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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle E—Small Business Matters

P. L. 116-

House Conference Report   116-617

(b) Initiatives.--

(1) Updates for small business strategy.--Not later than October 1, 2022, and biennially thereafter, shall update the small business strategy required under section 2283 of title 10, United States Code, and provide such updated strategy to the congressional defense committees.

(2) Implementation plan.--

(A) In general.--Not later than March 1, 2023, and biennially thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall develop an implementation plan consistent with the most recent small business strategy developed under such section 2283, and provide such plan to the congressional defense committees.

(B) Elements.--The implementation plan described in subparagraph (A) shall include an identification of the following:

(i) Organizations responsible for implementation activities.

(ii) Metrics to evaluate progress of implementation activities.

(iii) Resources to support implementation activities.

(iv) Outcomes achieved as a result of executing the previous small business strategy developed under such section 2283.

(3) Mechanisms to assess and support small businesses in national technology and industrial base.--The Secretary of Defense shall--

(A) establish policies, procedures, and information repositories to identify small businesses in the defense supply chain, including--

(i) small businesses participating in an acquisition program of a military department or Defense Agency (as defined in section 101(11) of title 10, United States Code);

(ii) small businesses contracting with the Defense Logistics Agency; and

(iii) other small businesses in the national technology and industrial base;

(B) establish policies and procedures to assess the financial status of critical small businesses; and

(C) enter into an agreement with the acquisition research organization within a civilian college or university that is described under section 2361a(a) of title 10, United States Code (commonly referred to as the ``Acquisition Innovation Research Center''), to analyze mechanisms that could be established to allow the Secretary of Defense to provide direct financial support to critical small businesses that require additional financial assistance, including critical small businesses that are--

(i) contracting with the Defense Logistics Agency;

(ii) subcontractors (at any tier); or

(iii) in critical technology sectors.

(c) Reports.--

(1) Report on activities.--Not later than October 1, 2021, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy shall submit to the appropriate committees a report on activities undertaken pursuant to this section.

(2) Implementation plan for 2019 small business strategy.--Not later than June 1, 2021, the Secretary of Defense shall submit an implementation plan for the small business strategy required under section 2283 of title 10, United States Code, and dated October 1, 2019, including an identification of specific responsible individuals and organizations, milestones and metrics, and resources to support activities identified in the implementation plan.

(d) Small Business Defined.--In this section, the term ``small business'' has the meaning given by the Secretary of Defense, except that such term shall include prime contractors and subcontractors (at any tier).

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 844) that would establish a Small Business Industrial Base Resiliency Program, under which an Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (established elsewhere in the Bill) would enter into transactions with small business concerns to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The Senate recedes with an amendment that would direct the Secretary of Defense, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, and other officials to establish several initiatives to help the Department of Defense better leverage small business concerns in its efforts to eliminate gaps and vulnerabilities in the national technology and industrial base.

The conferees note that small businesses play a critical role in ensuring the integrity of the national technology and industrial base. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Defense has awarded a large number of contracts to small businesses to support the interagency pandemic response. Despite these critical contributions, however, the conferees note there is not a recurring requirement for the Department of Defense to update, implement, and assess the success of its small business strategy. Moreover, the conferees observe that although the U.S. Small Business Administration's annual scorecard shows the Department and each of the services have reached their small business contracting goals, the number of small businesses contracting with the Department has declined steadily in recent years. The conferees also note that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the difficulties of identifying and providing assistance to small businesses in the national technology and industrial base, particularly those small businesses that are in sub-tiers of the defense supply chain. Therefore, the conferees encourage the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, established elsewhere in this Act, to maintain a strong focus on leveraging and expanding the number of small businesses in the national technology and industrial base.

House Committee Report 116-442 Accompanying H. R. 6395

Section 844--Small Business Industrial Base Resiliency Program

This section would establish the Small Business Industrial Base Resiliency Program and would authorize the Assistant Secretary of Defense Industrial Base Policy to enter into transactions to purchase or make a commitment to purchase goods or services from small business concerns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These transactions are intended to support the monitoring and assessment of small businesses in the defense industrial base by addressing critical issues in the small business industrial base relating to urgent operational needs in response to the pandemic, supporting efforts to expand the small business industrial base in response to the pandemic, and addressing supply chain vulnerabilities related to the pandemic for small businesses.