PETALUMA,Calif., Aug. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This is thecomment to the Small Business Administration from the American Small BusinessLeague opposing the "safe harbor from fraud" policy.

TheSmall Business Administration Office of Inspector General began sounding thealarm in 1995 on large businesses fraudulently misrepresenting themselves assmall business to illegally receive federal small business contracts.

Everyyear since 2005, the SBA Office of Inspector General has continued to name thediversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as thenumber one challenge at the SBA.

TheSBA Office of Inspector General has issued numerous reports on the diversion offederal small business contracts to large businesses such as Reports 5-14, 5-15and 5-16.

Along series of federal investigations have uncovered rampant fraudin federal small business contracting programs.

Thediversion of federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms andthousands of large businesses has been reported by Fox News, ABC, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, CBS and CNBC.

EvenPresident Obama acknowledged the magnitude of the abuse in federal smallbusiness contracting programs when he released the statement, "It istime to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporategiants."

Forover twelve years the SBA has claimed the widely investigated and reporteddiversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses is the resultof "miscoding","computer glitches", "anomalies", "simple humanerror", "large businesses acquiring small businesses" and avariety of other excuses such as small businesses outgrowing their sizestandard.

TheSBA has consistentlydenied there is any fraud in federal small business contracting.

Ichallenge anyone at the SBA to show me just one investigation by the SBAInspector General that found too many large businesses were being unfairlyprosecuted for misrepresenting themselves as small businesses.

Sincethere are no federal investigations that found too many large businesses werebeing unfairly prosecuted for fraud, I see no need for a "safe harbor from fraud" policy.

Ido see a desperate need for a policy to stop the nation's 28 million smallbusinesses from being cheated by the rampant diversion of billions of dollars amonth in federal small business contracts to large businesses.

Ido see a desperate need for a policy that would stop the SBA from cheatingsmall business with their fabricated, "small business eligibledollars" policy.

Ichallenge anyone at the SBA or any other federal agency to show me the sectionof the Small Business Act that allows for "small business eligibledollars" to be used in calculating the percentage of awards to smallbusinesses. I challenge anyone to provide the section from the Small BusinessAct that allows for Fortune 500 firms, their subsidiaries or any largebusinesses to legally receive federal small business contracts.

Inconclusion, the American Small Business League is opposed to the "safeharbor from fraud" policy. This is just another loophole that will allowthe federal government to cheat small businesses out of more contracts,encourage fraud, protect fraudulent firms and allow the SBA to continue tofabricate and falsify the government's compliance with the 23 percent smallbusiness-contracting goal.

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