National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 22, 2005)
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AMENDMENT NO. 2 OFFERED BY MS. VELáZQUEZ
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
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Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, the Federal marketplace is doing record levels today, with nearly every agency buying more than ever before. NASA alone has increased their contracting volume by 30 percent in the past 4 years.
Despite NASA's significant increase in procurement volume, small firms continue to fare poorly when it comes to working with this agency. NASA's small business contracts have declined by 50 percent in the past 4 years. The amendment I am offering today will help to change this.
Small companies represent the majority of businesses in this country, and they are the most innovative. They issue more patents per employee than their large business counterparts. One would assume that this innovation would shine through in agencies that rely on scientific knowledge and expertise. However, this has not been the case.
NASA is an agency that relies heavily on scientific expertise while, at the same time, they control a large segment of the Federal marketplace. They are consistently ranked third out of all Federal agencies in terms of procurement volume, buying more than the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Interior combined.
Clearly, NASA has the capability to meet their small business goals; however, they do need some assistance and we have no way to evaluate whether or not their efforts in increasing small business contracts are truly yielding results. This agency has an array of options when it comes to identifying small companies, whether they work with them individually, host national conferences, or connect with the SBA to identify contracting possibilities. But whatever they are doing is not yielding an increase in small business contracts.
My amendment would guarantee that these outreach methods are examined so that we can pinpoint the best way for NASA to reach out to small firms. This would allow us to truly see what works, what does not work, and what industries are more likely to successfully penetrate NASA's procurement opportunities. It will also enable the Small Business Committee and the Science Committee to move forward in ensuring NASA is taking the right steps to meet their small business contracting goal.
This amendment is a good government solution to a problem that has been facing our Nation's small companies for years now, their ability to access the Federal marketplace, and it is supported by the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce. Clearly, as stewards of taxpayer dollars, one of our most important charges is ensuring that these resources are used in the most effective and efficient manner possible. One of the best ways to go about this is to ensure accountability exists, and adoption of this amendment will achieve just that. This amendment will begin the process of identifying the barriers that prevent small companies from doing business with NASA. It will also assist NASA in honing its efforts at increasing small business access to contracts to those endeavors that have proven successful.
I urge a "yes" vote on this amendment.
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AMENDMENT NO. 4 OFFERED BY MS. VELáZQUEZ
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
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Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
With limited job opportunity in this country, more than ever minorities are turning to entrepreneurship, with 15 percent of this Nation's small businesses being minority owned today. Clearly this business ownership rate is well below the mainstream rate, especially in high tech fields.
My amendment will begin to change this by creating a 4-year pilot grant program focused on the development of technology laboratories at our Nation's minority institutions.
In these on-campus facilities, through a simple partnership, NASA experts will work with some of our brightest students to expose them to innovative technology development. This will help to shore up current programs that are too narrowly focused on basic science and limited by the technological capabilities of these institutions.
This has successfully been done in more mainstream centers of learning. If you look at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, investment by the government and private sector created an environment that allowed it to become the world renown center of study that it is now.
The tie to entrepreneurship and the development of minority students in the technological field is quite clear. Entrepreneurs who have founded technology oriented enterprises emerged from institutions with a strong affiliation to government and industry applied research. These are exactly the type of facilities this amendment will create.
As ranking member of the Committee on Small Business, I am constantly talking to agencies about their small business contracting performance. One of the agencies who struggles the most is NASA, which has regularly failed to meet its goal, and awards to minorities have decreased by 25 percent in the last 4 years.
I believe that there are several reasons for this. One is we need to develop more minority technology companies capable of meeting NASA's requirements. By making sure our science and engineering students are exposed to these opportunities early in their careers, we are increasing their ability to learn and develop. This would pay dividends in the future.
The adoption of this amendment will go a long way in opening up a culture which can seem closed and intimidating when you do not know it. We also provide these future entrepreneurs with a vital opportunity to receive mentoring and develop the understanding of the inner workings of NASA.
This will greatly increase the willingness of those at the agency to take a chance on bright individuals with innovative ideas but who may not have the history that more established entities do.
This amendment is supported by the National Black Chamber of Commerce, the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense Fund and the Latin American Management Association.
The adoption of this amendment is a win for all those involved. NASA will win because they will have the access to the minority high tech sector they are so desperately looking for, and the minority-serving institutions and their students will win because they will be advancing technology development. But most importantly, our Nation wins as we create the next generation of high tech firms that will be so critical to advancing this Nation's economy in years to come.
I urge adoption of the amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
As a preamble, let me say one of the things I am proudest of in my 23 years in this great institution is the record that I have tried to establish to expand opportunity for all, and I have worked diligently on every committee on which I have served to expand opportunities for minorities.
This committee recognizes the importance of that as the members of the committee will tell the gentlewoman who has offered the amendment. We are concerned. We care. We back up our words with deed. But I rise in strong opposition to this amendment.
This amendment proposes to take scarce Federal funds to build buildings for private industry. I cannot imagine why we would use taxpayer money in that way. The idea is apparently for the Federal Government to build buildings on the campuses of minority institutions, which is an undefined term by the way, that would then in some way be turned over to the private sector.
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. BOEHLERT. I yield to the gentlewoman from New York.
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I would like to clarify the gentleman's statement. This is not to construct buildings. This funding in this amendment will not pay for the construction of facilities. $4 million does not pay for facilities. It will give the funds that these minority-serving institutions need to do capacity building, to start the partnership, to set up the partnership, and to manage it. It will not use one penny to build physical facilities.
Mr. BOEHLERT. Reclaiming my time, reading from the language of the amendment. "The Administrator shall establish and carry out a pilot program to make grants to minority institutions for the development of physical facilities and infrastructure to be provided by NASA prime contractors for use in the performance of research, development, test and evaluation."
I am not quite sure we can understand that. We on a bipartisan basis have some real problem with this language.
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. BOEHLERT. I yield to the gentlewoman from New York.
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. For clarification, it says here, "shall enter into a cooperative agreement with a non-profit organization that has experience developing relationships between industry, minority institutions ..... "
It does not say physical or construction of physical facilities. And "develop" does not mean build.
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Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds for clarification.
I am the author of this legislation or this amendment. It does not say here in any way to build a physical facility. It says "development of physical." And I want for the RECORD to reflect that I do not mean to build physical facilities.
Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Chairman, will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
Mr. BOEHLERT. What does "development of physical facilities" mean then in the author's mind?
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. I mean by the minority-serving institution to develop the physical facility and develop the relationship.
I will propose to the gentleman that he adopt the amendment, and it is a matter of semantics and that we will work to clarify it.
Mr. BOEHLERT. I would propose in response to the gentlewoman that she withdraw the amendment and we work in the spirit of bipartisanship to refine it so we all clearly understand what we are talking about.
Ms. VELÁZQUEZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.
Mr. Chairman, this is a commonsense amendment. It is not only good for all those involved but it will also empower us to take a huge step toward closing the technology gap that is so prevailing among the minority population.
The truth is that this approach has already been taken with some of the most highly renowned research facilities across the country and has proven successful. The only difference now is that it will focus on bringing these advancements to minority-serving institutions and, ultimately, closing this Nation's technology gap.
The timing could not be better for this as NASA starts fresh, undertaking a review of their facilities, leasing activities, and partnership agreements. Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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