Department of Homeland Security Mentor-Protege Program Act of 2019

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4727, the Department of Homeland Security Mentor-Protege Program Act of 2019.

The Department of Homeland Security has an important mission to protect this Nation, but they cannot do it on their own. For many functions, DHS relies on contractors to get the job done.

H.R. 4727 would expand the contractor pool that DHS relies on by creating a mentor-protege program to help small businesses grow their technical capabilities.

I support the legislation and the creation of this program at DHS, modeled after a similar one at the Department of Defense. Under the program, larger contractors would develop agreements with smaller firms to provide assistance and to potentially involve the smaller firm in DHS contracts at a subcontractor level.

To provide transparency into this program, the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization will report annually to Congress. This will allow us to evaluate the benefit of this program and its progress in developing the contractor base.

I would like to thank Representative McEachin for introducing H.R. 4727 and for his work to grow the capability of small businesses that contract for the DHS.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I do urge the adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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