U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce Supports Legislation to Improve Access to Federal Contracts for Women-Owned Firms

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce (http://www.uswcc.org) applauds and endorses the Women's Procurement Program Equalization Act (H.R. 2452) which amends the Small Business Act to increase women's participation in government procurement.  The Women's Procurement Program Equalization Act would end self-certification of women-owned firms thereby improving the quality, trust and ease of use for the women-owned certification process, relieve federal contracting officers from serving as de-facto certifiers of women-owned firms, add a sole source contracting component similar to other small business set-aside programs, and require more detailed annual reporting of contracting with women-owned firms to include the number of contracts and total contracting dollars awarded to WOSB and EDWOSB firms aggregated and broken down by industry.

"The federal government has never met its paltry goal of spending five-percent of contracting dollars with women-owned small businesses," says Margot Dorfman, CEO of the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce.  "Women business owners lose billions of dollars every year as the federal government fails to meet its own modest goals for contracting with women-owned firms.  The Women's Procurement Program Equalization Act will help level the playing field and energize women-owned firms as our country works hard to revitalize our economy."

"The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce thanks Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez for authoring this legislation and Co-Sponsors Ron Barber (D-AZ), Judy Chu (CA-32), Yvette Clarke (NY), Grace Meng (D-NY) and Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-NJ) for their leadership in ensuring that the Women's Procurement Program is effective in helping the federal government to meet contracting goals," adds Dorfman.

The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce™ is the leading advocate for women on economic and leadership issues.  As the economic leader for women, the USWCC creates opportunities, drives progress, advocates, and provides tools and solutions to support the economic growth of women across America. The USWCC is a not-for-profit 501(c)6 organization founded in 2001 with over 500,000 members; its headquarters offices are located in Washington, D.C.  Contact the USWCC at 888-418-7922.

SOURCE U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce