Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Reporting Act of 2025

Floor Speech

Date: June 3, 2025
Location: Washington, DC

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Reporting Act of 2025.

I will start by thanking my friend and colleague from Kentucky (Mr. McGarvey) for introducing this bill and for his hard work in getting this bill to this point.

Every day, people with disabilities across our great country demonstrate resilience, innovation, and an entrepreneurial spirit. Yet, many roadblocks make entrepreneurship unnecessarily difficult.

These individuals don't lack talent, but they lack access. That is access to capital, access to resources, and the support needed to turn their ideas into successful businesses.

The Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Reporting Act ensures that we take a hard look at the obstacles standing in the way of aspiring entrepreneurs with disabilities. It directs the Small Business Administration to assess whether current programs are effectively serving these individuals and to identify where improvements are needed.

If we are serious about fostering economic growth and opportunity, we cannot leave behind the millions of great Americans with disabilities who want to contribute, who want to innovate, and want to build something of their own.

Removing these obstacles isn't just the right thing to do, but it is a smart investment in economic growth. Entrepreneurs with disabilities bring creativity, and they bring drive. We should be clearing the path and not blocking it.

Mr. Speaker, today is a fly-in day for the House of Representatives. This conversation between Chairman Williams, Mr. McGarvey, and the leadership of Ranking Member Velazquez won't get the headlines because this apparently doesn't sell to the news media.

We in this country, as Democrats and Republicans, have more in common than we do differences, and we are letting the American people know that today.

Chairman Williams has done a tremendous job in the Committee on Small Business of allowing Members to bring ideas and legislation that is bipartisan. I thank the chairman for his hard work and for allowing us to do that.

I thank Ranking Member Velazquez for allowing us to do that, as well.

I thank Mr. McGarvey for managing the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, this is who we are, and I point out that Mr. McGarvey said this is the way the Founding Fathers would want it. I totally agree with that. One of the gentleman's constituents brought the concern, and it took us a little while to get there, but we got there.

Mr. Speaker, we are working in a bipartisan fashion to remove obstacles in the way of the growth for our disability community.

Mr. Speaker, I know your background. The Speaker was chosen, just like me and millions of other parents, to raise a special child who God gave us. It is up to us now as a country and as legislators to not leave anybody behind.

Mr. Speaker, nobody in our disability community will ever be left behind, and you are seeing that in a bipartisan fashion.

I thank Mr. McGarvey, Ranking Member Velazquez, and Chairman Williams for their leadership and allowing us to introduce this legislation because we are helping the most vulnerable in our community. That is exactly what we should be doing.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT


Source
arrow_upward