Improving Access to Capital for Emerging Growth Companies Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The Improving Access to Capital for Emerging Growth Companies Act is a good bill and is the product of bipartisan compromise. The bill was amended last year to address certain investor protection concerns while still retaining key relief for small businesses.
H.R. 2064 amends title I of the Jumpstart Our Business Start-Ups Act of 2012, to provide emerging growth companies--that is, EGCs--with additional flexibility when going public.
During a hearing on this bill in the Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee, one witness expressed concerns that 2 years of financial statements are necessary for the SEC to compare years during its review, and, at a minimum, issuers should be required to provide what they have.
My fear is that, if a company were allowed to delay its filing, as this bill would allow, it would only likely delay the SEC's review, resulting in no real benefit to the issuer.
I would also like to emphasize the problem Congress gets into when it preempts the regulators by trying to issue rules by legislation. When we get it wrong, it takes another act of Congress to fix it. However, I support this legislation today because it seems as if a consensus has emerged that this technical fix is appropriate.
I reserve the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Delaney).
It is because of his leadership not only on this issue, but on small business, the opportunities of EGCs, and the fact that his negotiations on this legislation led us to bipartisan support.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Speaker, I think that this is the last bill that we are taking up on suspension today. What you have seen is a fine example of both sides of the aisle working to do the best thing that we could possibly do for our constituents.
There have been bills that were presented today that were suspect, perhaps, when they first were introduced; there were bills today where we had technical corrections; there were bills today where we had bipartisan support where we never thought we would get bipartisan support. I would like the work that we have done on the floor today to demonstrate that we do have the ability to work together in the best interests of the citizens of this country; and to the degree that we understand that even in Dodd-Frank where there may still be some concerns, that we can be civil about it, that we can be considerate about it, and that we recognize that not only may there may be places for technical corrections in Dodd-Frank, but in the JOBS Act and other bills that we have heard today and that we will hear in the future.
I am very pleased to have been a part of the work that we have done here on this floor today to get together in a bipartisan way, again, to act in the best interests of all of the people of this country.
I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source