July 1, 2004 

Via Facsimile and E-mail 

The Honorable Hector V. Barreto, Administrator 

U.S. Small Business Administration 
409 Third Street, SW 
Washington, DC 20416 
RE: Withdrawal of the Proposed Rule on Small Business Size Standards 

Dear Administrator Barreto: 

The Office of Advocacy commends your leadership in withdrawing the proposed rule on 
Small Business Size Standards; Restructuring of Size Standards. We are pleased that the U.S. 
Small Business Administration (SBA) is going to solicit additional input from small businesses 
before moving forward on this important topic. 

The Office of Advocacy works closely with small businesses and their representatives to 
independently represent the views of small businesses. As reflected in our June 29, 2004, 
comments to the Office of Size Standards, the small business community had serious concerns 
regarding the potential impact of the proposed rule. SBA is to be commended for its 
responsiveness to the concerns raised by small businesses commenting on the proposed rule. 

Advocacy strongly supports SBA’s decision to reexamine the size standard rule. 
Hopefully, SBA will use the additional time to conduct a formal stakeholder process, throughout 
the country, that will allow the SBA to better analyze the rule's impact on small business and to 
consider additional alternatives to minimize the impacts on adversely affected small businesses. 

My staff of regulatory experts and economists is available to work with the Office of Size 
Standards as it revisits this rulemaking. Your decision demonstrates SBA’s commitment to give 
proper consideration to small entity impacts under Executive Order 13272 and the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act. 


Once again, thank you for leadership in deciding to take a closer look at the proposed rule 
to restructure SBA’s size standards. If you have any questions, please contact me or Major Clark 
of my staff at (202) 205-7150. 

Sincerely, 

Thomas M. Sullivan 
Chief Counsel of Advocacy 

Cc: Dr. John Graham, Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Analysis 

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