[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 98 (Tuesday, June 11, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H3689-H3690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SMALL BUSINESS PROCUREMENT AND UTILIZATION REFORM ACT OF 2024

  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 7988) to amend the Small Business Act to include 
requirements relating to new small business entrants in the scorecard 
program, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 7988

       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 ``Small Business Procurement 
     and Utilization Reform Act of 2024'' or the ``SPUR Act''.

     SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO SCORECARD REQUIREMENTS.

       Section 15(y) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(y)) 
     is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (2)--
       (A) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F); 
     and
       (B) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following new 
     subparagraph:
       ``(E) The number of new small business entrants, including 
     new small business entrants that are small business concerns 
     owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, qualified 
     HUBZone small business concerns, small business concerns 
     owned and controlled by socially and economically 
     disadvantaged individuals, and small business concerns owned 
     and controlled by women awarded prime contracts in each North 
     American Industry Classification System code during the 
     fiscal year, and a comparison to the number awarded prime 
     contracts during the prior fiscal year, if available.'';
       (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``subparagraphs (B) 
     through (E) of paragraph (2)'' and inserting ``subparagraphs 
     (B) through (F) of paragraph (2)''; and
       (3) by amending paragraph (6) to read as follows:
       ``(6) Definitions.--In this subsection:
       ``(A) New small business entrant.--The term `new small 
     business entrant' means a small business concern that--
       ``(i) has been awarded a prime contract; and
       ``(ii) has not previously been awarded a prime contract by 
     the Federal Government.
       ``(B) Scorecard.--The term `scorecard' means any summary 
     using a rating system to evaluate the efforts of a Federal 
     agency to meet goals established under subsection (g)(1)(B) 
     that--
       ``(i) includes the measures described in paragraph (2); and
       ``(ii) assigns a score to each Federal agency evaluated.''.

     SEC. 3. COMPLIANCE WITH CUTGO.

       No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to 
     carry out this Act or the amendments made by this Act.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. 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 bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7988, the Small 
Business Procurement and Utilization Reform Act of 2024, also known as 
the SPUR Act, sponsored by Representatives Stauber and Perez.
  Small businesses are vital to the health and resiliency of America's 
industrial base. Broad and robust small business participation ensures 
that America can continue to lead the world in innovation and defend us 
against foreign adversaries. However, small businesses are getting 
squeezed out of the industrial base at a staggering rate, a direct 
threat to America's dominance.
  There are just half as many small businesses participating in the 
industrial base as there were just a decade ago. This downward trend is 
a culmination of years of bad government policy and is being made worse 
by the Biden administration's regulatory onslaught, dissuading small 
businesses from even considering participating in the Federal 
marketplace.
  The SPUR Act is a critical step into looking under the hood of the 
government and bringing accountability to agencies. By grading agencies 
on how many contracts have been awarded to small businesses for the 
very first time, we will bring together a great focus on reversing the 
declining participation of small businesses in the industrial base.
  Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote for H.R. 7988, and 
I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Today, we are considering H.R. 7988, which requires SBA to consider 
new small business government contractors when grading a Federal 
agency's performance toward meeting its small business goals.
  The government has roughly 40 percent fewer small businesses in the 
ecosystem than it did just a decade ago. This has been an ongoing 
challenge the committee has identified and sought solutions to reverse 
because the industrial base decline has produced negative consequences 
for both the government and small firms alike.
  Small firms lose out on the stability government contracting can 
provide, and the government loses out on the innovation and competition 
that a larger base of small businesses provides. Yet, despite this 
decline, Federal agencies award a record amount of contracting dollars 
to small businesses each year. This means fewer small businesses are 
getting larger contracts, and since contracts are getting larger, fewer 
smalls are willing and able to compete for them.
  This legislation is a productive step that will help break that 
cycle. I commend Mr. Stauber and Ms. Perez for their work to craft a 
solution to this challenge.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).
  Mr. STAUBER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of my 
bill, the Small Business Procurement and Utilization Reform Act of 
2024, also known as the SPUR Act.

