15 U.S.C. § 633 : US Code - Section 633: Small Business Administration

Search 15 U.S.C. § 633 : US Code - Section 633: Small Business Administration

(a) Creation; principal, branch, and regional offices
In order to carry out the policies of this chapter there is
created an agency under the name "Small Business Administration"
(herein referred to as the Administration), which Administration
shall be under the general direction and supervision of the
President and shall not be affiliated with or be within any other
agency or department of the Federal Government. The principal
office of the Administration shall be located in the District of
Columbia. The Administration may establish such branch and regional
offices in other places in the United States as may be determined
by the Administrator of the Administration. As used in this
chapter, the term "United States" includes the several States, the
Territories and possessions of the United States, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the
District of Columbia.
(b) Appointment of Administrator, Deputy Administrator, and
Associate Administrators; duties of Administrator: preparation of
data base and publication of economic indices and annual report;
risk management database; computer security and education program
(1) The management of the Administration shall be vested in an
Administrator who shall be appointed from civilian life by the
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and
who shall be a person of outstanding qualifications known to be
familiar and sympathetic with small-business needs and problems.
The Administrator shall not engage in any other business, vocation,
or employment than that of serving as Administrator. In carrying
out the programs administered by the Small Business Administration
including its lending and guaranteeing functions, the Administrator
shall not discriminate on the basis of sex or marital status
against any person or small business concern applying for or
receiving assistance from the Small Business Administration, and
the Small Business Administration shall give special consideration
to veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States and their
survivors or dependents. The President also may appoint a Deputy
Administrator, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The Administrator is authorized to appoint five Associate
Administrators (including the Associate Administrator specified in
section 671 of this title) to assist in the execution of the
functions vested in the Administration. One such Associate
Administrator shall be the Associate Administrator for Veterans
Business Development, who shall administer the Office of Veterans
Business Development established under section 657b of this title.
One of the Associate Administrators shall be designated at the time
of his appointment as the Associate Administrator for Minority
Small Business and Capital Ownership Development who shall be an
employee in the competitive service or in the Senior Executive
Service and a career appointee and shall be responsible to the
Administrator for the formulation and execution of the policies and
programs under sections 636(j) and 637(a) of this title which
provide assistance to minority small business concerns. The Deputy
Administrator shall be Acting Administrator of the Administration
during the absence or disability of the Administrator or in the
event of a vacancy in the office of the Administrator.
(2) The Administrator also shall be responsible for -
(A) establishing and maintaining an external small business
economic data base for the purpose of providing the Congress and
the Administration information on the economic condition and the
expansion or contraction of the small business sector. To that
end, the Administrator shall publish on a regular basis national
small business economic indices and, to the extent feasible,
regional small business economic indices, which shall include,
but need not be limited to, data on -
(i) employment, layoffs, and new hires;
(ii) number of business establishments and the types of such
establishments such as sole proprietorships, corporations, and
partnerships;
(iii) number of business formations and failures;
(iv) sales and new orders;
(v) back orders;
(vi) investment in plant and equipment;
(vii) changes in inventory and rate of inventory turnover;
(viii) sources and amounts of capital investment, including
debt, equity, and internally generated funds;
(ix) debt to equity ratios;
(x) exports;
(xi) number and dollar amount of mergers and acquisitions by
size of acquiring and acquired firm; and
(xii) concentration ratios; and
(B) publishing annually a report giving a comparative analysis
and interpretation of the historical trends of the small business
sector as reflected by the data acquired pursuant to subparagraph
(A) of this subsection.
(3) Risk management database. -
(A) Establishment. - The Administration shall establish, within
the management system for the loan programs authorized by
subsections (a) and (b) of section 636 of this title and title V
of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 [15 U.S.C. 695 et
seq.], a management information system that will generate a
database capable of providing timely and accurate information in
order to identify loan underwriting, collections, recovery, and
liquidation problems.
(B) Information to be maintained. - In addition to such other
information as the Administration considers appropriate, the
database established under subparagraph (A) shall, with respect
to each loan program described in subparagraph (A), include
information relating to -
(i) the identity of the institution making the guaranteed
loan or issuing the debenture;
(ii) the identity of the borrower;
(iii) the total dollar amount of the loan or debenture;
(iv) the total dollar amount of government exposure in each
loan;
(v) the district of the Administration in which the borrower
has its principal office;
(vi) the principal line of business of the borrower, as
identified by Standard Industrial Classification Code (or any
successor to that system);
(vii) the delinquency rate for each program (including number
of instances and days overdue);
(viii) the number and amount of repurchases, losses, and
recoveries in each program;
(ix) the number of deferrals or forbearances in each program
(including days and number of instances);
(x) comparisons on the basis of loan program, lender,
Administration district and region, for all the data elements
maintained; and
(xi) underwriting characteristics of each loan that has
entered into default, including term, amount and type of
collateral, loan-to-value and other actual and projected
ratios, line of business, credit history, and type of loan.
