# Contract Our Veterans Act of 2024

This bill aims to help veteran-owned small businesses win more government contracts with the Department of Defense. Right now, the military buys goods and services from thousands of companies, but veterans who own small businesses often struggle to compete for these contracts. This bill creates specific targets to increase how much money the Pentagon spends with veteran-owned companies.

Here's what the bill actually does: The Department of Defense will set yearly goals for how much of its contracting money should go to small businesses owned by veterans. These goals will match the government-wide targets already set for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans (veterans with disabilities from their military service). The bill creates two separate goals—one for all veteran-owned small businesses and another specifically for those owned by service-disabled veterans. To help these businesses win contracts, the Pentagon can now award contracts directly to qualified veteran-owned companies without holding a competitive bidding process, as long as the contract price is reasonable and the company can do the work. When there are multiple veteran-owned businesses competing, the Pentagon can also limit bidding to just those companies instead of opening it up to everyone.

The bill prioritizes which veteran-owned businesses get preference: service-disabled veteran-owned businesses get first priority, followed by other veteran-owned businesses, then other small business programs. To qualify, veteran-owned companies must be registered in a federal database. Essentially, this bill gives the Pentagon a roadmap and tools to intentionally direct more of its spending toward supporting veteran entrepreneurs, recognizing that veterans have served their country and deserve opportunities to build successful businesses.