"(6) The Administrator is authorized to consult with representatives of small-business concerns with a view to encouraging the formation by such concerns of the corporation referred to in paragraph (5). No act or omission to act, if requested by the Administrator pursuant to this paragraph, and if found and approved by the 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 this paragraph shall be exercised only (A) by the Administrator, (B) upon the condition that the Administrator consult with the Attorney General and with the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, and (C) upon the condition that the Administrator obtain the approval of the Attorney General before exercising such authority. Upon withdrawal of any request or finding hereunder or upon withdrawal by the Attorney General of his approval granted under the preceding sentence, the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any subsequent act or omission to act by reason of such finding or request.

"(7) All loans made under this subsection 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; and

"(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 affected by a drought, if the Administration determines that the small-business 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 to 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 Secretray 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. No loan under this subsection, including renewals and extensions thereof, may be made for a period or periods exceeding twenty years. The interest rate on the Administration's share of any loan made under this subsection shall not exceed 3 per centum per annum. In agreements to participate in loans on a deferred basis under this subsection, 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.

"(c) The Administration may further extend the maturity of or renew any loan made pursuant to this section, or any loan transferred to the Administration pursuant to Reorganization Plan Numbered 2 of 1954, for additional periods not to exceed ten years beyond the period stated therein, if such extension or renewal will aid in the orderly liquidation of such loan.

"SEC. 8. (a) It shall be the duty of the Administration and it is hereby empowered, whenever it determines such action is necessary—

"(1) to enter into contracts with the 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; and

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'(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 connection therewith, or such management services as may be necessary to enable the Administration to perform such contracts.

"(b) It shall also be the duty of the Administration and it is hereby empowered, whenever it determines such action is necessary

"(1) 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;

"(2) 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;

"(3) to coordinate and to ascertain the means by which the productive capacity of small-business concerns can be most effectively utilized;

"(4) 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;

“(5) 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 small-business concerns at prices and on conditions and terms which are fair and equitable; "(6) 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 the provisions of this Act. To carry out this purpose the Administrator, when requested to do so, shall issue in response to each such request an appropriate certificate certifying an individual concern as a 'small-business concern' in accordance with the criteria expressed in this Act. Any such certificate shall be subject to revocation when the concern covered thereby ceases to be a 'small-business concern.' Offices of the Government having procurement or lending powers, or engaged in the disposal of Federal property or allocating materials or supplies, or promulgating regulations affecting the distribution of materials or supplies, shall accept as conclusive the Administration's determination as to which enterprises are to be designated 'small-business concerns', as authorized and directed under this paragraph;

"(7) to certify to Government procurement officers with respect to the competency, as to capacity and credit, of any small-business concern or group of such concerns to perform a specific Government procurement contract. In any case in which a small-business concern or group of such concerns has been certified by or under the authority of the Administration to be a competent Government contractor with respect to capacity and credit as to a specific Government procurement contract, the officers of the Government having procurement powers are directed to accept such certification as conclusive, and are authorized to let such Government procurement contract to such concern or group of concerns without requiring it to meet any other requirement with respect to capacity and credit;

"(8) to obtain from any Federal department, establishment, or agency engaged in procurement or in the financing of procurement or production such reports concerning the letting of contracts and subcontracts and the making of loans to business concerns as it may deem pertinent in carrying out its functions under this Act;

"(9) to obtain from suppliers of materials information pertaining to the method of filling orders and the bases for allocating their supply, whenever it appears that any small business is unable to obtain materials from its normal sources;

"(10) to make studies and recommendations to the appropriate Federal agencies to insure that a fair proportion of the total purchases and contracts for property and services for the Government be placed with small-business enterprises, to insure that a fair proportion of Government contracts for research and development be placed with small-business concerns, and to insure a fair and equitable share of materials, supplies, and equipment to smallbusiness concerns;

"(11) to consult and cooperate with all Government agencies for the purpose of insuring that small-business concerns shall receive fair and reasonable treatment from such agencies; and

"(12) to establish such small business advisory boards and committees truly representative of small business as may be necessary to achieve the purposes of this Act, in addition to the National Small Business Advisory Board established by section 4 (d).

