Petaluma, Calif. - The following is a letter from American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman to Mr. Wolf Blitzer the Host of CNN's The Situation Room.

Dear Mr. Blitzer,

You will be interviewing Senator Barack Obama tomorrow on Friday, October 31, and I would like to ask you to consider asking him a question that is timely and could save thousands of small businesses across the country.

In February, Senator Obama released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." No journalist has ever asked Senator Obama about this issue and Senator Obama has never mentioned the issue again. 

Please ask Senator Obama if he still believes Fortune 500 firms should not be allowed to receive federal small business contracts and exactly how he intends to stop it.

Since 2003, a series of federal investigations have been released, which have found federal agencies diverted billions of dollars in small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. Thousands of legitimate middle class companies have been forced to close their doors as they have unknowingly competed head-to-head with many of the largest firms in the world for even the smallest government orders earmarked for small businesses. 

Just last week, a front-page story in the Washington Post found that 40 percent of government small business contracts sampled had actually gone to Fortune 500 firms. By using the 40 percent number and applying it to the Bush Administration's two terms, the American Small Business League has estimated that nearly $500 billion in small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 corporations.

CNN has covered the story three times, and I have appeared on CNN twice talking about the issue. The Washington Post story is essentially the same story that the Associate Press published in 2003, and the New York Times published in 2006. Yet, nothing has been done to address the problem. Congress has not passed even a single piece of legislation to stop Fortune 500 firms from taking federal small business contracts.

Considering the state of our nation's economy, federal programs to direct a small portion of government contracts to America's 27 million small businesses makes good sense.

If you could ask Senator Obama about this issue and get his ideas on how he might specifically address the problem, it could shine a light on this issue that Congress could not ignore and hopefully lead to legislation to stop it.

No journalist has ever asked Senator Obama or Senator McCain about this issue.

One question could save thousands of hard working, American small businesses that could certainly use a little help as they struggle to deal with one of the most dramatic economic downturns in recent history.

Sincerely,

Lloyd Chapman
President, American Small Business League