Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Reporting Act of 2025

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 1621, the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Reporting Act of 2025.

As vice ranking member of the House Committee on Small Business, I am proud to partner with Congressman Stauber, who has done incredible work in this area to support Americans with disabilities and help to ensure that every American has the same opportunity to become a successful entrepreneur.

Mr. Speaker, this is, after all, the fundamental promise of the American Dream: that any person in this country can work hard, take risks, and hopefully find success.

Yet, Americans with disabilities, like other underprivileged groups, see fewer opportunities to make their entrepreneurial dream a reality. There are 44 million people with disabilities in the United States. In my home State of Kentucky, approximately 18 percent of people have a disability. Yet, people with disabilities make up just 6 percent of our Nation's small business owners. We have to change that.

Far too often, entrepreneurs with disabilities encounter significant barriers, both physical and intangible, when starting their own business, including having a harder time getting bank loans and start- up investments, inadequate support services, and insufficient outreach from Federal programs. We know this is just the tip of the iceberg and that more barriers exist.

Today, nearly 2 million small businesses are owned by people with disabilities, but there could be so many more. Here is how: by improving the public programs that serve differently abled individuals and implementing policies that make work and entrepreneurship more accessible, providing accommodations, tackling ableism, and the list goes on.

Mr. Speaker, to pull this off, our bill would require SBA to conduct a comprehensive study of the resources that are available to entrepreneurs with disabilities, examine their effectiveness, and determine what actions need to be taken to help support these entrepreneurs.

By conducting this report, SBA will have the opportunity to revisit the effectiveness of their programs to ensure that our government better serves people with disabilities who want to start their own small business.

This bill came together in a way that I think the Founders might have envisioned. Last Congress, the Committee on Small Business heard from my constituent Cody Clark, a small business owner, a disabilities rights advocate, and I think the only person who has ever performed a magic trick in front of our committee.

He testified on the challenges that entrepreneurs with disabilities face based on his experience as an entrepreneur with autism, and this bill was born from his insight and experience.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this critical legislation for Cody and for every other American with their own entrepreneurial dream, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez, for this incredible work and, as Mr. Stauber said, allowing us to work together in this way.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Stauber for his incredible work in this area and for his willingness to advocate for so many Americans, including his own child. It takes tremendous strength and courage. I thank the gentleman for working with me specifically on this important bipartisan piece of legislation to ensure that this Congress and the SBA do right by Americans with disabilities.

Mr. Speaker, entrepreneurship is the hallmark of the American Dream. It is who we are--a land of opportunity for all. This bill takes a commonsense, bipartisan step toward improving government services for entrepreneurs with disabilities.

By requiring the SBA to assess current programs and identify challenges and barriers that entrepreneurs with disabilities face, we lay the groundwork for a better, more inclusive society and economy.

Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. If we can make it easier for more people to start a small business, we will all benefit.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1621, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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