Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 4.djvu/885

 PUBLIC LAW 100-656—NOV. 15, 1988

102 STAT. 3855

TITLE I—CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND PURPOSES SEC 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— (1) the Capital Ownership Development Program administered by the Small Business Administration and the award of contracts pursuant to section 8(a) of the Small Business Act remain a primary tool for improving opportunities for small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals in the Federal procurement process and bringing such concerns into the nation's economic mainstream; (2) although some prepress has resulted from the Prc^ram, it has generally failed to meet its objectives, which remain as valid now as when the Pit^ram was initiated; (3) too few concerns that have exited the P n ^ a m have been prepared to compete successfully in the open marketplace on competitive procurements, and many concerns have developed an unhealthy dependency on sole-source contracts by the time they are required to leave the Program; (4) the application and certification process for admitting new participants to the Program is inordinately lengthy and burdensome; (5) the Administration has often not efficiently and equitably administered and managed the Program in a manner that provided clear lines of responsibility for implementing and monitoring many of the administrative duties under the Program; (6) the Administration and some pr(^ram participants have given insufficient attention and support to the business development goals of the Prc^ram and instead have focused almost entirely on the size of contract awards or the number of firms certified to participate in the Prc^ram; (7) many Federal procuring agencies have failed to identify and offer the necessary amount of contract support in order to allow for diversification and growth of disadvantaged businesses participating in the Pn^ram; (8) contract support as well as business development expenses have been misused both by the Administration and Program participants and have not been equitably distributed pursuant to objective criteria; (9) the widespread perception of undue political influence in the operation and administration of the Pn^ram has significantly contributed to the Program's poor image and has deterred utilization of the Program by socially and economically disadvantaged concerns and by Federal procuring agencies; and (10) it is imperative that increased competition and other substantial reforms be accomplished in the P n ^ a m in order to promote the Congressionally mandated business development objectives and purposes. (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act therefore are to— (1) affirm that the Capital Ownership Development Pn^ram and the section 8(a) authority shall be used exclusively for business development purposes to help small businesses owned and controlled by the socially and economically disadvantaged

15 USC 636 note.

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