Kerry Calls for Audit of Procurement Figures Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) called on SBA to audit the fiscal 2003 small-business federal contracting numbers and to take a more aggressive role in fulfilling its oversight duties. Kerry, ranking minority member of the Small Business Committee, pointed to a December report from SBA’s Office of Advocacy finding that more than $2 billion of contracts reported as going to small firms in 2002 were actually given to 44 large companies, nonprofits or government entities. He said the 2003 figures should be subjected to a comprehensive audit. “The Bush administration is quick to make boisterous claims about its support for small business,” the former Democratic presidential candidate wrote in a letter to SBA Administrator Hector Barreto. “However, reports of small-contractor abuse, small businesses being overlooked, bait and switch tactics being used by large prime contractors, and reporting of inaccurate small business utilization data continue.” Kerry accused the SBA of “fostering an atmosphere that encourages widespread fraud and abuse in small business contracting.” He called on the SBA Inspector General to investigate the 44 firms included in the December report to determine whether they intentionally violated the Small Business Act. Contractors can be disbarred for falsely claiming small-business eligibility, but that has not happened in recent memory. The Advocacy study, by Eagle Eye Publishers of Fairfax, VA, said contracts were erroneously credited to small businesses because of loopholes in the regulations or errors in data entry. It did not mention any evidence of fraud by large firms posing as small. (SAA, 12/17/2004) A separate study last fall by the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity found that more than half of the top 100 defense contractors received contracts that were designated as small-business awards over a recent six-year period. (SAA, 10/8/2004) Kerry has reintroduced the Small Business Federal Contractor Safeguard Act, which would set new restrictions on bundling and hold prime contractors accountable for their subcontracting agreements by requiring them to certify subcontracting plans. Those provisions were part of the SBA reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in 2003 with bipartisan support, but they were dropped from the final bill in a House-Senate conference committee, along with other procurement provisions.