[[Page H3690]]

  Madam Speaker, I also thank my friend and colleague from Washington 
(Ms. Perez) for her support on this important legislation.
  Small businesses across the United States have a problem. Despite 
government agencies setting aside contract opportunities for small 
businesses, participation in Federal contracting has plummeted by 50 
percent over just the past decade.
  Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They are the 
innovators, the job creators, and the driving force behind economic 
growth.
  In Minnesota, small businesses account for over 99 percent of all 
businesses and employ over half of the workforce. It is no exaggeration 
to say that the success of our economy is tied to the success of our 
small businesses.
  The Federal Government is the largest purchaser of goods and services 
in the world, and there is no better way for the government to support 
small businesses than to ensure they have every opportunity to contract 
with it.
  The scorecard system, which is used to determine if the government is 
doing a good job contracting with small businesses, needs improvement. 
Agencies are graded on the total number and value of small business 
contracts, yet they do not factor in small businesses who won a Federal 
contract for the first time.
  Without incorporating this into the agency scorecard grade, we have 
no ability to tell whether the pool of small businesses are first-time 
contractors or multiyear contractors. If the government continuously 
rewards the same firms time and time again, a new small business that 
has a more efficient, less expensive way of doing things may be 
discouraged from entering the marketplace altogether.
  My bill, the SPUR Act, addresses this concern. It will require the 
SBA to account for the number of new entrants into the Federal 
procurement space when it grades agencies for use in its scorecard. Too 
many Federal agencies fall short of their goals for awarding contracts 
to small businesses, leaving billions of dollars in contracts out of 
reach of American small businesses and increasing the cost for 
taxpayers.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the SPUR Act.

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to 
the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Perez), the cosponsor of the 
legislation.
  Ms. PEREZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the SPUR Act. I 
thank my colleague from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber) for introducing this 
bill.
  The SBA is ensuring that small businesses are given a fair shot at 
competing for Federal contracting dollars. SBA publishes an annual 
small business procurement scorecard that grades each Federal agency on 
their spending toward the goal and gives agencies a score for their 
performance. We all know that these Federal contracts can be an 
incredible financial opportunity for our Nation's entrepreneurs, but 
even though the amount of dollars awarded to small businesses has 
reached record highs, the number of small businesses in the industrial 
base has declined dramatically.
  Put simply, the Federal Government is not retaining current small 
business government contractors, and new small businesses are not 
choosing to enter the Federal market. This is a serious problem.
  For our local economies to thrive, it is important that we level the 
playing field and ensure that more southwest Washington small 
businesses can benefit from these opportunities. This bill would 
require the SBA to include the number of new entrants into the Federal 
market in the methodology for scoring each Federal agency's small 
business performance.
  By way of example, after the 2020 pandemic hit, my husband and I 
spent basically the better part of a year on upgrades to our auto shop, 
including investments in infrastructure, like ventilation systems to 
keep our employees and our customers safe.
  Our friends, who own another auto repair shop, instead spent the 
entire year learning how to navigate the contract system with the city. 
This is a perfect example of how it is a real loss to our communities 
and our local economies when small business owners have to spend a year 
navigating a bureaucracy and figuring out how to do business with the 
government.
  Our bill will help shed light on how successful Federal agencies are 
at making sure that new businesses see the value in contracting with 
the Federal Government and have the capacity to overcome the regulatory 
burdens to tap into these resources.
  Madam Speaker, I am proud to co-lead this bill with Representative 
Stauber, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time 
for closing.
  Madam Speaker, at the Department of Defense, GAO found that, over a 
10-year period, the number of small businesses participating in the 
defense industrial base declined by over 40 percent. The civilian 
agencies are seeing a similar decline.
  As a result, questions have been raised about how to accurately 
measure the health of the industrial base and the scorecard's 
effectiveness for tracking small business contracting. The scorecard's 
current criteria include a year-over-year prime contract comparison 
goal, but it fails to count the award of a contract for the first time.
  This bill is intended to measure and include in the SBA's methodology 
for calculating an agency's score for small business goals the number 
of small businesses who are becoming Federal Government contractors for 
the first time.
  By requiring a year-over-year comparison of new entrants rather than 
a single target, Federal agencies will be compelled to continuously 
focus on bringing in new companies and addressing the barriers, like 
contract size, that prevent greater small business participation.
  I again applaud the work put into this legislation. It is a 
thoughtful product of bipartisan work.
  Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Stauber and Ms. Perez, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of 
my time.
  Madam Speaker, we must ensure that a greater number of small 
businesses are entering the government contracting space. By forcing 
agencies to recognize the shortcomings in awarding contracts to first-
time suppliers of the Federal Government, I am hopeful that these 
numbers will begin to move back in the right direction.
  Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this commonsense 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 7988.
  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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