PETALUMA, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 3,2014) - According to the American Small Business League, Missouri Congressman Sam Graves isbacking a 25 year old Pentagon programthat allows the Pentagon's 15 largest prime contractors to circumvent federal law that requires 23% ofall federal contracts be awarded to small businesses.

The Comprehensive Subcontracting PlanTest Program was adopted in 1990 after information obtained underthe Freedom of Information Act began to surface that indicated the Pentagon wasfabricating their compliance with the 20% small business subcontracting goalsrequired under federal law at that time. 

The Comprehensive Subcontracting PlanTest Program was disguised as a test plan to increase subcontractingopportunities for small businesses but it was very carefully written to do justthe opposite.

Prime contractors participating in theTest Program no longer had to provide quarterly small business subcontractingplans that could be monitored by Congress, the media and the public to ensurecompliance with their small business subcontracting goals. The Test Programeffectively removed all transparency.

The final provision of theComprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program was the elimination of allpenalties such as "liquidated damages"for Pentagon prime contractors that did not comply with their small businesssubcontracting goals.

Once penalties for non-compliance withsubcontracting goals were eliminated, along with the quarterly reports that hadbeen used to monitor compliance with subcontracting goals, prime contractorscould no longer be held accountable in any way for ignoring congressionallymandated small business subcontracting goals.

For 25 years the Pentagon has refusedto provide any data on the Test Program. A 2004 GAO investigation and the language in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Billacknowledges the Pentagon has never released any information that shows theTest Program has achieved any of its goals. The Pentagon is also refusing to release any information on theComprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program under the Freedom of InformationAct.

Although Graves has backed a plan toincrease the federal small business contracting goal from 23% to 25%, he hasrefused to back legislation, such as H.R. 1622 The Fairness andTransparency in Contracting Act, that would stop Fortune 500 firms from qualifying as smallbusinesses.

The American Small Business League (ASBL)estimates during the 25 years of the Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan TestProgram, American small businesses have been cheated out of well over onetrillion dollars in federal subcontracts.

ASBL President Lloyd Chapman stated,"Congressman Graves' 25% small business contracting goal is a ruse. Whatdifference does it make what the small business contracting goal is whenfederal policies allow Fortune 500 firms to land small business contracts? Theycould make it 100% and it still wouldn't mean anything. His support for thePentagon's 25 year old anti-small business Test Program is why the ASBLconsiders him to be one of the most anti-small business members inCongress."

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