PART VI, TITLE 15 CHAPTER 14A.-AID TO SMALL BUSINESS Section 631. Declaration of Policy. (a) The essence of the American economic system of private enterprise is free competition. Only through full and free competition can free markets, free entry into business, and opportunities for the expression and growth of personal initiative and individual judgment be assured. The preservation and expansion of such competition is basic not only to the economic well-being but to the security of this Nation. Such security and well-being cannot be realized unless the actual and potential capacity of small business is encouraged and developed. It is the declared policy of the Congress that the Government should aid, counsel, assist, and protect in so far as is possible, the interests of small-business concerns in order to preserve free competitive enterprise, to insure that a fair proportion of the total purchases and contracts for property and services for the Government (including but not limited to contracts for maintenance, repair, and construction) be placed with small-business enterprises, to insure that a fair proportion of the total sales of Government property be made to such enterprises, and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of the Nation. (b) Further, it is the declared policy of the Congress that the Government should aid and assist victims of floods or other catastrophes. Pub. L. 85-536, § 2[2], July 18, 1958, 72 Stat. 384. Section 632. Definition of small-business concern. For the purposes of this chapter, a small-business concern shall be deemed to be one which is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation. In addition to the foregoing criteria the Administrator, in making a detailed definition, may use these criteria, among others: Number of employees and dollar volume of business. Where the number of employees is used as one of the criteria in making such definition for any of the purposes of this chapter, the maximum number of employees which a small-business concern may have under the definition shall vary from industry to industry to the extent necessary to reflect different characteristics of such industries and to take proper account of other relevant factors. Pub. L. 85-536, § 2[3], July 18, 1958, 72 Stat. 384. Section 633. Small Business Administration. (a) Creation; principal, branch, and regional offices In order to carry out the policies of this chapter, there is cre ated an agency under the name "Small Business Administration" (herein referred to as the Administration), which Administration shall be under the general direction and supervision of the President and shall not be affiliated with or be within any other agency or department of the Federal Government. The principal office of the Administration shall be located in the District of Columbia. The Administration may establish such branch and regional offices in other places in the United States as may be determined by the Administrator of the Administration. As used in this chapter, the term "United States" includes the several States, the Territories and possessions of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. (b) Appointment of Administrator and Deputies The management of the Administration shall be vested in an Administrator who shall be appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall be a person of outstanding qualifications known to be familiar and sympathetic with small-business needs and problems. The Administrator shall not engage in any other business, vocation, or employment than that of serving as Administrator. The Administrator is authorized to appoint three Deputy Administrators to assist in the execution of the functions vested in the Administration. (c) Revolving fund; advances; interest The Administration is authorized to obtain money from the Treasury of the United States for use in the performance of the powers and duties granted to or imposed upon it by law, not to exceed a total of $975,000,000 outstanding at any one time. For this purpose appropriations not to exceed $975,000,000 are authorized to be made to a revolving fund in the Treasury. Advances shall be made to the Administration from the revolving fund when requested by the Administration. This revolving fund shall be used for the purposes enumerated subsequently in sections 636 (a), 636(b), and 637 (a) of this title, and in the exercise of the functions of the Administration under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. Not to exceed an aggregate of $575,000,000 shall be outstanding at any one time for the purposes enumerated in section 636(a) of this title. Not to exceed an aggregate of $125,000,000 shall be outstanding at any one time for the purposes enumerated in section 636 (b) of this title. Not to exceed an aggregate of $25,000,000 shall be outstanding at any one time for the purposes enumerated in section 637(a) of this title. Not to exceed an aggregate of $250,000,000 shall be outstanding at any one time for the exercise of the functions of the Administration under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. The Administration shall pay into miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury, at the close of each fiscal year, interest on the net amount of the cash disbursements from such advances at a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the current average rate on outstanding interestbearing marketable public debt obligations of the United States of comparable maturities. (d) Creation and composition of Loan Policy Board; establishment of policies There is created the Loan Policy Board of the Small Business Administration, which shall consist of the following members, all ex officio: The Administrator, as Chairman, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce. Either of the said Secretaries may designate an officer of his Department, who has been appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to act in his stead as a member of the Loan Policy Board with respect to any matter or matters. The Loan Policy Board shall establish general policies (particularly with reference to the public interest involved in the granting and denial of applications for financial assistance by the Administration and with reference to the coordination of the functions of the Administration with other activities and policies of the Government), which shall