James M. Talent: “The purpose of the bill, Mr. Chairman, is very simple. It is to ensure that the Small Business Administration has…”

“The purpose of the bill, Mr. Chairman, is very simple. It is to ensure that the Small Business Administration has sufficient information concerning the impact of contract consolidation, or bundling, on small businesses. H.R. 4945 mandates that the administrator of the Small Business Administration develop a database of these consolidated, or bundled, contracts. Mr. Chairman, contract bundling is one of the most important issues facing small business today. The Federal Government spends almost $200 billion a year procuring goods and services. Congress has mandated a goal for Federal agencies to spend at least 20 percent of those dollars with small businesses. We do that, both because we believe in small business as an avenue for opportunity and economic growth for our citizens and because we believe that competition among small businesses is presumptively to the benefit of the taxpayer both in terms of cost and quality. Yet the Federal Government fails routinely to meet that goal of 20 percent.”