Justice Served Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1219, the Supporting America's Innovators Act, is legislation that certainly shows that sometimes we can get together and we can support a good idea. This act is such a thing. It shows how well we can work together to craft bipartisan solutions that support our Nation's innovators and the jobs that they create.

Last Congress, Mr. McHenry came to me with a problem: Sophisticated angel investors who fund promising startup businesses want to pool their money together, but the law effectively caps them at 100 investors per fund. If more than 100 people want to invest, the fund is forced to exclude some of them from the deal to avoid registration and regulation as an ``investment company'' under the securities laws. That means investors willing to commit capital are being turned away and startups are losing out on important early-stage funding.

Because of Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Mr. Patrick McHenry working together, working out any concerns that had been identified on either side of the aisle, we now, today, have a piece of legislation, a bill, that would narrowly increase the investor limitation from 100 to 250 persons for certain venture capital funds, provided that the fund does not have more than $10 million in total investor capital.

This type of fund structure is used today by AngelList, an angel investing platform that connects investors meeting certain income and asset thresholds with one another so they can pool their money into special-purpose funds which then invest them in a particular startup company. Importantly, both the companies and the investors benefit from this structure.

Compared with making hundreds of smaller direct investments, a company, for example, only has as a single point of contact, the angel fund advised by a fiduciary, rather than hundreds of investors who must all individually approve corporate actions such as mergers and acquisitions and expanding ownership.

Investors also like this structure because they can delegate monitoring the startups they invest in to the investment adviser to the fund. Such monitoring may be significant, considering that investors, recognizing that most early-stage companies fail, typically diversify their investments among 30 to 80 companies.

H.R. 1219 reasonably promotes this fund structure for startup investments by providing a narrowly tailored exemption for certain venture capital funds which must invest at least 80 percent of their funds in small businesses. Under the bill, the venture capital funds must have no more than 250 investors and no more than $10 million in investor capital, ensuring that they are small enough that investors are able to monitor and manage their investments.

The bill's limits also ensure that we aren't creating a loophole for other investment companies, like mutual funds, to avoid regulation; nor are we providing relief to other private funds, like hedge funds or private equity funds, that have very little restriction and investor protection.

Mr. Speaker, too often Congress seeks to help small businesses by repealing sensible guardrails and rules of the road with little to no thought of the impact on investors or market integrity. This is a mistake since it is investors that provide the money necessary for small businesses to grow. If investors don't trust the markets to operate fairly, they will decline to invest or raise costs on the very businesses we want to help. H.R. 1219 is different and reflects a measured, bipartisan approach to promoting our Nation's startups and the investors who take a chance on them.

I thank Mr. McHenry and Ms. Velazquez for their leadership on this bill. I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster), a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, we have received tremendous support for this legislation, and we are extremely hopeful that we will be able to come together on both sides of the aisle and continue to give support to our small businesses. As a matter of fact, we have a lot of those in the Congress of the United States--a lot of Members, rather--who talk about supporting small businesses, but we don't often see real legislation that can do that. This is such legislation, and I cannot thank Ms. Velazquez and Mr. McHenry enough for the way that they have worked on this legislation together.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record some of the letters of support that we have received from the Center for American Entrepreneurship, the Internet Association, TechNet, Angel Capital Association, and AngelList.

Center for

American Entrepreneurship,

April 25, 2016.

Hon. Jeb Hensarling,

Chairman, Committee on Financial Services, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Hon. Maxine Waters,

Ranking Member, Committee on Financial Services, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Hensarling and Ranking Member Waters: On

behalf of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, I write

today to express our strong support for legislation offered

by Rep. Patrick McHenry: H.R. 4854, the ``Supporting

America's Innovators Act of 2016,'' and H.R. 4855, the ``Fix

Crowdfunding Act of 2016.'' Both bills will significantly

enhance American entrepreneurs' access to the capital they

need to launch and grow new businesses and, in doing so,

accelerate economic growth and job creation.

CAE is a nonpartisan policy and advocacy organization whose

mission is to engage policymakers in Washington and across

the nation regarding the critical importance of entrepreneurs

and start-ups to innovation, economic growth, and job

creation, and to pursue a comprehensive policy agenda

intended to significantly enhance the circumstances for new

business formation, survival, and growth.

As you may know, recent research has demonstrated that

start-ups are disproportionately responsible for the

innovations that drive economic growth and account for

virtually all net new job creation. Alarmingly, recent

research has also demonstrated that, despite impressive

strength in certain cities around the country, rates of new

business formation in America have been declining for 30

years, and the decline is occurring in all 50 states, in all

but a handful of the 360 metro areas examined, and across a

broad range of industry sectors, including high-technology.

