[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7074-7075]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN OWNED SMALL BUSINESS RELIEF ACT

  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1313) to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the 
treatment of certain small business concerns for purposes of Department 
of Veterans Affairs contracting goals and preferences.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1313

       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 ``Service Disabled Veteran 
     Owned Small Business Relief Act''.

     SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF TREATMENT UNDER CONTRACTING GOALS AND 
                   PREFERENCES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

       (a) In General.--Section 8127(h) of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``rated as'' and all that 
     follows through ``disability.'' and inserting a period; and
       (2) in paragraph (2), by amending subparagraph (C) to read 
     as follows:
       ``(C) The date that--
       ``(i) in the case of a surviving spouse of a veteran with a 
     service-connected disability rated as 100 percent disabling 
     or who dies as a result of a service-connected disability, is 
     10 years after the date of the veteran's death; or
       ``(ii) in the case of a surviving spouse of a veteran with 
     a service-connected disability rated as less than 100 percent 
     disabling who does not die as a result of a service-connected 
     disability, is three years after the date of the veteran's 
     death.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to 
     contracts awarded on or after such date.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup) and the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and to add extraneous material on H.R. 1313.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1313 would amend title 38 to allow certain 
surviving spouses of service-disabled small-business owners to continue 
to be classified as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business for 
a 3-year period following the death of the veteran owner.
  Current law limits the continuation to just the surviving spouses of 
disabled veterans rated at 100 percent by VA. By changing the law, we 
will enable surviving spouses of the vast majority of small businesses 
owned by service-disabled veterans to make the transition from a 
preferred VA contractor to the private sector market. This small change 
will also provide a large measure of financial stability to surviving 
spouses.
  I see this as another commonsense bill, and I thank Mr. McNerney for 
bringing it to us.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 1313, the Service Disabled 
Veteran Owned Small Business Relief Act of 2015. Veterans who are rated 
as 100 percent disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs and who 
own at least 51 percent of their small business receive preferred 
status in the Federal contracting process.
  If the veteran small-business owner passes away, the surviving family 
members and business partners are not allowed any time to transition 
away from this preferred status, thereby putting their businesses in 
jeopardy of losing any Federal contracts they may have. Last year, 
there were an estimated 500,000 of these businesses nationwide.
  This bill provides a 3-year transition period during which the 
business would keep its preferential status and any

[[Page 7075]]

Federal contracts associated with that status should the veteran owner 
pass away.
  Current law does, however, allow the surviving spouse to maintain 
preferred status for up to 3 years following the death of a veteran 
owner, but only if that veteran had a 100 percent service-connected 
disability rating and died due to the disability.
  H.R. 1313 further expands the transition period from 3 to 10 years 
after the veteran owner's death if the veteran were either 100 percent 
disabled or died from a service-connected disability.
  H.R. 1313 is a fair policy that will ensure we protect the hard work 
and investment of our service-connected disabled veterans who own small 
businesses.
  I would like to thank Chairman Wenstrup and Ranking Member Takano of 
the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity of the Veterans' Affairs 
Committee for their support of this bill and Mr. McNerney for bringing 
it to us.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I, again, reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McNerney).
  Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank Chairman Wenstrup 
and Ranking Member Takano for their continued work on behalf of our 
Nation's veterans and for bringing these commonsense bills to the floor 
today.
  Small businesses are the economic drivers in our communities, and we 
must give them opportunities they need to grow and prosper. Veteran 
entrepreneurs, in particular, are some of the most apt at starting, 
managing, and growing small businesses.
  In the United States, there are about 5 million veteran-owned 
businesses and an estimated 500,000 service-disabled veteran-owned 
small businesses. A service-disabled veteran-owned small business is 
one that must be at least 51 percent directly owned and controlled by 
one or more service-disabled veterans.
  The Federal Government established procurement contracting goals for 
small businesses in 1978 and set aside 3 percent of the total value of 
all Federal contracts for veteran-owned small businesses. Although some 
Federal agencies meet these goals, there are no penalties for not 
meeting the 3 percent small business procurement goal. The VA is 
diligent, on the other hand, in meeting this goal.
  Under current law, if a veteran who was rated 100 percent disabled 
and owned a service-disabled veteran-owned small business passes away, 
the surviving spouse has 10 years to transition the business away from 
service-disabled veteran-owned small business status for contracts that 
the company has with the VA.
  However, if the veteran businessowner was rated at less than 100 
percent disabled or dies of a nonservice-connected injury, the 
surviving spouse has only 1 year to transition the business for 
contracts with the VA.
  Unfortunately, this is not enough transition time for service-
disabled veteran-owned small businesses whose owner passes away and was 
rated at less than 100 percent disabled to reposition the business, 
putting many service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses at a 
disadvantage. We need to correct this deficiency in the law.
  That is why I introduced H.R. 1313, the Service Disabled Veteran 
Owned Small Business Relief Act. My bill allows the service-disabled 
veteran-owned small business, whose principal owner passes away and was 
rated at less than 100 percent disabled at the time of death, with a 
reasonable 3-year transition period from service-disabled veteran-owned 
small business status with the VA.
  It is only right that we provide our heroes and their families and 
the employees with flexibility and certainty to ensure their businesses 
continue to thrive. The loss of a veteran businessowner is already 
tragic enough for their families and can put service-disabled veteran-
owned small businesses at severe risk of closing or downsizing because 
of the loss of Federal contracts.
  H.R. 1313 is supported by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, AMVETS, 
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, The American Legion, and 
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. In addition, the VA said, at 
a subcommittee hearing on March 24 of this year, that the bill is a 
reasonable approach.
  I hope that my colleagues will join me in passing this commonsense 
bill and support veteran-owned small businesses across the country.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I have no further speakers, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1313, to ensure that our 
service-connected disabled-veteran small-business owners are able to 
leave a legacy for their families and coworkers when they pass away.
  At this point, I don't have any other speakers, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Once again, Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to 
support H.R. 1313, and 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. Wenstrup) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 1313.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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