PETALUMA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/07/12 -- The following is a statement by American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman:

A recent investigative report by NBC found millions of dollars in federal small business contracts had been diverted to a host of Fortune 500 firms such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Oracle. Officials at the Small Business Administration (SBA) declined an interview, but claimed Fortune 500 firms had received federal small business contracts accidentally and referred to the errors as "anomalies."

With President Obama winning his second term, the "anomalies" that have diverted billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms here in the U.S. and even some of the largest corporate giants around the world will continue.

Some of the firms receiving millions in federal small business contracts during the first Obama administration include Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Office Depot, AT&T, British Aerospace, QinetiQ, Italian defense giant Finmeccanica and Rosoboronexport, an arms dealer owned by the Russian government.

The SBA's "anomaly" excuse is mathematically impossible. A true anomaly would be a random occurrence with an equal pattern of distribution in a situation with only two choices -- small business or large business. However, during the Obama administration, virtually 100 percent of the "anomalies" result in federal contracts awarded to large businesses being reported as small business contracts, never the other way around. The net effect is that, every month, billions of dollars in federal contracts that, by law, should go to small businesses are being diverted to corporate giants worldwide.

In response, every year of the Obama administration, the SBA Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG) has named the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as the biggest management challenge facing the agency.

In 2010, Obama administration officials at the General Services Administration (GSA) even attempted to remove information from the federal government's database that would have helped large businesses win small business contracts. The GSA aimed to remove the parent company Dun & Bradstreet number and the "isSmallBusiness" field from every record in the government's procurement database. This was information federal investigators use to uncover large businesses misrepresenting themselves as independent small businesses to illegally receive federal small business contracts. The ASBL successfully sued the GSA in federal court and forced them to restore the data.

The ASBL is predicting President Obama, in his second term, will attempt to close the SBA by combining it with the Department of Commerce under the guise of saving money. If the SBA and the Department of Commerce were combined, it would be easier and less transparent to slowly eliminate federal programs that mandate a minimum 23 percent of all federal contracts be awarded to small businesses. The Obama administration would no longer have to claim "anomalies" were responsible for the diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to corporate giants.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 90 percent of the net new jobs in America. To date, no journalist has ever asked President Obama why his administration has diverted billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to corporate giants around the world. NOT ONE - EVER.

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