15 U.S.C. § 631 : US Code - Section 631: Declaration of policy

Search 15 U.S.C. § 631 : US Code - Section 631: Declaration of policy

(a) Aid, counsel, assistance, etc., to small business concerns
The essence of the American economic system of private enterprise
is free competition. Only through full and free competition can
free markets, free entry into business, and opportunities for the
expression and growth of personal initiative and individual
judgment be assured. The preservation and expansion of such
competition is basic not only to the economic well-being but to the
security of this Nation. Such security and well-being cannot be
realized unless the actual and potential capacity of small business
is encouraged and developed. It is the declared policy of the
Congress that the Government should aid, counsel, assist, and
protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small-business
concerns in order to preserve free competitive enterprise, to
insure that a fair proportion of the total purchases and contracts
or subcontracts for property and services for the Government
(including but not limited to contracts or subcontracts for
maintenance, repair, and construction) be placed with small-
business enterprises, to insure that a fair proportion of the
total sales of Government property be made to such enterprises, and
to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of the Nation.
(b) Assistance to compete in international markets
(1) It is the declared policy of the Congress that the Federal
Government, through the Small Business Administration, acting in
cooperation with the Department of Commerce and other relevant
State and Federal agencies, should aid and assist small businesses,
as defined under this chapter, to increase their ability to compete
in international markets by -
(A) enhancing their ability to export;
(B) facilitating technology transfers;
(C) enhancing their ability to compete effectively and
efficiently against imports;
(D) increasing the access of small businesses to long-term
capital for the purchase of new plant and equipment used in the
production of goods and services involved in international trade;
(E) disseminating information concerning State, Federal, and
private programs and initiatives to enhance the ability of small
businesses to compete in international markets; and
(F) ensuring that the interests of small businesses are
adequately represented in bilateral and multilateral trade
negotiations.
(2) The Congress recognizes that the Department of Commerce is
the principal Federal agency for trade development and export
promotion and that the Department of Commerce and the Small
Business Administration work together to advance joint interests.
It is the purpose of this chapter to enhance, not alter, their
respective roles.
(c) Aid for agriculturally related industries; financial assistance
It is the declared policy of the Congress that the Government,
through the Small Business Administration, should aid and assist
small business concerns which are engaged in the production of food
and fiber, ranching, and raising of livestock, aquaculture, and all
other farming and agricultural related industries; and the
financial assistance programs authorized by this chapter are also
to be used to assist such concerns.
(d) Use of assistance programs to establish, preserve, and
strengthen small business concerns
(1) The assistance programs authorized by sections 636(i) and
636(j) of this title are to be utilized to assist in the
establishment, preservation, and strengthening of small business
concerns and improve the managerial skills employed in such
enterprises, with special attention to small business concerns (1)
located in urban or rural areas with high proportions of unemployed
or low-income individuals; or (2) owned by low-income individuals;
and to mobilize for these objectives private as well as public
managerial skills and resources.
(2)(A) With respect to the programs authorized by section 636(j)
of this title, the Congress finds -
(i) that ownership and control of productive capital is
concentrated in the economy of the United States and certain
groups, therefore, own and control little productive capital;
(ii) that certain groups in the United States own and control
little productive capital because they have limited opportunities
for small business ownership;
(iii) that the broadening of small business ownership among
groups that presently own and control little productive capital
is essential to provide for the well-being of this Nation by
promoting their increased participation in the free enterprise
system of the United States;
(iv) that such development of business ownership among groups
that presently own and control little productive capital will be
greatly facilitated through the creation of a small business
ownership development program, which shall provide services,
including, but not limited to, financial, management, and
technical assistance.(!1)
(v) that the power to let Federal contracts pursuant to section
637(a) of this title can be an effective procurement assistance
tool for development of business ownership among groups that own
and control little productive capital; and
(vi) that the procurement authority under section 637(a) of
this title shall be used only as a tool for developing business
ownership among groups that own and control little productive
capital.
(B) It is therefore the purpose of the programs authorized by
section 636(j) of this title to -
(i) foster business ownership and development by individuals in
groups that own and control little productive capital; and
(ii) promote the competitive viability of such firms in the
marketplace by creating a small business and capital ownership
development program to provide such available financial,
technical, and management assistance as may be necessary.
(e) Assistance to victims of floods, etc., and those displaced as
result of federally aided construction programs
Further, it is the declared policy of the Congress that the
Government should aid and assist victims of floods and other
catastrophes, and small-business concerns which are displaced as a
result of federally aided construction programs.
