Zoe Lofgren: “I have studied the materials about the Government shutdown that could happen this Friday. I'm worried about something…”

“I have studied the materials about the Government shutdown that could happen this Friday. I'm worried about something nobody seems to be talking about--funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission. I'm not an expert on the SEC; not many Members are. But, I know when the Stock Market crashed in 1929, it didn't do America much good. The SEC is supposed to keep that from happening again. I have a letter from the SEC that says, ``in the event of a disruption in funding . . . we fear the protection of investors and capital formation could be seriously hampered and it would seriously compromise the SEC's ability to oversee the securities markets . . . and could hamper the agency's ability to react quickly in the event of a market disruption.'' The SEC would be unable to respond to requests for Commission action to facilitate capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and tender offers. Initial public offerings couldn't move forward. I represent Silicon Valley. How will America be improved if the high- tech, cutting-edge companies of Silicon Valley are stopped from raising Capital through IPO's? We have 4 days to act--to fund the SEC at last year's level. Let's protect America's economy and get that job done tomorrow.”