Political Quotes

“Today I offer a bill to take a successful pilot program at the Department of Defense, make it permanent, and extend it governmentwide. For the past decade, DOD has had a program in place to try to develop and maintain small business vendors as a vital part of our Nation's defense industrial base. This program, the Mentor-Protege program, has also been a principal source of opportunity for small business, to offset some of the other Federal procurement practices that have squeezed small business out of contracting. Those two goals, the enhanced vendor base and improved opportunity, are worth emphasizing before I discuss the specific provisions of this bill. Why is small business participation in contracting important? Far too often, small business is seen as just another social or economic development program. In Federal contracting, however, it is much more than that. Small business is a critical, vital, indispensable part of our nation's preparedness for its defense.”