Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Chair, I rise today to offer a straightforward amendment to H.R. 3606, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act.

My amendment would simply direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct a study 1 year after enactment of the law to determine the increase in initial public offerings, or IPOs, resulting from this legislation. The study would also include data specifically on the increases in the manufacturing and high-technology industries.

Though I have concerns about the underlying bill, I plan to support it because I believe it will help small high-tech manufacturers, particularly many in my congressional district, to grow and to hire. However, I also believe we must take steps to ensure these provisions are actually working and our innovative entrepreneurs and small business are getting the support they need.

Madam Chair, as our Nation has struggled these past few years from the economic crisis, we have taken a hard look at what is required for our economy to grow and to thrive into the future. One thing we have all agreed upon is the need to Make It in America.

Of course, this means rebuilding and re-energizing American manufacturing, especially in high-tech. America's greatest export has always been our innovative ideas. For decades, we excelled at both imagining and building new products here in America. But in recent years, we've lost so many manufacturing plants and the millions of quality middle class jobs that came with them.

Small start-ups and local companies have been replaced with large global corporations who have exported our best ideas and our jobs overseas. This has to stop.

Encouraging growth in high-tech manufacturing here at home is critical to rebuilding our economy to better compete in the 21st century. Whether it's in clean energy, defense, or computer science, high-tech manufacturers are creating jobs, spurring economic growth, and helping our Nation regain its rightful place as the global leader in innovation and manufacturing.

What my amendment will simply ensure is this bill is actually accomplishing what it is supposed to accomplish. It will ensure that these reforms are helping high-tech entrepreneurs and small businesses grow and hire more workers.

I'm fortunate in my district to see firsthand the tremendous success these innovative high-tech manufacturers can have in the 21st century economy, companies like Transphorm, Inogen, Trust Automation, MariPro, Owl Biomedical, and Wyatt Technologies. They're all homegrown, often with ideas first hatched at our public universities like UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

These companies, and so many more like them, are all innovating, expanding, and creating quality local, good-paying jobs on California's central coast. These innovative businesses have weathered the economic crisis better than anyone else, and they've done this not by outsourcing jobs or cutting pay and benefits. They are doing it the old-fashioned way by constantly innovating and outthinking their competition. They demonstrate the critical link between education, innovation, and our economy. Well, the reforms in the underlying bill are certainly important. We can't lose sight of the many other critical policies that help nurture and grow small business.

As I meet with small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout my district, I hear about access to capital and cutting red tape, of course. But I also hear about the importance of funding our local community colleges and universities, improving local infrastructure, and protecting critical Federal programs like the Small Business Innovation Research, SBIR, under the Small Business Administration.

This bill certainly moves us in the right direction, but we need to do so much more. We need to take up a long-term transportation bill that rebuilds our crumbling roads, bridges, and railways without partisan gimmicks and giveaways.

We need to address the ongoing housing crisis that continues to drag down our economy and force families from their homes. We need to close the gaping loopholes in our Tax Code that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas.

Madam Chair, this bill is a positive step forward, but as many of my colleagues have pointed out, there is room for improvement. While I hope this bill can be improved as it moves forward, I plan to support it because it includes important reforms that will help small businesses. We must also ensure these reforms are actually helping the businesses that need it most, our small manufacturers and innovators.

My amendment will make that happen, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

As I said initially, this amendment is simple and it's straightforward. It simply ensures that the provisions of the bill are actually helping small business grow and hire more workers. It's an amendment about oversight and accountability, and it focuses especially on the manufacturers and high-tech innovators that are so critical to future economic growth.

Madam Chair, how much time remains on our side?

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