The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7128) to establish requirements relating to size standard compliance of small business concerns owned and controlled by women for certain purposes, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7128, The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024, sponsored by Representative Maloy from the great State of Utah.

The WOSB Integrity Act removes self-certification of size from this contracting program that is reserved for women-owned small businesses.

It is vital that there are programs to help small business owners access Federal contracting opportunities. That is where the Small Business Administration's women-owned small business program, also known as WOSB, comes in. This program allows women entrepreneurs to compete for unique contracting opportunities.

Unfortunately, the Federal Government currently does not independently verify that these businesses are truly small businesses. Firms can simply self-certify themselves as small businesses, potentially leading to misrepresentation and fraud to obtain contracting opportunities.

It is vital that women-owned entrepreneurs who participate in the WOSB do not have to worry that their competitors misrepresent themselves as a small business.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 7128, The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Utah (Ms. Maloy).

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation from Congresswoman Maloy and Scholten, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Representatives Maloy and Scholten, for their work on this bill.

Since its inception, the WOSB program and the administration of the program have been a challenge for SBA. Similarly, Federal agencies have faced challenges using the authorities that Congress has put in place to streamline contracting with women-owned small businesses.

While working to boost participation of WOSBs and enhance the use of these authorities, Congress must also advance initiatives that are designed to protect the integrity of the program.

One issue we are addressing today is the inspector general's report that states there is a discrepancy in SBA's implementation of the program. The purpose of this bill is to align SBA processes with the IG's report and to clarify that we expect SBA to have a process similar to the other socioeconomic contracting programs for WOSB certifications.

Mr. Speaker, again, I appreciate my colleagues for their work on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, and I thank Ms. Maloy and Ms. Scholten for this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Williams for yielding me time. I also thank Ranking Member Velazquez for her support on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, The WOSB Integrity Act of 2024.

The purpose of this bill is to make sure that the businesses that are taking advantage of the WOSB program are, in fact, small businesses. They are certifying that they are women-owned, but they are self- certifying that they are small.

The SBA inspector general found that there is room for fraud in this program, so this is simply a commonsense solution to close a loophole to make sure this program is serving the purpose it was intended to serve, which is giving women-owned small businesses the opportunity to compete in Federal contracting. It encourages fair competition, levels the playing field in government contracting, and ensures the opportunities are awarded justly and contribute to a competitive small business sector.

We have a goal of awarding 5 percent of government contracts to women-owned small businesses. We have no way of knowing how well we are doing in meeting that goal if we don't have any way of certifying that these WOSBs are, in fact, small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.