(f) Findings; purpose
(1) with (!2) respect to the Administration's business
development programs the Congress finds -
(A) that the opportunity for full participation in our free
enterprise system by socially and economically disadvantaged
persons is essential if we are to obtain social and economic
equality for such persons and improve the functioning of our
national economy;
(B) that many such persons are socially disadvantaged because
of their identification as members of certain groups that have
suffered the effects of discriminatory practices or similar
invidious circumstances over which they have no control;
(C) that such groups include, but are not limited to, Black
Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Indian tribes,
Asian Pacific Americans, Native Hawaiian Organizations, and other
minorities;
(D) that it is in the national interest to expeditiously
ameliorate the conditions of socially and economically
disadvantaged groups;
(E) that such conditions can be improved by providing the
maximum practicable opportunity for the development of small
business concerns owned by members of socially and economically
disadvantaged groups;
(F) that such development can be materially advanced through
the procurement by the United States of articles, equipment,
supplies, services, materials, and construction work from such
concerns; and
(G) that such procurements also benefit the United States by
encouraging the expansion of suppliers for such procurements,
thereby encouraging competition among such suppliers and
promoting economy in such procurements.
(2) It is therefore the purpose of section 637(a) of this title
to -
(A) promote the business development of small business concerns
owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged
individuals so that such concerns can compete on an equal basis
in the American economy;
(B) promote the competitive viability of such concerns in the
marketplace by providing such available contract, financial,
technical, and mangement (!3) assistance as may be necessary; and
(C) clarify and expand the program for the procurement by the
United States of articles, supplies, services, materials, and
construction work from small business concerns owned by socially
and economically disadvantaged individuals.
(g) Assistance to disaster victims under disaster loan program
In administering the disaster loan program authorized by section
636 of this title, to the maximum extent possible, the
Administration shall provide assistance and counseling to disaster
victims in filing applications, providing information relevant to
loan processing, and in loan closing and prompt disbursement of
loan proceeds and shall give the disaster program a high priority
in allocating funds for administrative expenses.
(h) Assistance to women owned business
(1) With respect to the programs and activities authorized by
this chapter, the Congress finds that -
(A) women owned business has become a major contributor to the
American economy by providing goods and services, revenues, and
jobs;
(B) over the past two decades there have been substantial gains
in the social and economic status of women as they have sought
economic equality and independence;
(C) despite such progress, women, as a group, are subjected to
discrimination in entrepreneurial endeavors due to their gender;
(D) such discrimination takes many overt and subtle forms
adversely impacting the ability to raise or secure capital, to
acquire managerial talents, and to capture market opportunities;
(E) it is in the national interest to expeditiously remove
discriminatory barriers to the creation and development of small
business concerns owned and controlled by women;
(F) the removal of such barriers is essential to provide a fair
opportunity for full participation in the free enterprise system
by women and to further increase the economic vitality of the
Nation;
(G) increased numbers of small business concerns owned and
controlled by women will directly benefit the United States
Government by expanding the potential number of suppliers of
goods and services to the Government; and
(H) programs and activities designed to assist small business
concerns owned and controlled by women must be implemented in
such a way as to remove such discriminatory barriers while not
adversely affecting the rights of socially and economically
disadvantaged individuals.
(2) It is, therefore, the purpose of those programs and
activities conducted under the authority of this chapter that
assist women entrepreneurs to -
(A) vigorously promote the legitimate interests of small
business concerns owned and controlled by women;
(B) remove, insofar as possible, the discriminatory barriers
that are encountered by women in accessing capital and other
factors of production; and
(C) require that the Government engage in a systematic and
sustained effort to identify, define and analyze those
discriminatory barriers facing women and that such effort
directly involve the participation of women business owners in
the public/private sector partnership.
(i) Prohibition on use of funds for individuals not lawfully within
United States
None of the funds made available pursuant to this chapter may be
used to provide any direct benefit or assistance to any individual
in the United States if the Administrator or the official to which
the funds are made available receives notification that the
individual is not lawfully within the United States.
(j) Contract bundling
In complying with the statement of congressional policy expressed
in subsection (a) of this section, relating to fostering the
participation of small business concerns in the contracting
opportunities of the Government, each Federal agency, to the
maximum extent practicable, shall -
(1) comply with congressional intent to foster the
participation of small business concerns as prime contractors,
subcontractors, and suppliers;
(2) structure its contracting requirements to facilitate
competition by and among small business concerns, taking all
reasonable steps to eliminate obstacles to their participation;
and
(3) avoid unnecessary and unjustified bundling of contract
requirements that precludes small business participation in
procurements as prime contractors.