September 20, 2000
(House)
H.R. 4945 - Small Business Preservation Competition Act
(Rep. Talent (R) Missouri and 9 cosponsors)
The Administration supports the goals of H.R. 4945, which would require the
Small Business Administration (SBA) to collect and analyze data on Federal
contracts. In fact, to ensure that SBA can adequately assess the impact of
contract bundling on small businesses, the Administration included a data
collection element with its contract bundling regulations that were issued
in final form on July 26, 2000. The goal of these regulations is to ensure
that small businesses are not unfairly impacted by Federal contract
practices. The Administration prefers that these new regulations be given
an opportunity to work before new legislation is passed. In addition, the
definition of contract bundling included in H.R. 4945 conflicts with a
statutory definition enacted less than three years ago and would require
SBA to conduct an unnecessarily detailed data collection and analysis
process. The Administration looks forward to working with the Congress on
this issue as the bill moves through the legislative process.
The Administration would strongly oppose any amendments to H.R. 4945 which
would incorporate the provisions of H.R. 4943, the Small Business Federal
Acquisition Simplification Act of 2000, which would severely restrict the
Federal Government's authority to use government purchase cards (credit
cards); or H.R. 4890, the Small Business Contract Equity Act of 2000, which
would impose prohibitive burdens on the contract solicitation process.
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