"(c) The Administration shall from time to time make studies of matters materially affecting the competitive strength of small business, and of the effect on small business of Federal laws, programs, and regulations, and shall make recommendations to the appropriate Federal agency or agencies for the adjustment of such programs and regulations to the needs of small business.

"SEC. 9. (a) The Administration shall make a report every six months of operations under this Act to the President, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Such report shall include the names of the business concerns to whom contracts are let and for whom financing is arranged by the Administration, together with the amounts involved, and such report shall include such other information and such comments and recommendations as the Administration may deem appropriate.

"(b) The Administration shall make a report to the President, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Senate Select Committee on Small Business, and to the House Select Committee To Conduct a Study and Investigation of the Problems of Small Business, on June 30 and December 31 of each year, showing as accurately as possible for each such period the amount of funds appropriated to it that it has expended in the conduct of each of its principal activities such as lending, procurement, contracting, and providing technical and managerial aids.

"(c) The Attorney General is directed to make, or request the Federal Trade Commission to make for him, surveys for the purpose of determining any factors which may tend to eliminate competition, create or strengthen monopolies, injure small business, or otherwise promote undue concentration of economic power in the course of the administration of this Act. The Attorney General shall submit to the Congress and the President, at such times as he deems desirable, reports setting forth the results of such surveys and including such recommendations as he may deem desirable.

"(d) For the purpose of aiding in carrying out the national policy to insure that a fair proportion of the total purchases and contracts for property and services for the Government be placed with small-business enterprises, and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of the Nation, the Department of Defense shall make a monthly report to the President, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives not less than forty-five days after the close of the month, showing the amount of funds appropriated to the Department of Defense which have been expended, obligated, or contracted to be spent with small-business concerns and the amount of such funds expended, obligated, or contracted to be spent with firms other than small business in the same fields of operation; and such monthly reports shall show separately the funds expended, obligated, or contracted to be spent for basic and applied scientific research and development.

"(e) The Administration shall retain all correspondence, records of inquiries, memoranda, reports, books, and records, including memoranda as to all investigations conducted by or for the Administration, for a period of at least one year from the date of each thereof, and shall at all times keep the same available for inspection and examination by the Senate Select Committee on Small Business and the House Select Committee To Conduct a Study and Investigation of the Problems of Small Business, or their duly authorized representatives.

"(f) To the extent deemed necessary by the Administrator to protect and preserve small-business interests, the Administration shall consult and cooperate with other departments and agencies of the Federal Government in the formulaWhen tion by the Administration of policies affecting small-business concerns. requested by the Administrator, each department and agency of the Federal Government shall consult and cooperate with the Administration in the formulation by such department or agency of policies affecting small-business concerns, in order to insure that small-business interests will be recognized, protected, and preserved. This subsection shall not require any department or agency to consult or cooperate with the Administration in any case where the head of such department or agency determines that such consultation or cooperation would unduly delay action which must be taken by such department or agency to protect the national interest in an emergency.

"SEC. 10. (a) The President is authorized to consult with representatives of small-business concerns with a view to encouraging the making by such persons with the approval of the President of voluntary agreements and programs to further the objectives of this Act.

"(b) No act or omission to act pursuant to this Act which occurs while this Act is in effect, if requested by the President pursuant to a voluntary agreement or program approved under subsection (a) of this section and found by the President to be in the public interest as contributing to the national defense, 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 each such request 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 unless publication thereof would, in the opinion of the President, endanger the national security.

"(c) The authority granted in subsection (b) of this section shall be delegated only (1) to an official who shall for the purpose of such delegation be required to be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, (2) upon the condition that such official consult with the Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission not less than ten days before making any request or finding thereunder, and (3) upon the condition that such official obtain the approval of the Attorney General to any request thereunder before making the request.

"(d) Upon withdrawal of any request or finding hereunder, or upon withdrawal by the Attorney General of his approval of the voluntary agreement or program on which the request or finding is based, the provisions of this section shall not apply to any subsequent act, or omission to act, by reason of such finding or request.