(C) Deadline for operational capability. - The database
established under subparagraph (A) shall -
(i) be operational not later than June 30, 1997; and
(ii) capture data beginning on the first day of the second
quarter of fiscal year 1997 beginning after such date and
thereafter.
(4)(A) The Administrator shall establish a small business
computer security and education program to -
(i) provide small business concerns information regarding -
(I) utilization and management of computer technology;
(II) computer crimes committed against small business
concerns; and
(III) security for computers owned or utilized by small
business concerns;
(ii) provide for periodic forums for small business concerns to
improve their knowledge of the matters described in clause (i);
and
(iii) provide training opportunities to educate small business
users on computer security techniques.
(B) The Administrator, after consultation with the Director of
the Institute of Computer Sciences and Technology within the
Department of Commerce, shall develop information and materials to
carry out the activities described in subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph.
(c) Revolving funds; disaster loan fund; business loan and
investment fund; payments into funds; appropriations; reports to
Congress; business-type budgets; borrowing authority: terms and
conditions of notes, interest rate, public debt transactions;
payments into miscellaneous receipts; authorization of
appropriations for losses and interest subsidies
(1) There are established in the Treasury the following revolving
funds: (A) a disaster loan fund which shall be available for
financing functions performed under sections 634(e), 636(b)(1),
636(b)(2), 636(b)(3), 636(b)(4), 636(c)(2), and 636(m) of this
title; and (B) a business loan and investment fund which shall be
available for financing functions performed under sections 634(g),
636(a) and 637(a) of this title, and titles III, IV and V of the
Small Business Investment Act of 1958 [15 U.S.C. 681 et seq., 692
et seq., 695 et seq.].
(2) All repayments of loans and debentures, payments of interest
and other receipts arising out of transactions heretofore or
hereafter entered into by the Administration (A) pursuant to
sections 634(e), 636(b)(1), 636(b)(2), 636(b)(3), 636(b)(4),
636(b)(5), 636(b)(6), 636(b)(7), 636(b)(8), 636(c)(2), and 636(g)
of this title, shall be paid into a disaster loan fund; and (B)
pursuant to sections 634(g), 636(a), 636(e),(!1) 636(h), 636(i),
636(l),(!1) 636(m), and 637(a) of this title, and titles III, IV
and V of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 [15 U.S.C. 681
et seq., 692 et seq., 695 et seq.], shall be paid into the business
loan and investment fund.
(3) Unexpended balances of appropriations made to the fund
pursuant to this subsection, as in effect immediately prior to the
effective date of this paragraph, shall be allocated, together with
related assets and liabilities, to the funds established by
paragraph (1) in such amounts as the Administrator shall determine.
(4) The Administration shall submit to the Committees on
Appropriations, Senate Select Committee on Small Business, and the
Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives, as
soon as possible after the beginning of each calendar quarter, a
full and complete report on the status of each of the funds
established by paragraph (1). Business-type budgets for each of the
funds established by paragraph (1) shall be prepared, transmitted
to the Committees on Appropriations, the Senate Select Committee on
Small Business, and the Committee on Small Business of the House of
Representatives, and considered, and enacted in the manner
prescribed by law (sections 9103 and 9104 of title 31) for wholly
owned Government corporations.
(5)(A) The Administration is authorized to make and issue notes
to the Secretary of the Treasury for the purpose of obtaining funds
necessary for discharging obligations under the revolving funds
created by paragraph (1) and for authorized expenditures out of the
funds. Such notes shall be in such form and denominations and have
such maturities and be subject to such terms and conditions as may
be prescribed by the Administration with the approval of the
Secretary of the Treasury. Such notes shall bear interest at a rate
fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration
the current average market yield of outstanding marketable
obligations of the United States having maturities comparable to
the notes issued by the Administration under this paragraph. The
Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to purchase
any notes of the Administration issued hereunder, and, for that
purpose, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to use as a
public debt transaction the proceeds from the sale of any
securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, and the purposes
for which such securities may be issued under such chapter are
extended to include the purchase of notes issued by the
Administration. All redemptions, purchases, and sales by the
Secretary of the Treasury of such notes shall be treated as public
debt transactions of the United States. All borrowing authority
contained herein shall be effective only to such extent or in such
amounts as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts.
(B)(i) Moneys in the funds established in paragraph (1) not
needed for current operations may be paid into miscellaneous
receipts of the Treasury.
(ii) Following the close of each fiscal year, the Administration
shall pay into the miscellaneous receipts of the United States
Treasury the actual interest that the Administration collects
during that fiscal year on all financings made under this chapter.
