PETALUMA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--U.S. Representative Hank Johnson (R-GA) has introduced a bill in Congress that will provide a major boost to the middle class economy. The bill could be one of the most efficient and effective stimulus plans introduced to date, with the potential to create millions of new jobs.

“One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal Government today.”

H.R. 1622, The Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2013, will close the loopholes that allow publicly traded, foreign-owned and Fortune 1000 companies to receive federal contracts intended for small businesses. The Small Business Act of 1953 defines a small business as independently owned, thus disqualifying publicly traded companies from receiving federal small business contracts.

Since 2002, a series of federal investigations have found fraud, abuse, loopholes and a lack of oversight in federal small business contracting programs, allowing companies like Verizon, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Bank of America, Delta Air Lines, Best Buy, Disney, Rolls-Royce, British Aerospace, Italian defense giant Finmeccanica, Russian-owned arms dealer Rosoboronexport and countless others to receive contracts that are earmarked for legitimate American small businesses.

In 2005 the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General named this issue as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal Government today.”

While nearly every major newspaper and television network in America has covered this issue, lawmakers have failed to put an end to the rampant fraud and abuse in federal contracting. H.R. 1622, which was drafted by Rep. Johnson and the American Small Business League (ASBL), would put an immediate end to the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses in the U.S. and Europe.

U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that over 98 percent of all U.S. firms have less than 100 employees and these firms are responsible for over 90 percent of net new jobs in America. President Obama has repeatedly called small businesses the engine of our economy, and in 2008 he released the statement, “It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.”

H.R. 1622 would end the diversion of small business contracts to corporate giants once and for all, and would redirect up to $100 billion annually to the 28 million small businesses that create nearly all the net new jobs in America. No new taxes or spending would be required for H.R. 1622.

The ASBL has launched a national campaign to gain support for H.R. 1622.

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