Main Street Growth Act

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

I rise in strong support of H.R. 612, the United States-Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2017.

Mr. Speaker, let me start by thanking Chairman Ratcliffe for his leadership on the subcommittee and, in particular, on the issue of cybersecurity. I have greatly enjoyed our partnership on this and many issues. I appreciate his due diligence and his hard work on many national security issues.

Let me also start by expressing my deep gratitude to Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Thompson in acting so quickly to bring this bill to the floor. Both the chairman and ranking member led a very productive committee last Congress, and I am very pleased that their commitment to protect our national security has extended to swift action this year as well. That urgency is particularly relevant to this bill, the United States-Israel Cybersecurity Cooperation Enhancement Act.

As Chairman Ratcliffe mentioned, last May, he and I traveled to Israel to meet with public and private cybersecurity officials. I think I can speak for my friend when I say that we were very impressed by the Israeli's efforts in this space. Israel was one of the first countries to recognize the potential threat posed by interconnected computer systems, and they have been leaders in cybersecurity now for decades.

For instance, the first stateful firewall technology was first developed by an Israeli firm. Today, these firewalls are ubiquitous across the information security landscape. In fact, despite its size, Israel is the second largest exporter of cybersecurity goods and services, behind only the United States. U.S. companies have certainly taken notice. Mr. Ratcliffe and I, as he mentioned, met with some of their representatives during our trip.

Just last week, Reuters reported that one of the components of Microsoft's $1 billion per year cybersecurity strategy is acquisition of three Israeli corporations.

Collaboration with our closest Middle East ally only makes sense from a national security perspective. Preserving Israeli security is essential to stability in the region.

We clearly have a lot to learn from each other as well, which is why I have championed government-to-government interaction on cybersecurity, such as the recent letter of intent for more information-sharing between DHS and Israel that was championed by former Deputy Secretary Mayorkas.

Beyond our governments working together, Chairman Ratcliffe and I also believe the government can do more to encourage collaboration between our private sector and nonprofit entities on issues directly relevant to homeland security. That is why, upon our return, we worked in close collaboration to develop two bills to enhance these cooperative relationships.

I could not have asked for a better partnership in this effort. I was thrilled that our first bill, the United States-Israel Advanced Research Partnership Act, was signed into law last month. It is our second bill, which passed the House in November, but failed to make

it through the Senate before Congress adjourned last year, that we are discussing today.

Specifically, this bill creates a cybersecurity grant program for joint research and development ventures between Israeli and American entities. Projects would be selected after a merit review process and would have to address requirements in cybersecurity determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The grants would also be subject to a cost-sharing requirement, with at least 50 percent of project funds coming from a non-Federal source.

Importantly, H.R. 612 leverages existing United States-Israel R&D infrastructure, specifically the Binational Industrial Research and Development, or BIRD Foundation, and the Binational Science Foundation, or BSF. Both organizations have a proven track record of encouraging joint research ventures.

BIRD, for instance, has financed R&D and commercialization projects that have led to a cumulative $8 billion in commercial sales since its founding, while BSF regularly funds collaborations between the top scientists in our respective countries as 45 Nobel laureates have received support from the Foundation.

Now, using the existing infrastructure, as was done in 2007 when Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act that led to the creation of BIRD Energy, also allows us to capitalize on both foundations' robust networks of United States and Israeli entities to help seed these joint ventures. All of these factors are particularly critical in the fast-moving cybersecurity domain where offensive and defensive tactics and techniques change on a monthly or even weekly basis.

As such, advances in the discipline require a near constant reexamining of assumptions, and having people from different backgrounds and security cultures working together engenders an environment where such reexamination is encouraged. While both the U.S. and Israel have robust cybersecurity communities, further collaboration will spur more advances to combat the threats that we face.

Although some of these advances are technological in nature, basic cybersecurity research, such as investigations into the psychology of secure interface design and social engineering, is also supported by the bill. All told, the programs authorized in H.R. 612 will both address urgent homeland security needs and build capacity for further transnational collaboration on cybersecurity, all while matching Federal investment with private sector dollars and funds from the Israeli Government.