Given the importance of thriving entrepreneurship to

innovation, economic growth, and job creation, such

circumstances amount to nothing less than a national

emergency.

When asked or surveyed, entrepreneurs across the country

report that access to sufficient capital on affordable terms

remains among their principal challenges. The legalization of

crowdfunding by way of the Jumpstart Our Business Start-ups

(JOBS) Act in 2012 was a major step forward in meaningfully

enhancing innovators' access to investment capital. But

further reforms are necessary to realize the Act's full

potential to promote entrepreneurship, growth, greater

opportunity, and job creation.

H.R. 4854, the ``Supporting America's Innovators Act''

would amend an exemption

under the Investment Company Act of 1940 by increasing the

investor limitation from 100 to 500 persons for qualifying

venture capital funds that purchase no more than $10 million

in securities in any one issuer, adjusted for inflation.

Lifting the current arbitrary cap would not only increase

entrepreneurs' access to additional investors, but will

protect investors through a greater diversification of risk.

H.R. 4855, the ``Fix Crowdfunding Act'' would amend the

crowdfunding aspects of the JOBS Act in a number of important

ways:

Raising the annual issuance amount from $1 million to $5

million;

Exempting the beneficial owners of crowdfunding securities

from counting towards the Exchange Act 12(g) requirement

triggering public reporting;

Exempting special purpose vehicles (SPVs) created for the

purpose of investing in a single issuer of crowdfunding

securities from registration as investment companies under

the Investment Company Act, and permitting SPVs considered as

``venture capital funds'' to offer crowdfunding securities;

Revising the investment cap so that investors earning

$100,000 or less may invest up to 5 percent of their annual

income or net worth, and investors earning more than $100,000

to invest up to 10 percent of their annual income or net

worth;

Defining the requirements for a crowdfunding intermediary

to disqualify an issuer when the intermediary, through a

background check or other means, determines that the issuer

knowingly made untrue statements or omissions related to

material facts, or engaged in fraud;

Defining a crowdfunding intermediary's potential liability

to include only instances when the intermediary knowingly

makes untrue statements or omissions related to material

facts or knowingly engages in fraud;

Permitting an issuer to ``test the waters'' by soliciting

non-binding commitments of interest from potential investors

without filing information with the SEC, provided that no

funds are accepted by the issuer and any material changes

that occur between the solicitation and the offer are

highlighted to potential investors; and,

Providing a 5-year grace period for portals to make a good-

faith effort to comply with all crowdfunding rules, and

prohibits the SEC from bringing any enforcement actions

during that period.

Both bills help strike a more appropriate balance between

the twin priorities of capital formation and investor

protection. In doing so, these reforms significantly enhance

the prospects for new business formation, survival, and

growth at a time when faster economic growth is necessary to

address challenges such as underemployment, stagnant middle-

class wages, the income and wealth gaps, and alarmingly high

levels of poverty and dependence.

CAE commends you for your leadership to promote American

entrepreneurship and innovation and greatly appreciates your

thoughtful consideration of the reforms in H.R. 4854 and H.R.

4855. We look forward to continuing to work with you, the

bills' sponsors, and the Committee's distinguished members on

behalf of American entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Sincerely,

Robert E. Litan,

Chairman, Center for American

Entrepreneurship.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased that, for the first time this Congress, committee Republicans have brought to the House floor a bill that has broad bipartisan support. Oftentimes, the opposite side of the aisle on our committee take a partisan approach to legislation and sometimes do not express a lot of interest in the views of the opposite side of the aisle or the millions of Americans whom they represent. However, in contrast, this bill before us today is the product of thoughtful, bipartisan compromise and will help startup companies and their investors equally. Madam Speaker, this is how laws should be made.

Indeed, last Congress, Mr. McHenry and I worked together to promote liquidity in the secondary market for startup company stock by creating a clearer path for startup investors to resell their stock. The result of our bipartisan efforts was the Reforming Access for Investments in Startup Enterprises Act, which became law in 2015, along with seven other bipartisan, financial services bills included in the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act.

Going forward, I hope that my friends on the opposite side of the aisle will remember what we can achieve when we work together. So, again, I thank both Mr. McHenry for reaching across the aisle and Ms. Velazquez for working with me on H.R. 1219, the Supporting America's Innovators Act of 2017. I urge all of my colleagues to join me and vote ``yes.''

