Investing in All of America Act of 2023

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. SCHOLTEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez for holding this really important hearing during National Small Business Week.

Mr. Speaker, 99.6 percent, that is the number of businesses in Michigan that are considered small businesses. That is nearly 1 million small businesses that call our State home.

As diverse as these businesses are, there is one thing that binds them all together. These small business owners consistently tell me that access to capital is the number one thing that they need and rely on to keep their doors open.

This is especially true for our small businesses in low-income and rural communities.

That is why this bipartisan bill with my colleague, Dan Meuser, the Investing in All of America Act, is so important.

It will build on the success of the Small Business Investment Companies program to ensure that more capital can reach the small businesses that need it most. Our legislation will incentivize deployment of additional capital by changing how investments are counted against the SBIC's leverage cap. In doing so, small businesses will be able to access more capital than before, especially those in underserved communities, and, as my colleague noted, without costing the taxpayers additional dollars.

Recent studies have shown that less than 20 percent of SBIC funds reach low-income and rural communities. That disparity is unacceptable, and if we pass this bill we can change this statistic. It is incumbent on this body to invest in the people who are investing in our communities.

I am known to say back home that we are bringing boring back to Congress. That is what I set out to do every time I come here. Oftentimes, this body is not known for that, but it is essential that we do this type of bipartisan, unglamorous work that corrects errors in our laws that so disproportionately impact the people who need it most.

This bipartisan solution will address an urgent need in every corner of our Nation, and I urge my colleagues to support this much-needed bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source