[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 197 (Thursday, November 30, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5694-S5695]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. Warnock):
  S. 3377. A bill to provide for disadvantaged business enterprise 
supportive services programs at modal administrations of the Department 
of Transportation, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the 
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Supportive Services Expansion Act and 
the Accelerating Small Business Growth Act, which I reintroduced today.
  The unprecedented investments provided by the bipartisan 
infrastructure law offers a major opportunity to leverage Federal 
resources to help develop women-owned, minority-owned, and 
disadvantaged businesses.
  President Biden set an ambitious goal of increasing the share of 
Federal contracts going to small, disadvantaged businesses by 50 
percent by 2025, which would translate to an additional $100 billion 
for these businesses.
  Established in 1970, the Federal Highway Administration's 
Disadvantaged

[[Page S5695]]

Business Enterprise Supportive Services Program already provides 
training, assistance, and services to minority- and women-owned 
businesses to help them develop into self-sufficient organizations that 
viably compete for federally assisted highway project contracts. 
Unfortunately, Congress has not allowed this program to keep up with 
the needs of our underserved businesses.
  The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Supportive Services Expansion 
Act would increase this program's annual funding cap for the first time 
in 50 years from $10 million to $25 million. Additionally, the bill 
would create similar programs at the Federal Aviation Administration 
and the Federal Transit Administration.
  Local, regional, and State agencies have also been leaders in 
developing innovative programs to prioritize disadvantaged businesses, 
invest in efforts to create equitable competition, and promote diverse 
economic development initiatives.
  The Accelerating Small Business Growth Act would create a new grant 
program to help transportation agencies across our Nation carry out 
these innovative programs to help underserved businesses grow and 
achieve proficiency to compete on an equal basis for contracts and 
subcontracts in federally funded transportation projects. Agencies that 
receive funding through this grant program would be required to submit 
reports to the Department of Transportation evaluating the 
effectiveness of their activities, which would help inform future 
Federal procurement policymaking.
  I want to thank Representatives Pete Aguilar and Jimmy Gomez for 
coleading these bills with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us 
in support of this legislation to help minority-owned, women-owned, and 
disadvantaged businesses compete for contracts to develop and build 
Federal infrastructure projects funded by the bipartisan infrastructure 
law.

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