concern is a small business concern, and for other 
purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5130

       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 ``Capturing All Small 
     Businesses Act of 2019''.

     SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT SIZE STANDARD REQUIREMENTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 3(a)(2) of the Small Business Act 
     (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(2)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``and subject to the 
     requirements specified under subparagraph (C)'' after 
     ``paragraph (1)''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (C)--
       (A) by inserting ``(including the Administration when 
     acting pursuant to subparagraph (A))'' after ``no Federal 
     department or agency''; and
       (B) in clause (ii)(I) by striking ``12 months'' and 
     inserting ``24 months''.
       (b) Effective Date.--This Act and the amendments made by 
     this Act shall take effect one year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.

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


                             General Leave

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5130, the Capturing All 
Small Businesses Act of 2019, which lengthens the employee-based 
calculation formula used to determine the size of a small business.
  Let me begin by recognizing Congressman Veasey and commending him for 
his dedication to our small business community. Mr. Veasey is a valued 
member of the Small Business Committee, and I can attest to his 
unwavering commitment to America's 30 million small businesses.
  H.R. 5130 is the result of those endeavors, and I am pleased that he 
worked closely with Congressman Hern to move this measure forward. I 
thank them both for their collaboration.
  It is irrefutable that, as Federal contracts become larger in size 
and scope, one or two sizable contracts can force a small business out 
of the small business category prematurely. When this happens, small 
firms lose access to contracting set-asides and must compete against 
much larger firms without having built the capacity to do so. Many 
small businesses forced into this situation opt to restrain their 
growth or sell, rather than compete in an imbalanced marketplace.
  We simply cannot let this happen. H.R. 5130 addresses this matter by 
doubling the employee-based calculation to 24 months instead of the 12-
month standard currently being used.
  Just like the Runway Extension Act, a companion bill we passed last 
year, H.R. 5130 helps us keep up with the current contracting trends by 
alleviating the effects of sudden growth caused by a sizable contract.
  H.R. 5130 grants small firms with additional time to grow and mature. 
Furthermore, it provides parity between the benefits extended to those 
subject to the employee and the receipt-based size standards.
  Madam Speaker, I urge Members to support this legislation, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5130, the Capturing All 
Small Businesses Act of 2019.
  Our next two bills focus on a longstanding goal of our committee: 
increasing small business access to the Federal marketplace.
  The U.S. Government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in 
the

[[Page H38]]

world. It is very important that small businesses have ample 
opportunity to compete for Federal contracts.
  A vibrant small business presence in Federal contracting increases 
competition, increases quality, and, most importantly, lowers prices 
for the American taxpayer. All of these things are good. This 
bipartisan legislation will make it easier for small firms to compete 
against larger firms.
  Madam Speaker, this bipartisan legislation will increase our small 
businesses, and it will encourage them to grow successfully and 
competitively into the midsize marketplace.
  We have heard too many stories of small businesses successfully 
providing significant value to the Federal Government and growing at a 
steady pace only to hit a wall once they grow out of their small size 
threshold. We need to ensure that there is a pathway for sustained 
development for our Nation's small manufacturers, and this bill takes 
us a step in the right direction.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Kevin Hern), the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), and the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Veasey), who all worked together and showed great leadership on 
this issue and, again, did it in a bipartisan manner. So I thank all 
three of them.
  Madam Speaker, I urge the bill's adoption, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey), a valued member of the Small 
Business Committee and sponsor of the bill.
  Mr. VEASEY. Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 5130, the 
Capturing All Small Businesses Act, bipartisan legislation that I 
sponsored to protect our Nation's small businesses against being 
prematurely forced out of the small business category due to sudden 
growth.
  This legislation lengthens from 12 to 24 months the time period used 
by the SBA to determine the average number of employees a business has. 
Alongside revenues, the calculation of the average number of employees 
is one of the size standards used by SBA to determine if a business is 
still small.
  By extending SBA's calculation period for employee-based size 
standards, Congress recognizes that the current 12-month timeframe can 
have detrimental effects on small businesses that experience temporary 
spikes in employment. These additional 12 months recognize that many 
factors, including large contracts or seasonal contracts and seasonal 
employment, can cause a small business to take on extra employees but 
only take them on temporarily while, in fact, they are still a small 
business for the majority of year.
  In my home State of Texas, which has a great economy, small 
businesses make up 99.8 percent of all businesses and employ 4.7 
million Texans.
  When I am back at home, one of things that I do is a program called 
Marc Means Business, where I go and visit businesses to learn about 
what other people do in their jobs. It has been great for me to be able 
to do this. I have had this experience working alongside constituents 
and employers and employees in the area.

