Agency Accountability Act of 2024

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Mr. Stauber and Mr. McGarvey, for their work to bring this bipartisan bill to the floor today.

In an effort to ensure that small firms can participate in the Federal marketplace on a level playing field, Congress sets a goal for Federal agencies of annually awarding at least 23 percent of prime contracting dollars to small businesses. These goals have helped millions of small businesses compete and have helped the government leverage their creativity and innovation.

Many Federal agencies regularly meet or even exceed their individual goals, but some do not, and they are not formally penalized for this failure. This legislation would apply additional pressure to Federal agencies to meet their small business goals by requiring them to testify before us when they fail. It is a productive step that will add additional congressional oversight to maximize contracting opportunities for small government contractors.

Mr. Speaker, I emphasize that this bill specifies that agencies that have not met two or more of their subcategory goals must also testify before our committee.

Each of the categories, including and especially the WOSB program, continue to need additional focus to ensure that the government's acquisition professionals are maximizing contracting opportunities for those small businesses.

Again, I thank the sponsors of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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