Rep. Adams Announces House Passage of Her Bill to Improve Federal Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses, Women, Veterans, and Minorities

Washington, D.C.— Today, Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), Vice Ranking Member of the House Committee on Small Business, and Ranking Member Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY-07) released a statement after a slate of Democratic legislation passed today in the House, including Rep. Adams' bill - the Clarity on Small Business Participation in Category Management Act (H.R. 6382). This bill provides lawmakers with information on whether category management is reducing the role of small firms, women-owned firms, minority-owned companies and veteran-owned enterprises in federal contracting.

"I authored H.R. 6382, the Clarity on Small Business Participation in Category Management Act, as a first-step to address the harmful effects of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) category management model on minorities, women, veterans and other already disadvantaged small business owners in the federal marketplace," said Congresswoman Adams. "I applaud the House for passing this bill, which requires the Small Business Administration to report on the amount of small businesses who participate in and benefit from the ‘best in class' designation. Small businesses are the heart of American enterprise, and we must ensure a level playing field for them to compete for federal contracts."

"Unfortunately, the current Administration has sought to expand the use of Category Management, which makes it harder for smaller firms to secure federal work," said Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), the Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee. "Congresswoman Adams has been a stalwart defender of small companies and her bill would gather the data we need to determine the scope of this problem, examine how Category Management harms small businesses and other disadvantaged firms and start moving us away from this anticompetitive practice. I salute Ms. Adams for getting this bill through the House."

View Congresswoman Adams' remarks on the House Floor here.

Full text of the bill is available here.