REPORTS

SEC. 206. The Administrator shall report annually to the Congress through the President on the programs authorized by this Act.

PENALTIES

SEC. 207. (a) Title 18, United States Code, section 493, is amended by inserting the phrase "Small Business Administration," after the phrase "Federal Housing Administration,".

(b) Title 18, United States Code, section 657, is amended by inserting the phrase "Small Business Administration," after the phrase "Federal Housing Administration,".

(c) Title 18, United States Code, section 1006, is amended by inserting the phrase "Small Business Administration," after the phrase "Federal Housing Administration,".

(d) Title 18, United States Code, section 1010, is amended by inserting the phrase "or Small Business Administration," after the phrase "Federal Housing Administration,".

(e) Title 18, United States Code, section 1014, is amended by inserting the phrase "The Small Business Administration," after the words "National farm loan association,”.

GEOGRAPHIC APPLICABILITY

SEC. 208. The authority provided in this Act shall be applicable in the United States, including the District of Columbia and the Territories and possessions.

RIGHT TO AMEND THIS ACT

SEC. 209. The right to amend, alter, or repeal this Act is hereby expressly reserved.

[S. 1762, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To further amend the Small Business Act of 1953, as amended

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act shall be cited as the "Small Business Act of 1957".

SEC. 2. The Small Business Act of 1953, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"TITLE I-SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

"SEC. 101. (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 insofar 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, construction contracts, and contracts for supplies and services for the Government be placed with small-business 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 and other catastrophes.

"SEC. 102. For the purposes of this Act, 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 Administration, in making a detailed definition, may use these criteria, among others: Number of employees and dollar volume of business.

"SEC. 103. (a) In order to carry out the policies of this Act there is hereby created 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, but 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 Act, 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) 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 $850,000,000 outstanding at any one time. For this purpose appropriations not to exceed $850,000,000 are hereby 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 section 105 (a), (b), and section 106 (a). Not to exceed an aggregate of $500,000,000 shall be outstanding at any one time for the purposes enumerated in section 105 (a). Not to exceed an aggregate of $250,000,000 shall be outstanding at any one time for the purposes enumerated in section 105 (b). Not to exceed an aggregate of $100,000,000 shall be outstanding at any one time for the purposes enumerated in section 106 (a). 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 interest-bearing marketable public debt obligations of the United States of comparable maturities.

"(c) 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 receive compensation at the rate of $20,000 per annum. 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. Deputy Administrators shall be paid at the rate of $17,000 per annum.

"SEC. 104. (a) 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 Act; 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 basis of the use of information, services, facilities, including any field service thereof, officers, and employees, thereof, in carrying out the provisions of this Act. Subject to the standards and procedures under section 505 of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, not to exceed fifteen positions in the Small Business 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) In the performance of, and with respect to, the functions, powers, and duties vested in him by this Act the Administrator may

"(1) sue and be sued in any court of record of a State having general jurisdiction, or in any United States district court, and jurisdiction is conferred upon such district court to determine such controversies without regard to the amount in controversy: Provided, That no attachment, injunction, garnishment, or other similar 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 Act, 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 Act;

"(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 3709 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (41 U. S. C. 5), 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 Act 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 Administrator 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 Act 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 105 and 106 (a) of this Act; "(6) make such rules and regulations as he deems necessary to carry out the authority vested in him by or pursuant to this Act;

"(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 ths Act: Provided, That 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; and

"(8) to pay the cost of travel to the site of any disaster referred to in section 105 (b) of this Act of any person employed by the Administration to render temporary services in connection with such a disaster. "(c) To such extent as he finds necessary to carry out the privisions of this Act, the Administrator is hereby authorized to procure the temporary (not in excess of six months) service of experts or consultants or organizations thereof, including stenographic reporting services, by contract or appointment, and in such cases such service shall be without regard to the civil-service and classification laws, and, except in the case of stenographic reporting services by organizations, without regard to section 3709, Revised Statutes, as amended (41 U. S. C. 5). Any individual so employed may be compensated at a rate not in excess of $50 per diem, and, while such individual is away from his home or regular place of business, he may be allowed transportation and not to exceed $15 per diem in lieu of subsistence and other expenses.

"SEC. 105. (a) The Administration is empowered to make loans to insure a well-balanced national economy; and such loans may be made or effected either directly or in cooperation with banks or other lending institutions through agreements to participate on an immediate or deferred basis: Provided, however, That the foregoing powers shall be subject to the following restrictions and limitations: "(1) No financial assistance shall be extended pursuant to this paragraph unless the financial assistance applied for is not otherwise available on reasonable terms.

"(2) No immediate participation may be purchased unless it is shown that a deferred participation is not available; and no loan may be made unless it is shown that a participation is not available.

"(3) In agreements to participate in loans on a deferred basis under this paragraph or under paragraph (b) of this section, such participation by the Administration shall not be in excess of 90 per centum of the balance of the loan outstanding at the time of disbursement.