  Small business is really the lifeblood of our economy, so anything 
that we can do to help them will be a benefit for the entire State of 
Texas and the economy.
  I want to end my remarks by giving a special thanks to Congressman 
Hern from Oklahoma for being a colead of this legislation, and I want 
to give a special thanks to Chairwoman Velazquez for really taking 
small business seriously. As the chair of this committee, she came down 
to Dallas/Fort Worth and had an opportunity to talk in person with 
small businesses about some of the things that they need. I just really 
want to thank her and Ranking Member Chabot for taking the time to 
really take small businesses in this country seriously.
  Mr. CHABOT. Madam Speaker, I yield such as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Kevin Hern) and thank him for his 
leadership in working on this legislation.
  Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma. Madam Speaker, it is not always that you 
work together, being from Oklahoma, with somebody from Texas, but it 
was really great to work with somebody on this particular bill.
  I rise today in support of H.R. 5130, the Capturing All Small 
Businesses Act.
  I would like to thank my colleague, Representative Veasey from Texas, 
on his leadership on this important legislation which will help small 
business manufacturers gain a greater competitive edge in the open 
marketplace.
  This bill provides parity with another important small business bill 
that the committee passed which was signed into law nearly a year ago. 
The previous bill extended the runway for revenue-based small 
businesses, allowing them to stay smaller for a longer period of time.
  Rapid growth in small businesses can sometimes push them out of a 
small business status before they are prepared to tackle the challenges 
of a large corporation. While revenue-based and employee-based firms 
differ in many respects, one thing remains constant: Competing in the 
open marketplace when a firm is not ready to leave the small business 
arena can have disastrous effects on a small business's growth 
trajectory.
  There is a reason why so many small businesses compare this 
transition to jumping off a cliff. Oftentimes, small firms cannot 
compete against the giants in their particular industries, eventually 
fail, stay small, or become acquired into a large company's supply 
chain.
  None of these outcomes promote growth for small businesses, and none 
of these options are good for competition. Therefore, it is critical 
that we ensure our small manufacturers are capable of successfully and 
smoothly transitioning out of the small business space and into the 
open marketplace without falling off of this cliff. That is exactly 
what this bill does for small manufacturers.
  By extending the measurement of a small manufacturing concern's size 
from a rolling 12-month average to a rolling 24-month average, we 
provide these small businesses with more time to build their 
competitive edge and infrastructure so they are better equipped to 
handle the more robust competition once they graduate out of the small 
business space.
  In short, H.R. 5130 is a good, commonsense policy aimed at 
encouraging small business growth and competition at the highest 
levels.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. CHABOT. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce) and thank him, also, for his 
leadership in working on this important legislation.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 5130, the Capturing All Small Businesses Act of 2019.
  As a member of the Small Business Committee, I have personally heard 
from many business leaders who tell me that the guidance and the 
resources provided by SBA can be instrumental for success in the open 
marketplace.
  Often, these tools pave the way for rapid growth; yet, as these 
businesses experience success, hire more employees, and grow our 
economy, the owners can be hesitant to expand their operations beyond 
certain parameters, fearing that, if they become too successful too 
quickly, the resources provided by the SBA would be no longer 
available.
  H.R. 5130 would address their concerns by allowing companies to 
maintain their designated status, encouraging them to continue growing 
and graduate into successful businesses.
  I thank my colleague, Mr. Hern from Oklahoma, for this important 
legislation. I thank our chair, Ms. Velazquez, and our ranking member, 
Mr. Chabot, for their bipartisanship. This is important legislation, 
and I encourage all of my colleagues to support it.

                              {time}  1530

  Mr. CHABOT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Madam Speaker, in closing, this bipartisan bill allows small firms to 
have the additional time, as a small business, to solidify their 
competitiveness and infrastructure and achieve greater success when 
they eventually must compete against much larger companies.
  After all, about 70 percent of the jobs created in America are 
created by

[[Page H39]]

small businesses, so we need to help them in every way we can.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank all of the Members who spoke here this 
afternoon on the floor for their leadership in this important area. I 
would urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, supporting our small business community and ensuring 
that they are able to thrive is the top priority for me and the Small 
Business Committee that I chair.
  H.R. 5130 supports the small business community by providing them 
with additional time to grow and mature.
  By extending the lookback in the employee-based size standard, H.R. 
5130 allows small firms an opportunity to gradually and successfully 
transition out of the small business category.
  Most importantly, this bill ensures equal treatment of small business 
concerns by granting manufacturing firms the same benefits provided to 
concerns subject to the receipts-based formula.
  I congratulate Mr. Veasey and Mr. Hern for bringing forward a 
commonsense and bipartisan solution.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5130, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5130.
  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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