On the recordJanuary 25, 2023
I thank the ranking member of the Small Business Committee for astute work on issues dealing with small businesses; Mr. Williams, a colleague from Texas; and the bipartisan sponsors of this legislation. I have always said that small businesses are the backbone of the economic engine of America, so I rise in support of H.R. 400, the Investing in Main Street Act of 2023, for the wiseness of providing more investment in small businesses. As a strong supporter of small businesses, I believe that this bill will improve the livelihood of many small businesses that have continuously been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill is designed to release more capital investment into small businesses in America. If my colleagues have interacted with the small business community, that is one of the number one issues that they raise consistently. The bill would allow certain banks and savings associations to invest more into small business investment companies by increasing the statutory cap from 5 percent to 15 percent--I can't even imagine the number 5 percent--and the growing amount of small businesses and the ones that really stayed the course in desperate times, which was COVID- 19. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020 had the highest total number of applications for new businesses by far compared to all other years. From 2019 to 2021, there was a 20 percent increase in the number of small businesses.…
