,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #ajic  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,march #bd1    
#bjbe,mrs4 ,shaheen 7for herself and    
,mr4 ,kennedy7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,small ,business   
and ,entrepreneurship  ,a ,,bill  ,to   
amend the ,small ,business ,act to      
enhance the ,office of ,rural ,affairs1 
and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short     
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,coordinated ,support for ,rural ,small 
,businesses ,act4  #b4 ,office of ,rural
 ,affairs of the ,small ,business       
,administration ,section #bf of the     
,small ,business ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4    
#fec7 is amended-- 7#a7 in subsection   
7a71 by inserting ,establishment4--     
before ,there2  7#b7 by amending        
subsection 7b7 to read as follows3  7b7 
,appointment of ,assistant              
,administrator  7#a7 ,in general ,the   
,office shall be administered by an     
,assistant ,administrator1 who shall--  

7,a7 be appointed by the ,administrator2
 and  7,b7 serve as a noncareer         
appointee1 as defined in section        
#cacb7;a77#g7 of title #e1 ,united      
,states ,code4  7#b7 ,qualification ,the
 position of ,assistant ,administrator  
shall be a ,senior ,executive ,service  
position under section #cacb7;a77#b7 of 
title #e1 ,united ,states ,code4  2     
7#c7 in subsection 7c7-- 7,a7 in the    
matter preceding paragraph 7#a71 by     
inserting ,duties4-- before ,the        
,office2  7,b7 in paragraph 7#a71 by    
striking small business concerns located
 in rural areas and inserting rural     
small business concerns2  7,c7 in       
paragraph 7#c71 by striking concerning  
the and all that follows through the    
semicolon at the end and inserting the  
following3 on the policies and programs 
of the ,administration and of other     
,federal departments and agencies for   
assisting rural small business          
concerns22  7,d7 in paragraph 7#d71 by  
striking 2 and and inserting a          

semicolon2  7,e7 in paragraph 7#e7-- 7i7
 by striking the ,united ,states        
,tourism and ,travel ,administration and
 inserting the ,national ,travel and    
,tourism ,office of the ,department of  
,commerce2  7ii7 by striking small      
businesses in rural areas and inserting 
rural small business concerns2 and      
7iii7 by striking the period at the end 
and inserting 2 and2 and  7,f7 by adding
 at the end the following3  7#f7 host   
outreach events for rural small business
 concerns as described in subsection    
7d74  2 and  7#d7 by adding at the end  
the following3  7d7 ,outreach ,the      
,assistant ,administrator shall-- 7#a7  
host outreach events in various regions 
of the ,united ,states for rural small  
business concerns2 and  7#b7 invite     
representatives from district offices of
 the ,administration1 resource partners1
 ,federal and ,state agencies1 and other
 interested persons to participate in   
such outreach events4  7e7 ,interagency 
cooperation ,the ,assistant             

,administrator shall coordinate with the
 ,department to-- 7#a7 conduct outreach 
regarding programs of the               
,administration and the ,department and 
to improve awareness and utilization of 
the existing programs and services of   
each agency2 and  7#b7 convene          
interagency working groups to address   
issues including-- 7,a7 capital access  
and investment in rural areas of the    
,united ,states1 which may include-- 7i7
 identifying areas of overlap between   
the business loan programs of the       
,administration and the ,department of  
,agriculture1 including where           
intermediaries may be able to           
participate in programs at both         
agencies2  7ii7 assessing opportunities 
for coordination between the            
,administration and the ,department on  
programs for rural communities of each  
agency through the district offices of  
the ,administration1 relationships with 
rural lenders1 resource partners of the 
,administration1 and joint outreach and 

marketing efforts2  7iii7 improving     
information sharing and discussion of   
best practices between the              
,administration and the ,department2    
7iv7 examining coordination between the 
small business investment company       
program under part ,a of title ,,iii of 
the ,small ,business ,investment ,act of
 #aieh 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #fha et seq47 and 
related programs at the ,department1    
including the ,rural ,business          
,investment ,program of the ,department2
  7v7 examining opportunities for       
coordination between the disaster       
assistance programs of the              
,administration and the ,department2 and
  7vi7 addressing barriers and examining
 opportunities for cooperatives to      
participate in programs and access      
resources of the ,administration that   
are similar to the financing programs of
 the ,department that serve             
cooperatives2 and  7,b7 assisting rural 
small business concerns1 which may      
include-- 7i7 identifying overlap and   

fragmentation among the rural markets   
identified by the ,department and rural 
census tracts identified by the         
,administration2  7ii7 exploring        
opportunities to support innovation in  
rural areas2  7iii7 coordinating        
effective support initiatives that      
benefit ,native ,americans2 and  7iv7   
collaborating on technical assistance1  
especially with respect to exportation  
and procurement4  7f7 ,updates ,not     
later than #g days after any change to  
or new issuance of a memorandum of      
understanding between the               
,administration and the ,department1 the
 ,administration shall notify the       
appropriate congressional committees4   
7g7 ,report  7#a7 ,in general ,not later
 than #ahj days after the date of the   
enactment of this subsection1 and       
annually thereafter1 the ,administrator 
shall submit to the appropriate         
congressional committees and make       
publicly available on a website of the  
,administration a report on the         

activities of the ,office during the    
#a-year period immediately preceding the
 date of submission of the report4  7#b7
 ,contents ,each report required under  
paragraph 7#a7 shall include the        
following3 7,a7 ,the operational details
 of the ,office1 including the name of  
the ,assistant ,administrator1 the      
budget of the ,office1 and the number of
 full-time employees employed by or     
detailed to the ,office4  7,b7 ,a       
summary of the activities conducted     
under subsection 7c74  7,c7 ,the number 
of outreach events conducted by the     
,administration to promote policies and 
programs described in paragraph 7#c7 of 
subsection 7c7 and to provide           
information described in paragraph 7#d7 
of such subsection4  7,d7 ,an analysis  
of the lending programs of the          
,administration in serving the needs of 
rural small business concerns4  7,e7 ,a 
summary of activities conducted under   
subsection 7e71 including-- 7i7 the     
status of any memorandum of             

understanding between the               
,administration and the ,department of  
,agriculture to further the goals of    
improving service delivery1 advice1 and 
assistance for rural small business     
concerns2  7ii7 a summary of outreach   
efforts under subsection 7e77#a72  7iii7
 a summary of working groups created    
under subsection 7e77#b71 including any 
areas of overlap identified in capital  
access programs under subparagraph 7,a7 
of such subsection2 and  7iv7 efforts to
 assist rural small business concerns   
under subsection 7e77#b77;,b74  7h7     
,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7     
,appropriate congressional committees   
,the term appropriate congressional     
committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committees 
on ,small ,business and                 
,entrepreneurship and the ,committee on 
,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 and ,forestry 
of the ,senate2 and  7,b7 the ,committee
 on ,small ,business and the ,committee 
on ,agriculture of the ,house of        
,representatives4  7#b7 ,assistant      

,administrator ,the term ,assistant     
,administrator means the ,assistant     
,administrator of the ,office of ,rural 
,affairs appointed under subsection 7b74
  7#c7 ,department ,the term ,department
 means the ,department of ,agriculture4 
4