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me, from the beginning, acknowledge the ranking member for being on the floor on these important bills during this police and law enforcement week in commemoration. This week is one of the weeks that, over the years, all of us as Members have enjoyed the most, seeing a lot of our law enforcement representatives from our hometown jurisdiction and just seeing them from all over the Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4854, the Justice Served Act of 2018. I thank my colleague, Mr. Pascrell, my fellow Texan, Judge Carter, and other Members for bringing this forward.

This legislation would help ensure that prosecutors have the resources to go after perpetrators of violent crimes, specifically those who have been identified by DNA evidence. I want to just say that again, Mr. Speaker, violent crimes, which leave in their wake either the bloody loss of life or some victim that is ruined for life because of the viciousness of the crime, some of them children, families, the elderly.

This is a very important element of law enforcement, the fair investigation of crimes and bringing forward the perpetrator in a fair and just and constitutional manner. To do so, they need tools. Congress has appropriated over $100 million per year for the last decade to reduce the DNA backlogs and improve crime laboratory capacity.

The Justice Served Act of 2018 does something unique. It capitalizes on these investments by allowing a portion of the Debbie Smith Grant Program to be allocated to prosecute perpetrators of violent crimes.

Mr. Goodlatte is right. I remember meeting Ms. Smith and the tragedy that she faced, but also the way in which she wanted to commit to making life better for many others. I thanked her for that as she appeared before our committee in years past.

According to FBI data, over 1 million people were victims of violent crimes nationwide in 2016. And in many of these cases, especially cases involving sexual violence, DNA evidence is a crucial component of prosecuting the perpetrators.

The Judiciary Committee is about to begin its effort of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, which my office has worked extensively with other Members who previously had great commitment to this legislation. We look forward to a bipartisan initiative.

We know that in the elements of sex crimes and domestic violence, the DNA kits are extremely important, among other evidence that can be found. Prosecutors often, however, face large caseloads and lack the resources to properly ensure that violent crimes are adjudicated in a timely manner, even when a suspect has been identified through DNA evidence.

H.R. 4854, the Justice Served Act of 2018, encourages a resolution of this problem by providing additional resources, none to take away from the important work of the purpose of the act, but to add these additional resources as are available through this legislation. Prosecutors need to investigate, solve, and close these cases. Give them those resources to do so.

Remember, investigating, solving, and closing have the component of making sure that we do justice as well. This includes additional funding for the prosecution of cold cases where new forensic technology has identified a suspect.

It is important to note that the need for additional funding is not the only problem that impacts prosecutors' ability to deal with perpetrators of violent crimes. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, RAINN, the overwhelming backlog of untested DNA evidence is currently one of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence. Based on public reports, at least 100,000 rape kits sit untested in evidence rooms, warehouses, and the like. These rape kits often contain DNA evidence collected through a sexual assault forensic exam, a medical process where evidence is collected from a victim's body or clothes.

This evidence is a crucial factor in achieving justice, and it is vital that prosecutors have this evidence.

So this legislation, the Debbie Smith Act, was passed to alleviate my comments that I just previously made, and it has been enacted since 2004, and it has made a great impact, but now we have the opportunity to use some of those resources to help move along some of these violent cases and to assist prosecutors, again, in the fair adjudication, the just adjudication, to bring justice to those who have suffered a violent criminal act, lost their life, and certainly enhanced the justice system.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4854, the ``Justice Served Act of 2018'' and thank my colleague, Mr. Pascrell and other Members for bringing this forward. This legislation would help ensure that prosecutors have the resources to go after perpetrators of violent crimes, specifically those who have been identified by DNA evidence.

Congress has appropriated over $100 million per year for the last decade, to reduce the DNA backlogs and improve crime laboratory capacity. The ``Justice Served Act of 2018'' capitalizes on these investments by allowing a portion of the Debbie Smith grant program to be allocated to prosecute perpetrators of violent crimes.

According to FBI data, over a million people were victims of violent crimes nationwide, in 2016. In many of these cases, especially cases involving sexual violence, DNA evidence is a crucial component of prosecuting the perpetrators.

Prosecutors, however, often face large caseloads and lack the resources to properly ensure that violent crimes are adjudicated in a timely manner, even when a suspect has been identified through DNA evidence.

H.R. 4854 the ``Justice Served Act of 2018'' encourages the resolution of this problem by providing additional resources prosecutors need to investigate, solve and close these cases. This includes additional funding for the prosecution of cold cases where new forensic technology has identified a suspect.

It is important to note that the need for additional funding is not the only problem that impacts prosecutors' ability to hold perpetrators of violent crimes accountable. According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, (RAINN), the overwhelming backlog of untested DNA evidence is currently one of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence.

Based on public reports, at least 100,000 rape kits have sat, untested, in evidence rooms, warehouses, and the like. These rape kits often contain DNA evidence collected through a sexual assault forensic exam, a medical process where evidence is collected from a victim's body or clothes. This evidence is a crucial factor in achieving justice and it is vital that prosecutors have this evidence.

In order to address the backlog, Congress passed the ``Debbie Smith Act.'' The Debbie Smith Act provides crucial funding to support public crime laboratories' work to build capacity and process DNA evidence including evidence collected in rape kits.

Since its enactment in 2004, the Debbie Smith Act has been renewed twice with overwhelming bipartisan support. This funding has significantly decreased the backlog of untested DNA evidence.

The problem, however, continues to persist because of the overwhelming amount of evidence that needs to be analyzed. For example, in 2016, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science, in Houston, received over 3,000 cases to be reviewed. Despite receiving federal grants, this lab continues to face difficulties in analyzing all the evidence in a timely manner. We in Congress need to make sure that we are allocating enough resources to ensure that these labs are able to meet the demand.

Victims of violent crimes, especially victims of sexual violence, have the right to have their cases resolved as quickly as possible. They need to be able to move on, knowing that they are safe from the person who hurt them.

It is therefore important that Congress continue to support efforts to ensure that states and local government have the resources to test and analyze DNA evidence and that prosecutors have the resources to go after these suspects. For these reasons I support this bill, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), who has worked without ceasing on legislation that will help our law enforcement officers.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Pascrell for making that commitment that the resources under the Debbie Smith Act will still be viable and ready to be used for those sexual assault, sexual violence victims as this legislation was intended, but a provision in the bill allows the resources to also keep in line that nothing will undermine the investigation of sexual assault cases, sexual violence cases, but it allows the hand of justice to move on further for those who are the victims of violent crimes and to ensure that perpetrators of violent crimes are prosecuted as quickly as possible, again, under the equal and balanced hand of justice.

So H.R. 4845, the Justice Served Act of 2018, provides funding to State and local prosecutors to help them tackle the backlog of violent crime cases, including cold cases, where suspects have been identified through DNA evidence.

Certainly, there may be some overlap. I want to make it very clear to our victims of sex crimes, domestic violence, and other crimes dealing with those particular issues, that these dollars are enhanced dollars to be able to do the violent crimes.

While it is important that State and local prosecutors have the resources they need, it is also important that Congress remain vigilant and continue to support efforts to clear the backlogs of untested and unanalyzed DNA evidence, including rape kits.

The backlog in many jurisdictions is enormous. This was our intent, to move forward, to provide justice to those who have suffered, some have lost their life.

So in the spirit of expanding justice to ensure that justice is for all, I rise to support this legislation in keeping with its initial purpose, to solve the backlog of DNA kits, and now to be able to assist in the solving and bringing to justice the perpetrators of violent crimes.

Mr. Speaker, I again ask my colleagues to support the underlying legislation, I thank the sponsors of it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 242, I call up the bill (H.R. 1219) to amend the Investment Company Act of 1940 to expand the investor limitation for qualifying venture capital funds under an exemption from the definition of an investment company, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to submit extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that small businesses and entrepreneurs are the heartbeat of the American economy. Access to financial capital is vital for entrepreneurs seeking to start up, operate, or expand their businesses. However, gaining access to capital has remained an enduring challenge for many small businesses.

The financial crisis and the Great Recession made the situation worse, frankly, as capital became increasingly hard to access from institutional banks and various capital market players. While conditions have improved somewhat in recent years, many entrepreneurs continue to struggle with accessing the capital they need to compete and to grow.

In order to succeed, these companies need capital and credit, the lifeblood for growth, expansion, and job creation. Yet the government continues to construct arbitrary walls that cut them off from essential financing, as smaller companies are caught in a sea of regulatory red tape created by Washington bureaucrats.

We know that 60 percent of all net new jobs that have come into this country, that have been created here in the United States, come from these small businesses. They are oftentimes S corporations, LLCs, sole proprietorships. Small companies often have such owners also be operators. They are working alongside their fellow employees.

That 60 percent of those jobs that have been created here in the United States isn't just a one-time blip. That is over the last 20 years, the last two decades, that we have seen that trend.

Congress has made strides in tailoring the regulatory environment for smaller companies, no doubt, most notably when we passed, with strong bipartisan support, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups, or JOBS, Act in 2012. This was a bipartisan bill that was signed into law by President Obama. The JOBS Act's benefits are notable as more and more companies use its provisions to raise investment capital in both the public and private markets.

The JOBS Act has raised the cap on investors in a privately held company from 500 to 2,000 investors, but the limit on the number of investors acting as a coordinated group to invest in a company remained at 100, where it has been since 1940, some 77 years ago.

As noted by Kevin Laws of AngelList in his written testimony before our Capital Markets Subcommittee: ``With online fundraising and general solicitation becoming more common because of the JOBS Act, companies are bumping up against the limit more frequently. The current limit . . . now acts as a brake on the amount of money the company wanted to raise, leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table that did not go into startups.''

While H.R. 1219, the Supporting America's Innovators Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by the vice chairman of our Financial Services Committee, Representative Patrick McHenry, and Nydia Velazquez of New York, would amend the cap currently contained in the Investment Company Act to allow 250 investors for a ``qualified venture capital fund,'' therefore enhancing angel investors' ability to provide important funding to small businesses.

This bill is a very modest increase to the current exemption that has been in place for nearly 77 years. Modernizing this cap is long overdue and reflects today's capital markets and the reality of the increasingly important role that angel investors and others play as they commit the funds necessary to help small businesses grow.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, unfortunately, continues to ignore the backlog of good ideas to spur capital formation, which is recommended by entrepreneurs, small businesses, and market participants from their annual SEC Government-Business Forum on Capital Formation. This is a forum that is put together annually. They take and solicit ideas. They want to hear from people that are in the marketplace to figure out what ways they could go to improve that. Unfortunately, they have not acted on

this, and in the SEC's absence, Congress must act to promote market efficiency and capital formation.

I think we can all agree that we support smart regulation that protects investors and maintains orderly and efficient markets. But outdated, excessive, and unnecessary regulation whose costs outweigh benefits is dumb regulation that overburdens smaller companies. Let's provide some regulatory relief by enacting the bipartisan bill that will ease the burdens on small businesses and job creators and help foster capital formation and get Americans back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to note, in a hearing that we had on this bill last Congress, it passed our committee 52-2, including the ranking member voting for it. There were no dissenting minority views that were offered, and no amendments were offered at the Rules Committee on this. We have got a lot of consensus. I believe this is the right thing to do to move forward.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McHenry), our vice chairman and the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), the chairman of the Committee on Small Business here in the House of Representatives and a strong supporter of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren), the vice chairman of our Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer).

Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to the balance of time each side has left?

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hollingsworth), a new member of our Financial Services Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), chairman of the Financial Services Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, as I close on this very important bill that we have been talking about, H.R. 1219, I just want to say congratulations to our sponsors, Congressman McHenry and Congresswoman Velazquez, for their leadership on this, as well as my Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments Subcommittee ranking member, Representative Maloney, for working together to advance this commonsense bill.

As was pointed out by both the chairman and the ranking member, there is strong bipartisan consensus that this bill is a winner for the American people. Some people today, as they tee off the Masters, we might say it is a 6-inch putt for the American people knowing that this is good for them and good for the economy.

I want to encourage all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bill, H.R. 1219.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, first, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan, not only for yielding but, more importantly, for his leadership in helping improve our capital markets and our economy here.

I want to thank all of the Republican and Democrat cosponsors of H.R. 1219, particularly our vice chairman of the full committee Mr. McHenry of North Carolina, for his leadership and also Ms. Velazquez on the other side of the aisle for her leadership on this issue as well. Both of these colleagues are senior members of the committee which I have the honor of chairing.

Madam Speaker, we know that while optimism and confidence in our economy are up considerably over the last few months, our Nation still has a way to go to experience the robust economic growth the American people have experienced in the past of which they also deserve.

One obvious reason that the economy continues to limp along is bureaucratic burdens imposed by Washington's top-down regulations on America's small businesses on Main Street.

I got a message from a gentleman by the name of Larry, a small- business owner in Mabank, Texas, who I have the privilege of representing here in Congress, and he summed it up fairly well. He said: ``So many businesses have to deal with regulations and taxes that didn't exist a few years ago. It is especially hard on smaller businesses. While large companies have their own staff of attorneys and the capital to comply with regulations, small businesses don't.''