(C) Except on those loan disbursements on which interest is paid
under paragraph (5)(B)(ii), the Administration shall pay into
miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury, following the close of each
fiscal year, interest received by the Administration on financing
functions performed under this chapter and titles III and V of the
Small Business Investment Act of 1958 [15 U.S.C. 681 et seq., 695
et seq.] providing the capital used to perform such functions
originated from appropriated funds. Such payments shall be treated
by the Department of the Treasury as interest income, not as
retirement of indebtedness.
(D) There are authorized to be appropriated, in any fiscal year,
such sums as may be necessary for losses and interest subsidies
incurred by the funds established by paragraph (1), but not
previously reimbursed.
(d) Creation and composition of Loan Policy Board; establishment of
policies
There is created the Loan Policy Board of the Small Business
Administration, which shall consist of the following members, all
ex officio: The Administrator, as Chairman, the Secretary of the
Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce. Either of the said
Secretaries may designate an officer of his Department, who has
been appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, to act in his stead as a member of the Loan Policy
Board with respect to any matter or matters. The Loan Policy Board
shall establish general policies (particularly with reference to
the public interest involved in the granting and denial of
applications for financial assistance by the Administration and
with reference to the coordination of the functions of the
Administration with other activities and policies of the
Government), which shall govern the granting and denial of
applications for financial assistance by the Administration.
(e) Prohibition on provision of assistance
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Administration is
prohibited from providing any financial or other assistance to any
business concern or other person engaged in the production or
distribution of any product or service that has been determined to
be obscene by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(f) Certification of compliance with child support obligations
(1) In general
For financial assistance approved after the promulgation of
final regulations to implement this section, each recipient of
financial assistance under this chapter, including a recipient of
a direct loan or a loan guarantee, shall certify that the
recipient is not more than 60 days delinquent under the terms of
any -
(A) administrative order;
(B) court order; or
(C) repayment agreement entered into between the recipient
and the custodial parent or State agency providing child
support enforcement services,
that requires the recipient to pay child support, as such term is
defined in section 662(b) (!1) of title 42.
(2) Enforcement
Not later than 6 months after October 22, 1994, the
Administration shall promulgate such regulations as may be
necessary to enforce compliance with the requirements of this
subsection.
(g) Gifts
(1) In general
The Administrator may, for purposes of this chapter, the Small
Business Investment Act of 1954,(!2) and title IV of the Women's
Business Ownership Act of 1988 [15 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.], solicit,
accept, hold, administer, utilize, and dispose of gifts, devises,
and bequests of cash, property (including tangible, intangible,
real, and personal), subsistence, and services. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, the Administrator may utilize gifts,
devises, or bequests for marketing and outreach activities,
including the cost of promotional materials and wearing apparel.
(2) Audits
Any gift, devise, or bequest of cash accepted by the
Administrator shall be held in a separate account and shall be
subject to semi-annual audits by the Inspector General of the
Administration who shall report his findings to the Congress.
(3) Conflicts of interest
No gift, devise, or bequest shall be solicited or accepted
under the authority of this subsection if such solicitation or
acceptance would, in the determination of the General Counsel,
create a conflict of interest.
(4) Acceptance of services and facilities for disaster loan
program
The Administrator may accept the services and facilities of
Federal, State, and local agencies and groups, both public and
private, and utilize such gratuitous services and facilities as
may, from time to time, be necessary, to further the objectives
of section 636(b) of this title.
(h) Co-sponsorship of events
(1) Authorization
The Administrator, after consultation with the General Counsel,
may provide assistance for the benefit of small business through
Administration-sponsored activities, through cosponsored
activities with any eligible entity, or through such other
activities that the Administrator determines to be appropriate,
including recognition events.
(2) Eligible entity
For purposes of this subsection, the term "eligible entity"
means any for-profit or not-for-profit entity, any Federal,
State, or local government official, or any Federal, State, or
local government entity.
(3) Prohibition on endorsements
The Administrator shall ensure that the Administration and any
eligible entities that cosponsor activities receive appropriate
recognition for such cosponsorship, and that such recognition
does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the Administration
of any product or service of such entity.
(4) Authority to charge fees
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator
may charge a participant in any activity sponsored or cosponsored
by the Administration a minimal fee, and retain and use such fee
to cover the costs of such activity.
(5) Limited delegation
The Administrator may not delegate the authority described in
this subsection except to the Deputy Administrator, an Associate
Administrator, or an Assistant Administrator.
(6) Report to Congress
The Inspector General of the Administration shall report semi-
annually to Congress on the Administrator's use of authority
under this subsection.
(7) Rulemaking
Not later than 180 days after December 8, 2004, the
Administrator shall promulgate regulations to carry out the
provisions of this subsection.