PETALUMA, Calif., April 14, 2006 /PRNewswire/ The General Services Administration has been flooded with comments from angry small business owners across the country in response to its recent notice of proposed rulemaking. Small business owners were alerted that the GSA may be adopting policies, which could be characterized as "anti-small business," that would allow Federal agencies and prime contractors to report billions of dollars in contracts to Fortune 1000 firms as small business awards.

There have now been eleven Federal investigations that have documented fraud, abuse, loopholes, and a dramatic lack of oversight in a variety of small business contracting programs.

Lloyd Chapman, President of the American Small Business League, stated today, "The fraud and abuse that we are seeing in Federal small business contracting programs would never have occurred without the knowledge and consent of the General Services Administration. This agency is one of the primary culprits in allowing contracting abuse. It's time for the GSA to address these issues and to adopt policies to clean up the problems that have been found in the eleven Federal investigations."

Chapman added, "I am also concerned that the GSA will attempt to disallow any comments they receive that do not agree with their goal of diverting contracts to large businesses. The ASBL has received hundreds of comments from small business owners nationwide and forwarded these to GSA. We will not accept any attempt by the GSA to dismiss these comments."

Business people concerned about GSA policies can submit comments directly to GSA or through the ASBL Web site at www.asbl.com. Comments must be submitted on or before Monday, April 17, 2006 in order to be considered during GSA's regulatory review. GSA's Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is at
www.acqnet.gov/GSAM/GSAR_ANPR_2006_NO1_FR.pdf.

About the ASBL
The American Small Business League was formed to promote and advocate policies that provide the greatest opportunity for small businesses - the 98% of U.S. companies with less than 100 employees. The ASBL is founded on the principle that small businesses, the backbone of a vital American economy, should receive the fair treatment promised by the Small Business Act of 1953. Representing small businesses in all fields and industries throughout the United States, the ASBL monitors existing policies and proposed policy changes by the Small Business Administration and other federal agencies that affect its members.

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