So, Madam Speaker, as my colleagues on the Financial Services Committee know all too well, because we have had countless witnesses before our committee to attest to such, Washington has inflicted upon Main Street America a complex set of burdensome and expensive and confusing regulations.

Many were written, again, with the largest public companies in mind, but they burden small companies and hurt their ability to access capital. That is exactly what Larry of Mabank, Texas, has told me, and I believe it.

So, clearly, Congress should work, preferably on a bipartisan basis, to level the playing field while maintaining fair and efficient capital markets, protecting investors, and allowing small companies the chance to succeed.

We can make progress on these goals today by advancing this bipartisan bill, the Supporting America's Innovators Act. This bill was approved by the Financial Services Committee with the overwhelming support of Republicans and Democrats. The vote in committee was 54-2. In addition, a similar bill passed the House last year overwhelmingly on a bipartisan basis.

Madam Speaker, these vote totals demonstrate that just about everyone--Republican and Democrat--agrees that this commonsense legislation will indeed help grow our economy.

H.R. 1219 specifically increases the limits on the number of individuals from 100 to 250 who invest in certain venture capital funds before those funds are forced to register with the SEC as ``investment companies.'' This change would permit angel and venture funds to better help accredited investors invest in small-business startups. These early stage investors play a vital role in helping many small businesses get their start. In 2015, angel investors deployed nearly $25 billion to 71,000 different startups across our Nation. In the first quarter of 2017, venture capital invested more than $16 billion in almost 1,800 startups.

If anyone here, for some reason, doubts the impact these investors can have on our Nation's economic growth, let me remind them that companies such as Amazon, Costco, Google, Facebook, and Starbucks were all first funded by angel investors. Let's also remember, Madam Speaker, that almost half of the people who work in this country own or work for small

businesses. They create nearly historically two-thirds of the new jobs in America. So clearly our economy works better for working Americans when small businesses thrive and have access to capital and credit they need to innovate, expand, and create jobs.

The Supporting America's Innovators Act modernizes a regulation to enhance the ability for startups and small businesses to receive critical funding and capital from the private markets and, in particular, angel investors and venture capital. Undoubtedly it will help today's small-business startups become the next great American entrepreneurial success story and, in doing so, help invigorate economic growth and help create more American jobs.

I urge the adoption of H.R. 1219.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4854) to amend the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to provide additional resources to State and local prosecutors, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4854, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4854, the Justice Served Act of 2018, introduced by the gentleman from Texas, Judge Carter.

All of us in this body are familiar with Debbie Smith and the tragedy of her attack and the triumph of the law that bears her name. Many of us have had the pleasure of meeting Debbie and her husband, Rob, and hearing her story firsthand.

The Debbie Smith Act was the Nation's first piece of legislation aimed at ending the DNA backlog that plagued our State crime labs.

The Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program was created in 2004, and

since then it has enabled States to process more than 725,000 cases and upload more than 327,000 DNA profiles into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. I had the honor to be the chief sponsor of the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2014.

When Judge Carter reached out to me about this bill, I was encouraged, but I also wanted to know how Debbie Smith felt about it. I learned that not only did she support it, she and others helped craft it.

When we reached out to Debbie and Rob to get their thoughts on the bill, they stated, ``getting hits doesn't mean as much if we cannot prosecute.'' I agree with Debbie and Judge Carter on this very important point.

The bill in front of us today makes a very small but important change to the Debbie Smith Act. That small change will increase the capacity of prosecutors to address the backlog of violent crime cases involving suspects identified through DNA evidence. This bill will allow victims of crime and their families to receive justice by giving prosecutors the tools they need to investigate, solve, and close cold cases.

That small, but vitally important, change is why the Justice Served Act of 2018 is endorsed by the National District Attorneys Association; Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network; Debbie Smith; Major County Sheriffs of America; Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association; Sergeants Benevolent Association; the Fraternal Order of Police; the National Association of Police Organizations; Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations; Joyful Heart Association; the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence; the Major Cities Chiefs; and the National Criminal Justice Association.

We in this body should join these organizations in supporting this very important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Texas, Judge Carter, for introducing this legislation and all of his hard work in supporting it.

To paraphrase Debbie and Rob, getting a hit is nice, but ensuring justice is served is better.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in supporting the Justice Served Act of 2018.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, to paraphrase what Debbie and Rob Smith said, getting a hit is nice, but ensuring justice is served is even better. And it is, I think, a good amendment to the Debbie Smith Act that we allow these funds to be used for this purpose and close more of these cases that are solved by the DNA testing that was the original purpose of the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, I thank Judge Carter for his fine work on it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.