Service-Disabled Veteran Opportunities in Small Business Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, today we are considering eight bills, six sponsored by Republicans and two by Democrats.

I look forward to working with the chairman to bring the additional five Democratic bills to the floor that were unanimously approved by the committee in a timely manner.

I thank my colleagues, Representatives LaLota and McGovern, for their work to bring this bill to the floor today.

In fiscal year 2022, Federal agencies awarded 4.57 percent of contract dollars and a record of just over $28 billion to service- disabled veteran-owned small businesses, but this number does not tell the whole story.

Every year, a handful of agencies do not meet their individual agency goals, showing that there is more that can be done. This legislation will require SBA to issue guidance and to provide training for agencies when they come up short. It is also important to highlight that Congress has raised the service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses' goal to 5 percent of Federal contracting dollars moving forward, so additional guidance and training will be timely.

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Ms. VELAZQUEZ.

Mr. Speaker, the Federal procurement goals are one way that Congress helps to ensure that small business government contractors can enter, compete, and remain in the Federal marketplace and that they receive a fair share of contracting dollars when doing so.

This bill will provide agencies with additional tools and training to maximize awards to firms owned by service-disabled veterans and meet their small business goals.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the work of my colleagues on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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