"(4) No loan shall be extended pursuant to (a) above if the total amount outstanding and committed (by participation or otherwise) to the borrower from the revolving fund established by this title would exceed $500,000: Provided, however, That the foregoing limitation of $500,000 shall not apply to any loan extended to any corporation formed and capitalized by a group of small-business concerns with resources provided by them for the purpose of establishing facilities in and through such corporation to produce or secure raw materials or supplies: Provided further, That for any such corporation the limit of any loan extended or made as provided for in this section shall be $500,000 multiplied by the number of separate small businesses which have formed and capitalized a corporation as herein before provided in this section: And provided further, That no act or omission to act pursuant to this section, if found and approved by the Small Business Administration as contributing to the needs of small business shall be construed to be within the prohibitions of the antitrust laws or the Federal Trade Commission Act of the United States. A copy of the statement of any such finding and approval intended to be within the coverage of this section, and any modification or withdrawal thereof, shall be furnished to the Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission when made, and it shall be published in the Federal Register. The authority granted in the last preceding proviso shall be delegated only (1) to an official who shall for the purpose of such delegation be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, unless otherwise required to be appointed, (2) upon the condition that such official consult with the Attorney General and with the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission not less than ten days before making and stating any such finding and approval as is authorized in this subsection (a) and (3) upon the condition that such official obtain a statement in writing from the Attorney General that he, mindful of the antitrust laws and the public interest, concurs in the finding and approval made and granted by the Small Business Administration. Upon withdrawal of a finding or approval made hereunder the provisions of this section shall not apply to any subsequent act or omission to act by reason of such finding or approval.

"(5) No loan including renewals or extensions thereof, may be made for a period or periods exceeding ten years, except that any loan made for the purpose of constructing industrial facilities may have a maturity of ten years plus such additional period as is estimated may be required to complete such construction.

"(6) Loans extended pursuant to this paragraph shall not bear an interest rate in excess of 6 per centum per annum on the Administration's share of such loan.

"(7) All loans made shall be of such sound value or so secured as reasonably to assure repayment.

"(b) The Administration also is empowered—

"(1) to make such loans (either directly or in cooperation with banks or other lending institutions through agreements to participate on an immediate or deferred basis) as the Administration may determine to be necessary or appropriate because of floods or other catastrophes ;

"(2) to make such loans (either directly or in cooperation with banks or other lending institutions through agreements to participate on an immediate or deferred basis) as the Administration may determine to be necessary or appropriate to any small-business concern located in an area where a drought is occurring, if the Administration determines that the smallbusiness concern has suffered a substantial economic injury as a result of such drought, and the President has determined under the Act entitled 'An Act to authorize Federal assistance of States and local governments in major disasters, and for other purposes', approved September 30, 1950, as amended (42 U. S. C., secs. 1855-1855g), that such drought is a major disaster, or the Secretary of Agriculture has found under the Act entitled 'An Act to abolish the Regional Agricultural Credit Corporation of Washington, District of Columbia, and transfer its functions to the Secretary of Agriculture, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make disaster loans, and for other purposes', approved April 6, 1949, as amended (12 U. S. C.,. secs. 1148a-1-1148a-3), that such drought constitutes a production or economic disaster in such area;

"(3) No loans, including renewals and extensions thereof, made pursuant to this paragraph may be made for a period or periods exceeding twenty years;

"(4) The interest rate on the Administration's share of loans made pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed 3 per centum per annum. "(c) The Administration may further extend the maturity of or renew any loan made pursuant to paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section, beyond the periods stated therein, or any loan transferred to the Administration pursuant to Reorganization Plan Numbered 2 of 1954, for additional periods not to exceed ten years, if such extension or renewal will aid in the orderly liquidation of such loan.

"SEC. 106. It shall be the duty of the Administration, and it is hereby empowered, whenever it determines such action is necessary

"(a) (1) to enter into contracts with United States Government and any department, agency, or officer thereof having procurement powers obligating the Administration to furnish articles, equipment, supplies, or materials to the Government. In any case in which the Administration certifies to any officer of the Government having procurement powers that the Administration is competent to perform any specific Government procurement contract to be let by any such officer, such officer shall be authorized in his discretion to let such procurement contract to the Administration upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the Administration and the procurement officer;

"(2) to arrange for the performance of such contracts by negotiating or otherwise letting subcontracts to small-business concerns or others for the manufacture, supply, or assembly of such articles, equipment, supplies, or materials, or parts thereof, or servicing or processing in conection therewith, or such management services as may be necessary to enable the Administration to perform such contracts;

"(b) to provide technical and managerial aids to small-business concerns, by advising and counseling on matters in connection with Government procurement and on policies, principles, and practices of good management, including but not limited to cost accounting, methods of financing, business insurance, accident control, wage incentives, and methods engineering, by cooperating and advising with voluntary business, professional educational, and other nonprofit organizations, associations, and institutions and with other Federal and State agencies, by maintaining a clearinghouse for information concerning the managing, financing, and operation of small-business enterprises, by disseminating such information, and by such other activities as are deemed appropriate by the Administration;

"(c) to make a complete inventory of all productive facilities of smallbusiness concerns or to arrange for such inventory to be made by any other governmental agency which has the facilities. In making any such inventory, the appropriate agencies in the several States may be requested to furnish an inventory of the productive facilities of small-business concerns in each respective State if such an inventory is available or in prospect; "(d) to coordinate and to ascertain the means by which the productive capacity of small-business concerns can be most effectively utilized;

"(e) to consult and cooperate with governmental departments and agencies in the issuance of all orders or in the formulation of policy or policies in any way affecting small-business concerns. When directed by the President all such governmental departments or agencies are required, before issuing such orders or announcing such policy or policies, to consult and cooperate with the Administration in order that the interests of small-business enterprises may be recognized, protected, and preserved;

"(f) to consult and cooperate with officers of the Government having procurement powers, in order to utilize the potential productive capacity of plants operated by small-business concerns;

"(g) to obtain information as to methods and practices which Government prime contractors utilize in letting subcontracts and to take action to encourage the letting of subcontracts by prime contractors to smallbusiness concerns at prices and on conditions and terms which are fair and equitable;

"(h) to determine within any industry the concerns, firms, persons, corporations, partnerships, cooperatives or other business enterprises, which are to be designated 'small-business concerns' for the purpose of effectuating