Andy Barr: “I thank my friend from North Carolina for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2513, the Corporate…”

“I thank my friend from North Carolina for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2513, the Corporate Transparency Act. I do so regrettably. While I agree with the objective of the bill to help law enforcement crack down on the financing of illegal operations, this bill's solution places undue burdens on small businesses and presents unacceptable due process concerns for millions of small business owners whose sensitive personally identifiable information will be collected and stored in a new Federal database accessible without a warrant or a Federal subpoena. I want to thank my friend, the sponsor of this bill, for her good faith attempt to streamline beneficial ownership reporting. I agree with her that we need to do more to combat terrorist financing, money laundering, drug trafficking, and other national security threats. I am sympathetic, also, to the needs of law enforcement to identify the financing sources of illicit operations and shut them down. That said, the bill before us today seeks to achieve these ends unnecessarily on the backs of America's small businesses. The bill would create additional regulatory reporting requirements for existing and newly created small businesses. These businesses do not have the compliance resources comparable to larger firms. This reporting requirement will take a toll on their productivity and their bottom line. According to the U.S.…”