PETALUMA, Calif., January 31, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bush-appointed Civil Rights Commission recently issued a report that said that the Federal government is doing too much business with minorities and needs to cut back. The conservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute, published a study that stated that the SBA should be closed and all Federal small business programs should be eliminated. Last year, the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce was forced to sue the Small Business Administration in order to get them to implement the federally mandated women's procurement program.

In a recent speech, President Bush referred to the SBA as a "small agency" that was "overwhelmed" by the Hurricane Katrina disaster. What he failed to mention was that over the last few years, he has cut the SBA budget and the staffing in half. In fact, the agency had to hire thousands of temporary employees to manage the workload left by the experienced personnel who have been laid off or forced into early retirement.

Lloyd Chapman, President of the American Small Business League, predicts that the Bush administration plans to close the SBA in 2006. "When the Republicans do this, you can bet that they are going to eliminate this agency under the guise that it will be beneficial for small businesses. But I can assure you that they don't have any intention of doing anything that will be good for small business. This administration has a track record of passing policies that have diverted billions of dollars in contracts from small businesses. Don't take my word for it, look at the seven Federal investigations that have come out in the last three years that show that billions of dollars in Federal small business contracts have been awarded to large companies."

Report 5-15 from the SBA's Office of Inspector General states that, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today is that large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving credit for these awards."

Chapman added, "I wouldn't be surprised if, tomorrow night during his State of the Union address, Bush tries to pitch the idea of closing the SBA and rolling it into the Commerce Department. He will try to convince us that this will be good for the small business community, but nothing could be further from the truth. What he really wants to do is close the SBA and eliminate Federal contracting programs for small business, women, and minorities."

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 1951. 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.