[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 3, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H2393-H2395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WOSB ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 1816) to establish requirements relating to
certification of small business concerns owned and controlled by women
for certain purposes, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1816
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 ``WOSB Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF SELF-CERTIFIED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS
OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY WOMEN FROM GOALS.
(a) Exclusion of Self-Certified WOSBs From Governmentwide
and Agency Goals.--
(1) In general.--Section 15(g) of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 644(g)) is amended by adding at the end the
following new paragraph:
``(4) Exclusion of self-certified wosbs from goals.--Only
small business concerns owned and controlled by women that
have been certified under section 8(m)(2)(E) shall be
included in calculating the goals established--
``(A) under paragraph (1)(A)(v); and
``(B) by the head of a Federal agency for small business
concerns owned and controlled by women under paragraph
(2).''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on the first day after the end of the
second fiscal year beginning after the Administrator issues
the regulations required under subsection (b)(2).
(b) Requirements Relating to Self-Certified WOSBs.--
(1) Inclusion of certain self-certified wosbs in goals.--
(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, a small business concern described in subparagraph (B)
shall be deemed to have been certified by the Administrator
or a national certifying entity approved by the Administrator
under section 8(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
637(m)) as a small business concern owned and controlled by
women under paragraph (2)(E) of such section (15 U.S.C.
637(m)(2)(E)) for the purposes of calculating the goals
described in paragraph (4) of section 15(g) of the such Act
(as added by subsection (a) of this Act) until the
Administrator or such a national certifying entity make a
determination with respect to the certification of such
concern.
(B) Small business concerns described.--A small business
concern described in this subparagraph is a small business
concern--
(i) that is self-certified as a small business concern
owned and controlled by women as of the date on which the
amendments made by subsection (a) take effect;
(ii) that files a certification application with the
Administrator or a national certifying entity approved by the
Administrator under section 8(m) of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 637(m)) prior to such date; and
(iii) for which the Administrator or such a national
certifying entity does not make a determination prior to such
date regarding certification pursuant to such certification
application.
(2) Rulemaking.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall issue
regulations carrying out this section.
(c) Quarterly Briefings Required.--Not later than 60 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act and on a
quarterly basis thereafter until the date specified in
subsection (b), the Administrator shall provide to the
Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives
and the Committee Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the
Senate a briefing on the implementation of the requirements
of this section. Such briefings shall include--
(1) the total number of small business concerns expected to
seek certification as a small business concern owned and
controlled by women;
(2) the number of applications for certification pending
with the Administrator or a national certifying entity
approved by the Administrator under section 8(m) of the Small
Business Act during the period covered by the briefing;
(3) the total number of applications approved by the
Administrator or such a national certifying entity since the
date of the enactment of this Act;
(4) the timelines associated with processing such
applications by the Administrator or such a national
certifying entity between submission and approval;
(5) the administrative costs to the Administration to make
determinations on such applications and the estimated cost to
such applicant to seek certification from a national
certifying entity;
(6) a discussion of the Administrator's current and future
outreach efforts to small business concerns owned and
controlled by women and to Federal agencies on the
requirements of this Act; and
(7) recommendations for additional legislative authority or
resources required to fully implement the requirements of
this Act.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the
Small Business Administration.
(2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
(3) Small business concern.--The term ``small business
concern'' has the meaning given under section 3 of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
[[Page H2394]]
(4) Small business concern owned and controlled by women.--
The term ``small business concern owned and controlled by
women'' has the meaning given the term in section 8(m) of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(m)).
(e) No Additional Funds Authorized.--No additional funds
are authorized to carry out the requirements of this Act and
the amendments made by this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Williams) and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. McGarvey)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. 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. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1816, the WOSB
Accountability Act, introduced by the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr.
McGarvey), the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), and the
gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota).
H.R. 1816 prohibits agencies from counting self-certified women-owned
small business contractors, otherwise known as WOSBs, toward an
agency's women-owned small business contracting goals.
The committee has repeatedly found that programs that allow self-
certification are far more susceptible to waste, fraud, and abuse.
After years of hard work removing self-certification from other
contracting goals, this bill is an opportunity to remove it from one of
the two remaining statutorily defined small business contracting goals.
I am proud of this committee's work to remove self-certification in
other programs, such as service-disabled veteran-owned small business
contractors. Now, it is time to do the same with the WOSB program to
help ensure integrity across SBA programs.
While we continue to have conversations on how to better align small
businesses' contracting goals with merit-based principles, this bill
would reduce the ability of fraudsters to exploit the system that is
currently in place.
