Increasing Investor Opportunities Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Chair, I thank Chairwoman Wagner, Chairman French Hill, Mr. Gottheimer, and to my dear friend and person that I respect and admire, the Ranking Member Maxine Waters, for their leadership.

Mr. Chair, I am here today to say why I support this bill and why it was important for me to be a cosponsor.

I support this bill because I believe it is a meaningful step for working families. At a time when families continue to feel the pressures of rising costs and financial uncertainty, the INVEST Act represents a meaningful, commonsense step to help Americans secure their financial futures.

Mr. Chair, 62 percent of Americans are invested in the stock market and the vast majority are not day traders or wealthy investors. There are millions of everyday workers who participate through mutual funds, pensions, and retirement plans like the 401(k)'s and IRAs.

I support this bill because it expands access to capital for underserved and under-networked entrepreneurs. This bill modernizes outdated rules that have made it especially hard for Black and Brown founders and minority-owned small businesses to meet investors, to participate in community investment events, and raise early capital.

The INVEST Act broadens who can responsibly participate in private markets. It preserves investor protections and strengthens oversight while recognizing that these opportunities for wealth building shouldn't just be for the super rich. It makes it easier for small businesses by reducing regulatory friction and compliance burdens that disproportionately impact them.

This package of 22 bills is fundamentally really a pro small business bill focused on addressing the affordability crisis and not a Wall Street deregulatory bill.

Mr. Chair, 16 of these bills have passed the House nearly unanimously in this Congress, and I supported every individual bill when we considered them before the Financial Services Committee, as did many of my committee colleagues.

I sponsored three of the bills in this package that I have worked on for multiple Congresses. These bills increase transparency in multiclass stock structures, protect against activist investors in closed-end funds, and encourage startups to test the waters when considering an IPO.

These issues aren't just a flash in the pan. These bills have come together after long thought and deliberation with partners like the U.S. Black Chambers, like minority banks, institutional investor advocates, and nonprofits. They are about closing the wealth gap of which I have been focused on my entire career.

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Mr. MEEKS. That is why I support this bill. That is one of the main reasons why I am here in the United States Congress.

Strengthening our capital markets is not about helping the big guys. It is about improving the financial security of working families. Supporting the INVEST Act will give Americans more opportunities to grow their retirement savings and build long-term economic stability.

Mr. Chair, I support this bill and urge my colleagues to do the same.

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