"SEC. 11. The President may transfer to the Administration any functions, powers, and duties of any department or agency which relate primarily to smallbusiness problems. In connection with any such transfer, the President may provide for appropriate transfers of records, property, necessary personnel, and unexpended balances of appropriations and other funds available to the department or agency from which the transfer is made.

"SEC. 12. No loan shall be made or equipment, facilities, or services furnished by the Administration under this Act to any business enterprise unless the owners, partners, or officers of such business enterprise (1) certify to the Administration the names of any attorneys, agents, or other persons engaged by or on behalf of such business enterprise for the purpose of expediting applications made to the Administration for assistance of any sort, and the fees paid or to be paid to any such persons; (2) execute an agreement binding any such business enterprise for a period of two years after any assistance is rendered by the Administration to such business enterprise, to refrain from employing, tendering any office or employment to, or retaining for professional services, any person who, on the date such assistance or any part thereof was rendered, or within one year prior thereto, shall have served as an officer, attorney, agent, or employee of the Administration occupying a position or engaging in activities which the Administration shall have determined involve discretion with respect to the granting of assistance under this Act; and (3) furnish the names of lending institutions to which such business enterprise has applied for loans together with dates, amounts, terms, and proof of refusal.

"SEC. 13. To the fullest extent the Administration deems practicable, it shall make a fair charge for the use of Government-owned property and make and let

contracts on a basis that will result in a recovery of the direct costs incurred by the Administration.

"SEC. 14. To effectuate the purposes of this Act, small-business concerns within the meaning of this Act shall receive any award or contract or any part thereof as to which it is determined by the Administration and the contracting procurement agency (1) to be in the interest of maintaining or mobilizing the Nation's full productive capacity, or (2) to be in the interest of war or national defense programs. Whenever the Administration and the contracting procurement agency fail to agree, the matter shall be submitted for determination to the Secretary or the head of the appropriate department or agency by the Administrator.

"SEC. 15. (a) Whoever makes any statement knowing it to be false, or whoever willfully overvalues any security, for the purpose of obtaining for himself or for any applicant any loan, or extension thereof by renewal, deferment of action, or otherwise, the acceptance, release, or substitution of security therefor, or for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of the Administration, or for the purpose of obtaining money, property, or anything of value, under this Act, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.

"(b) Whoever, being connected in any capacity with the Administration, (1) embezzles, abstracts, purloins, or willfully misapplies any moneys, funds, securities, or other things of value, whether belonging to it or pledged or otherwise entrusted to it, or (2) with intent to defraud the Administration or any other body politic or corporate, or any individual, or to deceive any officer, auditor, or examiner of the Administration, makes any false entry in any book, report, or statement of or to the Administration, or, without being duly authorized, draws any order or issues, puts forth, or assigns any note, debenture, bond, or other obligation, or draft, bill of exchange, mortgage, judgment, or decree thereof, or (3) with intent to defraud participates or shares in or receives directly or indirectly any money, profit, property, or benefit through any transaction, loan, commission, contract, or any other act of the Administration, or (4) gives any unauthorized information concerning any future action or plan of the Administration which might affect the value of securities, or, having such knowledge, invests or speculates, directly or indirectly, in the securities or property of any company or corporation receiving loans or other assistance from the Administration, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.

"SEC. 16. The Administration shall not duplicate the work or activity of any other department or agency of the Federal Government and nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to authorize any such duplication unless such work or activity is expressly provided for in this Act.

"SEC. 17. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of this Act, and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby. "SEC. 18. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary and appropriate for the carrying out of the provisions and purposes of this Act.

"SEC. 19. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency."

SEC. 3. The fourth paragraph of section 24 of the Federal Reserve Act is amended (1) by striking out "or the Small Business Administration" and "or of the Small Business Act of 1953,", and (2) by adding at the end thereof the following new sentence: "Loans in which the Small Business Administration cooperates through agreements to participate on an immediate or deferred basis under the Small Business Act shall not be subject to the restrictions or limitations of this section imposed upon loans secured by real estate." Passed the House of Representatives June 25, 1957. Attest:

RALPH R. ROBERTS, Clerk.

[S. 2729, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to extend the maturities of or renew certain loans made by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in aid of the orderly liquidation of such loans

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to further extend the maturity of or renew any loan transferrd to