Federal contracting programs for women and minorities are under attach, and it's time to fight back.

The conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) for Public Policy Research recently released a study recommending the closure of the Small Business Administration and the termination of all Federal contracting programs for women, minorities, and small businesses. Washington insiders know the Bush Administration has used the AEI to promote the Republican agenda.

In 2005, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (of which the majority of members were appointed by President Bush), released a study that suggested the Federal government was doing too much business with minority-owned firms and should scale back their contracting opportunities.

The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce was forced to take the Bush Administration to Federal court in order to get them to implement the Congressionally mandated 5% set-aside contracting goal for women-owned businesses.

Bush has cut the SBA operational budget and staffing for six consecutive years. In addition, SBA employees that handled minority business contracting programs have been specifically targeted for layoffs and early retirement.

I have spoken with senior SBA executives and Republican staff who have acknowledged that President Bush intends to "starve the SBA to death" and gradually eliminate all Federal small business contracting programs.

Since Bush took office, the SBA has adopted policies that have made it impossible for even a moderately successful minority-owned firm to qualify for small disadvantaged business status. At the same time, the SBA has diverted billions of dollars in Federal small business contacts to some of the largest companies in the world.

The American Small Business League has won two lawsuits in Federal court that forced the SBA to disclose information that proved billions in small business contracts had been awarded to firms such as Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Raytheon, Northrop-Grumman, Archer Daniels Midland, and Titan Corporation.

The evidence is clear--Federal contracting programs for women, minorities, and small businesses are on the verge of extinction under the Bush Administration. What are the leaders of the minority, women, and small business communities doing about this? Nothing!

Over 100 billion dollars in small business contracts are at stake and you will not find any mention of this issue on the Web sites of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Women Impacting Public Policy, The National Procurement Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce nor the NFIB.

I believe the very groups small businesses thought were protecting their interests have betrayed them. America's entrepreneurs have been duped by partisan political rhetoric and lulled into complacency by the Republican leadership of virtually every group in the nation that touts itself as advocates for women, minorities, and small business.

Most of the heads of these organizations currently serve on Republican or White House councils.

It's time for small business owners to fight back and insist that any group claiming to represent their interests needs to act now to protect Federal small business contracting programs before it's too late. The American Small Business League will support you every step of the way.