govern the granting and denial of applications for financial assistance by the Administration. Pub. L. 85-536, § 2[4], July 18, 1958, 72 Stat. 384, amended Pub. L. 85-699, Title II, § 202(a), 72 Stat. 690; as amended Sept. 22, 1959, Pub. L. 86– 367, § 1, 73 Stat. 647. Section 634. General powers. (a) Seal; appointment and compensation of The Administration shall have power to adopt, alter, and use a seal, which shall be judicially noticed. The Administrator is authorized, subject to the civil-service and classification laws, to select, employ, appoint, and fix the compensation of such officers, employees, attorneys, and agents as shall be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter; to define their authority and duties; to provide bonds for them in such amounts as the Administrator shall determine; and to pay the costs of qualification of certain of them as notaries public. The Administration, with the consent of any board, commission, independent establishment, or executive department of the Government, may avail itself on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis of the use of information, services, facilities (including any field service thereof), officers, and employees thereof, in carrying out the provisions of this chapter. Subject to the standards and procedures under section 505 of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, not to exceed fifteen positions in the Administration may be placed in grades 16, 17, and 18 of the General Schedule established by that Act, and any such positions shall be additional to the number authorized by such section. (b) Powers of Administrator In the performance of, and with respect to, the functions, powers, and duties vested in him by this chapter, the Administrator may (1) sue and be sued in any court of record of a State having general jurisdiction, or in the United States district court, and jurisdiction is conferred upon such district court to determine such controversies without regard to the amount in controversy; but no attachment, injunction, garnishment, or other process, mesne or final, shall be issued against the Administrator or his property; (2) under regulations prescribed by him, assign or sell at public or private sale, or otherwise dispose of for cash or credit, in his discretion and upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration as the Administrator shall determine to be reasonable, any evidence of debt, contract, claim, personal property, or security assigned to or held by him in connection with the payment of loans granted under this chapter, and to collect or compromise all obligations assigned to or held by him and all legal or equitable rights accruing to him in connection with the payment of such loans until such time as such obligations may be referred to the Attorney General for suit or collection; (3) deal with, complete, renovate, improve, modernize, insure, or rent, or sell for cash or credit upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration as the Administrator shall determine to be reasonable, any real property conveyed to or otherwise acquired by him in connection with the payment of loans granted under this chapter; (4) pursue to final collection, by way of compromise or otherwise, all claims against third parties assigned to the Administrator in connection with loans made by him. This shall include authority to obtain deficiency judgments or otherwise in the case of mortgages assigned to the Administrator. Section 5 of Title 41 shall not be construed to apply to any contract of hazard insurance or to any purchase or contract for services or supplies on account of property obtained by the Administrator as a result of loans made under this chapter if the premium therefor or the amount thereof does not exceed $1,000. The power to convey and to execute in the name of the Administra tor deeds of conveyance, deeds of release, assignments and satisfactions of mortgages, and any other written instrument relating to real property or any interest therein acquired by the Administrator pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may be exercised by the Administrator or by any officer or agent appointed by him without the execution of any express delegation of power or power of attorney. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the Administrator from delegating such power by order or by power of attorney, in his discretion, to any officer or agent he may appoint; (5) acquire, in any lawful manner, any property (real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible), whenever deemed necessary or appropriate to the conduct of the activities authorized in sections 636(a) or 636(b) of this title; (6) make such rules and regulations as he deems necessary to carry out the authority vested in him by or pursuant to this chapter; (7) in addition to any powers, functions, privileges, and immunities otherwise vested in him, take any and all actions, including the procurement of the services of attorneys by contract, determined by him to be necessary or desirable in making, servicing, compromising, modifying, liquidating, or otherwise dealing with or realizing on loans made under the provisions of this chapter; but no attorneys' services shall be procured by contract in any office where an attorney or attorneys are or can be economically employed full time to render such services; (8) pay the transportation expenses and per diem in lieu of subsistence expenses, in accordance with the Travel Expense Act of 1949, for travel of any person employed by the Administration to render temporary services not in excess of six months in connection with any disaster referred to in section 636 (b) of this title from place of appointment to, and while at, the disaster area and any other temporary posts of duty and return upon completion of the assignment; and (9) accept the services and facilities of Federal, State, and local agencies and groups, both public and private, and utilize such gratuitous services and facilities as may, from time to time, be necessary, to further the objectives of section 636 (b) of this title. (c) Procurement of experts and consultants; compensation and expenses To such extent as he finds necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, the Administrator is authorized to procure the temporary (not in excess of one year) or intermittent services of |