Expanding Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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I rise in support of H.R. 6369, the Expanding Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2018.

The Small Business Act sets forth a government-wide 23 percent goal of Federal contracts that should be awarded to small businesses. Each Federal agency is charged with setting its own small business goals which are to reflect the maximum possible opportunity for small businesses within that agency.

By promoting the use of sole-source contracts to small businesses, this bill adds to the government's pool of suppliers. This results in higher-quality goods and increased job creation for the economy as these direct awards require the small businesses to do the majority of the work and not subcontract out.

I urge Members to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Kansas for introducing this important legislation to provide flexibility to contracting officers when awarding sole-source contracts.

H.R. 6369 promotes the use of sole-source contracts to small business concerns through the SBA contracting programs by raising the dollar threshold of these contract types to account for inflation. This bill will make valuable strides to a more equitable playing field for small contractors. I urge Members to support this bill.

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