Aumua’s SBA Bill Included in Defense Authorization

Washington D.C. –Friday, Congresswoman Aumua Amata, issued the following statement on Friday regarding the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included language introduced by the Congresswoman.

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“For nearly 5 decades, Congress has met its Constitutional duty, and provided for the security of our nation through the NDAA. This annual authorization bill provides our troops with the resources they need to defend the United States from a variety of growing threats around the globe.

However, due to the recent cuts in defense, known in Washington as “sequestration,” Congress has had to look for new ways to meet our national security needs.

As a Member of the House Small Business Committee, my fellow colleagues who sit on the committee and I, believe that our nation’s 28 million small businesses can play a vital role in meeting these needs during this era of decreasing defense resources. Often, small companies can provide better products and services to our military, quicker and at a lower cost.

Contracting reforms such as those included in this year’s NDAA help achieve this important goal for our military. They also benefit the taxpayers, ensuring that their dollars are being spent efficiently. This NDAA gives our troops the resources they need to defend the United States while providing meaningful contracting reforms that help our small businesses and our national security.

I want to thank both Chairman Chabot and my colleagues on the committee for making sure that these much needed reforms, that will do so much to assist our warfighters, were included in this year’s NDAA, and I look forward to seeing it pass the Senate and signed into law by President Obama.”

The 2016 NDAA implements reforms to promote integrity and accountability in small-business programs, such as veterans contracting programs and contracting officer training programs, including Congresswoman Amata’s bill, the Small Business Contracting and Acquisition Programs Efficiency Act (SB CAPE).

Specifically, the SB CAPE Act directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to initiate a review of the Office of Government Contracting and Business Development (OGCBD) of the Small Business Administration (SBA) including:

• The extent to which SBA personnel who carry out certain procurement and business development programs report to the OGCBD,
• Whether greater efficiency and consistency in the certification process of the procurement and business development programs could be achieved by creating a single organizational unit of employees to process all certifications required by such programs,
• Whether greater efficiency and efficacy in the performance of such programs could be achieved by improving the alignment of the field personnel assigned to them,
• How the OGCBD could improve its staffing of regulatory drafting functions and its coordination with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to ensure timely rulemaking by the SBA, and
• Any other areas in which the GAO determines that the SBA could improve its performance with respect to procurement and business development programs.

The NDAA will now be sent to the Senate for consideration, where it is expected to pass that body, and then sent to the White House to be signed by the President.

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