By mitigating the ability to defraud government contracts, we help
ensure that taxpayer dollars are used as intended and help create a
more level playing field between the WOSB program and other small
business set-aside programs.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote for H.R. 1816, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGARVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
In recent years, both SBA and Congress have directed changes to the
small business contracting programs to increase accountability and
ensure proper use. The WOSB Accountability Act will continue this work
by moving the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program to
full SBA certification.
This bill is important to ensure that the Women-Owned Small Business
Federal Contract Program works as intended, assists the companies as
intended, and, ultimately, levels the playing field for women-owned
firms competing for government contracts as intended.
The data shows that women are starting and running new small
businesses, generating revenue and jobs in their communities, and
growing in increasingly diverse industries, but fewer and fewer are
signing up to work with the government. Again, many more are leaving.
Women-owned small businesses continue to make up a strikingly small
share of Federal contracts, and the government continues to fail to
meet the 5 percent goal of contracting dollars that Congress set three
decades ago.
Better leveraging the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract
Program to recruit and retain more small firms strengthens the entire
industrial base, promotes competition, and drives innovation.
Mr. Speaker, passing this bill today will do that. I urge all Members
to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota).
Mr. LaLOTA. Mr. Speaker, the fundamental question this bill addresses
is: Should a Federal contract intended for women go to men and
fraudsters, or should a Federal contract intended for women-owned small
businesses actually go to women?
Fortunately, even though we Republicans and Democrats disagree on a
lot in this Chamber, we agree that the contracts meant for women should
go to women.
Yet, right now, under Federal law, companies can simply self-
certify--check a box claiming to be a woman-owned small business--and
still count toward the Federal Government's goals.
That means bad actors can game the system, take contracts they don't
deserve, and rob real women entrepreneurs of the opportunities meant
for them. That is wrong, and that is exactly the kind of Washington
loophole I am working to close.
Self-certification invites fraud. In fact, the Small Business
Administration's own inspector general has repeatedly warned about the
risks of fraud under self-certification. This was especially apparent
with the SBA's COVID-19 lending programs, where fraudulent self-
certification led to billions of dollars in losses.
That is why I am proud to support the WOSB Accountability Act, a
bipartisan effort that ensures contracts meant for women go to women.
This legislation is straightforward, Mr. Speaker. It puts an end to
the days of businesses just claiming they are women-owned without
having to prove it.
Under this bill, only certified and verified women-owned small
businesses would count toward the Federal Government's contracting
goals, just like it should be. It is high time we address this issue
and empower women in business by ensuring the system works for them,
not against them.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Velazquez, my fellow New Yorker,
for partnering with me on this important piece of legislation. It is
time we stop allowing fraudsters to steal opportunities meant for
legitimate women entrepreneurs. I urge all of my colleagues to support
the WOSB Accountability Act.
Mr. McGARVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
New York (Ms. Velazquez), the distinguished ranking member of the Small
Business Committee.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, in 1994, Congress established a goal of
awarding 5 percent of Federal contracting dollars to women-owned small
businesses. Recognizing the obstacles that female entrepreneurs faced
when entering and competing in the Federal marketplace, Congress
identified this goal as an uphill battle. Three decades later, we can
see how much of an understatement that was and how much more work has
to be done.
Empowering female entrepreneurs has long been a top priority of mine.
In 2000, to give women-owned firms a boost and incentivize agencies to
bring in more WOSBs to compete for contracts, I wrote the law and
created the WOSB program.
Today, many women-owned firms are critical partners to Federal
agencies as a result of that law, yet the WOSB goal has been met only
twice, and women-owned firms are not seeing the contracting
opportunities that should accompany their level of participation in the
market. We need to again provide a boost to the WOSB program and
encourage more competition and success for WOSB firms.
My legislation that we are considering today will move more firms
through the SBA's certification process so Federal agencies have a
larger pool of companies that can trigger WOSB competitions.
{time} 1530
Mr. Speaker, it will further protect the integrity of the program. We
want to ensure that women-owned firms are who they say they are because
that is who the program is designed to empower.
We expect that contracting officers will have more confidence working
[[Page H2395]]
with WOSBs, knowing that the SBA has already verified them.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGARVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota) and the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams) for their work on this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I close by thanking the ranking member from New York
(Ms. Velazquez) for her leadership on this bill and her many years of
work to create, strengthen, and enhance the Women-Owned Small Business
program. I am pleased to support this bill and encourage all of my
colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I urge 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. 1816, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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