Ed Royce: “I thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and the underlying legislation of this H.R. 2357. It…”

“I thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and the underlying legislation of this H.R. 2357. It encompasses, by the way, H.R. 4850, and this is the Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act. What I will share with my colleagues is that California is the innovation capital of the world. From Silicon Valley to Orange County, technology startups are reimagining the way that the world works, and these new companies don't have thousands of people on payroll. {time} 1315 They don't need dozens of floors of office space. They don't need billions of dollars to function, but they do need capital. They need that capital to operate. Our current regulatory framework creates impediments to these small businesses tapping into the market. According to the Federal Reserve, the startup rate has fallen sharply over the past 30 years. It was 14 percent of total companies in a given year, but today it is down to 8 percent. The likelihood of a young firm being a high-growth firm has also declined over the years, and these trends are alarming, if you think about the consequences. These trends need to be reversed. The Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act turns the tide by lowering compliance burdens for firms seeking low-dollar investments from a small group of investors that they have a relationship with. So the legislation appropriately scales the regulatory oversight of capital formation, while keeping intact investor protections.…”