Native American Entrepreneurial and Opportunity Act of 2023

II Calendar No. 166 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1156 To establish an Office of Native American Affairs within the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 30, 2023 Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself, Ms. LUMMIS, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. MULLIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship JULY 25, 2023 Reported by Mr. CARDIN, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To establish an Office of Native American Affairs within the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native American En- 4 trepreneurial and Opportunity Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1156 RS SEC. 2. OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 1 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 2 amended— 3 (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 4 note) as section 50; and 5 (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 6 657u) the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 49. OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The term 10 ‘Associate Administrator’ means the Associate Ad- 11 ministrator for Native American Affairs appointed 12 under subsection (c). 13 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 14 has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in sec- 15 tion 8(a)(13). 16 ‘‘(3) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—The 17 term ‘Native Hawaiian Organization’ has the mean- 18 ing given the term in section 8(a)(15). 19 ‘‘(4) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of- 20 fice of Native American Affairs described in this sec- 21 tion. 22 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 24 the Administration the Office of Native American 25 Affairs, which shall be responsible for establishing a 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1156 RS working relationship with Indian Tribes and Native 1 Hawaiian Organizations by targeting programs of 2 the Administration relating to entrepreneurial devel- 3 opment, contracting, and capital access to revitalize 4 Native businesses and economic development in In- 5 dian country. 6 ‘‘(2) CONNECTION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.— 7 To the extent reasonable, the Office shall connect 8 Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations to 9 programs administered by other Federal agencies re- 10 lated to the interests described in paragraph (1). 11 ‘‘(3) FIELD OFFICES.—The Office may estab- 12 lish field offices within such regional offices of the 13 Administration as may be necessary, with initial 14 focus on those parts of Indian Country most eco- 15 nomically disadvantaged, to perform efficiently the 16 functions and responsibilities of the Office. 17 ‘‘(c) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The Office shall 18 be headed by an Associate Administrator for Native Amer- 19 ican Affairs, who shall— 20 ‘‘(1) be appointed by and report to the Admin- 21 istrator; 22 ‘‘(2) have knowledge of Native American cul- 23 tures and experience providing culturally tailored 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1156 RS small business development assistance to Native 1 Americans; 2 ‘‘(3) carry out the program to provide assist- 3 ance to Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organi- 4 zations and small business concerns owned and con- 5 trolled by individuals who are members of those 6 groups; 7 ‘‘(4) administer and manage Native American 8 outreach expansion; 9 ‘‘(5) enhance assistance to Native Americans by 10 formulating and promoting policies, programs, and 11 assistance that better address their entrepreneurial, 12 capital access, business development, and con- 13 tracting needs, and collaborate with other Associate 14 Administrators and intergovernmental leaders with 15 similar missions across Federal agencies on the de- 16 velopment of policies and plans to implement new 17 programs of the Administration, while 18 supplementing existing Federal programs to holis- 19 tically serve those needs; 20 ‘‘(6) act as an ombudsman for Native Ameri- 21 cans for programs of the Administration; 22 ‘‘(7) provide grants, contracts, cooperative 23 agreements, or other financial assistance to Indian 24 Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations, or to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1156 RS private nonprofit organizations governed by mem- 1 bers of those entities, that have the experience and 2 capability to— 3 ‘‘(A) deploy training, counseling, work- 4 shops, educational outreach, and supplier 5 events; and 6 ‘‘(B) access the entrepreneurial, capital, 7 and contracting programs of the Administra- 8 tion, including the Community Navigator pilot 9 program; 10 ‘‘(8) assist the Administrator in conducting, or 11 conduct, Tribal consultation to solicit input and fa- 12 cilitate discussion of potential modifications to pro- 13 grams and procedures of the Administration; and 14 ‘‘(9) recommend annual budgets for the Office. 15 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16 is authorized to be appropriated to the Office such sums 17 as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2024 through 18 2028 to carry out this section.’’. 19 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 20 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native American Entre- 21 preneurial and Opportunity Act of 2023’’. 22 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 23 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 24 amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1156 RS (1) by redesignating section 49 (15 U.S.C. 631 1 note) as section 50; and 2 (2) by inserting after section 48 (15 U.S.C. 3 657u) the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 49. OFFICE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘As- 7 sociate Administrator’ means the Associate Adminis- 8 trator for Native American Affairs appointed under 9 subsection (c). 10 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 11 has the meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in sec- 12 tion 8(a)(13). 13 ‘‘(3) NATIVE HAWAIIAN ORGANIZATION.—The 14 term ‘Native Hawaiian Organization’ has the mean- 15 ing given the term in section 8(a)(15). 16 ‘‘(4) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Office 17 of Native American Affairs described in this section. 18 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 20 the Administration the Office of Native American Af- 21 fairs, which shall be responsible for establishing a 22 working relationship with Indian Tribes and Native 23 Hawaiian Organizations by targeting programs of 24 the Administration relating to entrepreneurial devel- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1156 RS opment, contracting, and capital access to revitalize 1 Native businesses and economic development in In- 2 dian country. 3 ‘‘(2) CONNECTION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.—To 4 the extent reasonable, the Office shall connect Indian 5 Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations to pro- 6 grams administered by other Federal agencies related 7 to the interests described in paragraph (1). 8 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE WORK SITES.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office may estab- 10 lish alternative work sites within such regional 11 offices of the Administration as may be nec- 12 essary, with initial focus on those parts of In- 13 dian Country most economically disadvantaged, 14 to perform efficiently the functions and respon- 15 sibilities of the Office. 16 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—The alternative work 17 sites established under subparagraph (A) shall 18 not be field offices of the Administration. 19 ‘‘(c) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR.—The Office shall be 20 headed by an Associate Administrator for Native American 21 Affairs, who shall— 22 ‘‘(1) be appointed by and report to the Adminis- 23 trator; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1156 RS ‘‘(2) have knowledge of Native American cultures 1 and experience providing culturally tailored small 2 business development assistance to Native Americans; 3 ‘‘(3) carry out the program to provide assistance 4 to Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations 5 and small business concerns owned and controlled by 6 individuals who are members of those groups; 7 ‘‘(4) administer and manage Native American 8 outreach expansion; 9 ‘‘(5) enhance assistance to Native Americans by 10 formulating and promoting policies, programs, and 11 assistance that better address their entrepreneurial, 12 capital access, business development, and contracting 13 needs, and collaborate with other Associate Adminis- 14 trators and intergovernmental leaders with similar 15 missions across Federal agencies on the development 16 of policies and plans to implement new programs of 17 the Administration, while supplementing existing 18 Federal programs to holistically serve those needs; 19 ‘‘(6) provide grants, contracts, cooperative agree- 20 ments, or other financial assistance to Indian Tribes 21 and Native Hawaiian Organizations, or to private 22 nonprofit organizations governed by members of those 23 entities, that have the experience and capability to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1156 RS ‘‘(A) deploy training, counseling, work- 1 shops, educational outreach, and supplier events; 2 and 3 ‘‘(B) access the entrepreneurial, capital, and 4 contracting programs of the Administration; 5 ‘‘(7) assist the Administrator in conducting, or 6 conduct, Tribal consultation to solicit input and fa- 7 cilitate discussion of potential modifications to pro- 8 grams and procedures of the Administration; and 9 ‘‘(8) recommend annual budgets for the Office. 10 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 11 authorized to be appropriated to the Office such sums as 12 may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 13 to carry out this section.’’. 14 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Calendar No. 166 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1156 A BILL To establish an Office of Native American Affairs within the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. JULY 25, 2023 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1156.RS S1156 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB