§4959 — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

Summary

The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment must require a special clause in each covered Department of Defense contract. The clause tells the contractor that accepting the contract could make the business larger than the small-business size limits under section 3(a) of the Small Business Act and that it might stop qualifying as a small business. It also encourages the contractor to build the skills and features needed to compete as an other-than-small business. Covered small businesses may receive procurement technical assistance. Covered contract: a contract to a qualified small business under section 3(a) whose estimated annual value exceeds the receipt-based small-business limit or, for industries with employee-based limits, exceeds $70,000,000. Covered small business: a qualified small business that has a DoD contract with the required clause.

Title 10, §4959

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment shall require the clause described in paragraph (2) to be included in each covered contract awarded by the Department of Defense.

(2)The clause described in this paragraph is a clause that—

(A)requires the contractor to acknowledge that acceptance of the contract may cause the business to exceed the applicable small business size standards (established pursuant to section 3(a) of the Small Business Act) for the industry concerned and that the contractor may no longer qualify as a small business concern for that industry; and

(B)encourages the contractor to develop capabilities and characteristics typically desired in contractors that are competitive as an other-than-small business in that industry.

(b)Covered small businesses may be provided assistance as part of any procurement technical assistance furnished pursuant to this chapter.

(c)In this section:

(1)The term “covered contract” means a contract—

(A)awarded to a qualified small business concern as defined pursuant to section 3(a) of the Small Business Act; and

(B)with an estimated annual value—

(i)that will exceed the applicable receipt-based small business size standard; or

(ii)if the contract is in an industry with an employee-based size standard, that will exceed $70,000,000.

(2)The term “covered small business” means a qualified small business concern as defined pursuant to section 3(a) of the Small Business Act that has entered into a contract with the Department of Defense that includes a contract clause described in subsection (a)(2).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 3(a) of the Small Business Act, referred to in subsecs. (a)(2)(A) and (c)(1)(A), (2), is classified to section 632(a) of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. Codification Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title XVII, § 1701(m)(2)(G), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2145, amended Pub. L. 116–283, § 1872(a)(11), which had originally transferred section 2417 of this title to this section. After amendment by Pub. L. 117–81, section 1872(a)(11) of Pub. L. 116–283 instead transferred section 2417 to section 4961 of this title.

Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 116–283, § 1872(a)(10), as amended by Pub. L. 117–81, § 1701(b)(24), (m)(2)(F), renumbered section 2419 of this title as this section. 2019—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 116–92 substituted “Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment” for “Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2021 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 117–81 applicable as if included in the enactment of title XVIII of Pub. L. 116–283 as enacted, see section 1701(a)(2) of Pub. L. 117–81, set out in a note preceding section 3001 of this title and note below. Amendment by Pub. L. 116–283 effective Jan. 1, 2022, with additional provisions for delayed implementation and applicability of existing law, see section 1801(d) of Pub. L. 116–283, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

§4959 Advancing Small Business Growth