Small Business Administration: Overview and Issues (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Dec. 19, 2001 |
| Report Number |
96-649E |
| Authors |
Bruce K. Mulock |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Legislation creating the Small Business Administration (SBA) was signed into law
(P.L. 83-163) in 1953, early in President Eisenhower’s first term in office. Successor to
several agencies created during the “Great Depression” and World War II, the SBA was
created on a “temporary basis” to address several perceived problems facing small
business — problems that were accentuated by large-scale mobilization of American
industry for national security. The enabling law declared it to be the policy of Congress
that the federal government should aid, counsel, assist, and protect insofar asis possible
the interests of small-business concerns in order to preserve free competitive enterprise,
to insure that a fair proportion of the total purchases and contracts for supplies and
services for government be placed with small business enterprises, and to maintain and
strengthen the overall economy of the nation.
Over its 46-year history the SBA has generated considerable criticism, particularly
regarding the quality—or lack thereof—of its management. Increasingly during the
1990s, however, the agency has been seen to have made significant improvements in
many areas, including leadership and efficiency. While some observers continue to
question whetherthe SBA and its programs make sense from a public policy perspective,
the agency enjoys a strong constituency and broad bipartisan support in the Congress.
This report will be updated as required by legislative activity.
