Expanding Access to Capital Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2799. American public markets remain the go-to place for innovative companies to grow and build capital. However, the regulatory environment has steadily become more burdensome and costly, creating a real divide between market regulation now and market regulation years ago.

At a time when the markets and regulatory environment were more conducive to small- and mid-cap stocks, groundbreaking Wisconsin companies like Harley-Davidson, Johnson Controls, and Kohler raised capital by going public. Through the IPOs, these upstart enterprises raised the funding necessary to expand their workforce and operations. At the same time, families benefited from the opportunity to invest in these companies to build savings and wealth.

While Americans have started new businesses at record rates since the pandemic, many still struggle to meet their own capital needs. The number of U.S. IPOs has continued to decline since the early 2000s as the cost and regulatory burdens of going and staying public remain high.

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Mr. FITZGERALD. Under President Biden, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler proposed over 50 rules. This must be reversed, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' for this commonsense legislation.

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