Small Business Administration Rural Performance Report Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5265) to amend the Small Business Act to require a report on the performance of the Office of Rural Affairs, to require a report on the memorandum of understanding between the Small Business Administration and the Department of Agriculture entered into on April 4, 2018, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 5265

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Administration Rural Performance Report Act''. SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS RURAL PERFORMANCE REPORTS.

(a) Office of Rural Affairs Annual Performance Report.-- Section 26 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 653) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``(d) Reports.--

``(1) Initial report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall make available on a website of the Administration, and submit to the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, a report on the activities of the Office during the year preceding the date of the report that includes the following elements:

``(A) How the Office is promoting financial assistance pursuant to subsection (c)(1).

``(B) Annual statistics compiled pursuant to subsection (c)(2).

``(C) How the Office is providing information pursuant to subsection (c)(3).

``(D) How the Office is providing information pursuant to subsection (c)(4).

``(E) The number of outreach events conducted by the Office to provide information described in paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (c).

``(F) Details of any partnerships that the Office engaged in to provide the outreach described in paragraph (5), including any partnerships with the National Travel and Tourism Office of the Department of Commerce.

``(G) The name of the director of the Office and the number of staff employed by the Office.

``(2) Annual report.--The Administrator shall annually submit, along with the budget the budget justification materials submitted in support of the Small Business Administration budget for a fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31), a report that includes the elements described in paragraph (1).''.

(b) Technical Amendment.--Section 26(c)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 653(c)(5)) is amended by striking ``United States Tourism and Travel Administration'' and inserting ``National Travel and Tourism Office of the Department of Commerce''.

(c) Memorandum of Understanding With Department of Agriculture Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall make available on a website of the Administration and submit to the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the MOU. Such report shall include a description of the following:

(1) How many working groups convened pursuant to the MOU the Administration was part of and if the Administration is still part of any such working groups.

(2) How many staff employed by the Administration were and are still involved with a working group convened pursuant to the MOU.

(3) The findings specified in clauses (i) through (iv) of paragraph (1) of part 2 of the MOU.

(4) The findings specified in clauses (i) through (iv) of paragraph (2) of part 2 of the MOU. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

(2) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the Small Business Administration.

(3) MOU.--The term ``MOU'' means the memorandum of understanding between the Department of Agriculture and the Small Business Administration entered into on April 4, 2018, about collaborative efforts to promote stronger businesses and agricultural economies in rural America. SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE WITH CUTGO.

No additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act or the amendments made by this Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5265, the Small Business Administration Rural Performance Report Act, sponsored by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford).

It should come as no surprise that rural entrepreneurs face unique challenges. In extending assistance to these entrepreneurs, the Department of Agriculture and the Small Business Administration offer a variety of programs to help them start and grow their businesses.

Unfortunately, government agencies often act in a silo and become ineffective in their outreach. That is why the Trump administration created a partnership between the USDA and the SBA to better tailor their outreach and services to rural entrepreneurs.

After our committee marked up this bill, we were happy to see the SBA announce that they are going to work to renew another agreement with the Department of Agriculture. While this progress should not go unnoticed, this bill goes further to require a report to track the effectiveness of this agreement and the SBA's Office of Rural Affairs. If we are going to be spending taxpayer dollars to help accomplish a goal, there must be performance metrics to see where the ROI is for the taxpayers and the businesses they are helping.

Mr. Speaker, it is vital that Congress knows just how impactful these efforts are so we can ensure our rural entrepreneurs are not left behind. I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 5265, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation brought to us by Mr. Pappas, Mr. Golden, and Mr. Alford. I yield back the balance of my time.

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