Mr. Speaker, I normally preface my remarks on cybersecurity with an explanation of the threat our country faces. I would hope that, given recent events, I don't have to remind my colleagues of the dangers that we face in this sphere which, as I see it, is one of the key national security challenges of the 21st century.

I would hope that incidents like the recent attack on the Ukrainian power grid demonstrate the power of a computer keyboard to affect our critical infrastructure. I would hope that the breach of hundreds of millions of accounts at Yahoo, which affected around 10 percent of the world's population, demonstrates how pervasive data collection is and its vulnerabilities. I would certainly hope that the Russian information warfare operations targeting the very foundations of our democracy, our elections, demonstrate the stakes that we face.

In the face of these threats, we must join together with our allies to protect a free and open internet and ensure that the amazing benefits of technology are not overshadowed by the new vulnerabilities that they open up. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 612 is an important step to driving the innovation we need in the security space to meet these two goals.

As with any bills that make it to the floor, this bill owes much to the dedicated staff on both sides of the aisle who spent countless hours behind the scenes reviewing this legislation. I thank them for their extraordinary and exceptional work.

I am also very grateful, again, to Chairman McCaul, Ranking Member Thompson, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Richmond for their continued leadership on cybersecurity and, in particular, Chairman Ratcliffe for his work and for their assistance in quickly actualizing the lessons that we have learned on our trip to Israel.

Finally, in closing, I owe, once again, a debt of gratitude to my friend across the aisle, Chairman Ratcliffe, who, in his first term, immediately had a substantial impact on our Nation's cybersecurity and with whom it has been a great pleasure to work. I look forward to our continued work in this Congress and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 612 does three things: it encourages innovative approaches to address top priorities in homeland security R&D; it strengthens ties with Israel, one of our closest allies; and it does so in a public-private partnership that matches Federal investment.

Mr. Speaker, if you indulge me for a moment, I would like to read something the Saudi Arabian Computer Emergency Response Team put out last week: ``Following a recent cyberattack which targeted several national organizations, this is an urgent call for your cybersecurity team to be on the alert for Shamoon 2 and ransomware attacks that could possibly cripple your organization's systems.''

For those of my colleagues who are not aware, the Shamoon attacks of 2012 took down tens of thousands of computers at the Saudi state oil company, Saudi Aramco. The Shamoon 2 variant has been targeting Saudi Government agencies and private industry since November.

I bring this up, Mr. Speaker, because open source intelligence reports point to Iran as being responsible for the original Shamoon attack. I believe there is a good chance that Iranian-aligned actors are behind the recent incidents as well. Our Israeli partners live under this threat every day, and, to be frank, so do we.

Last year, the Justice Department indicted seven Iranian hackers for attacks on the U.S. financial sector and for probing the networks of a New York dam. The same threats that leave me unable to sleep keep my friend Dr. Matania, head of the Israel National Cyber Bureau, up at night as well.

Closing our aperture of vulnerability will be difficult, Mr. Speaker, but it is possible if we work together to bring our countries' unique perspectives to bear on the problem. I know my colleagues in the Senate share these sentiments, and I hope they will move quickly to take this bill up and start fostering further collaboration as soon as possible.

Let me again thank Chairman Ratcliffe for his leadership and his outstanding work on this bill. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 612.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 488) to increase the threshold for disclosures required by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to compensatory benefit plans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, two things that are vital to the American economy: number one, 3 percent economic growth, and number two, competing with China.

Three percent economic growth, Mr. Speaker, is so important because, when you look at the history of America, if you look at jobs that are created, if you look at increasing incomes, if you look at decreasing unemployment, this happens in our 3 percent-plus growth years, and that is why it is so great that America is once again seeing 3 percent-plus economic growth.

But, Mr. Speaker, can we keep it?

There are some alarming trends that we have to arrest, and that is that, unfortunately, entrepreneurship, that is, launching new businesses, recently hit a generational low. Companies that are going public--and 90 percent of the jobs that a company creates happen after they go public, IPOs, initial public offerings--they have been in a decline, a 20-year decline, and they have reached a new low.

If we look at what China is trying to do with their 2025 program, Mr. Speaker, and dominate the world in high tech and then we turn around and we see that China has over a third of the world's IPOs, America-- our decline is now down to 11 percent--has got to change.

So thus, today, we are taking up the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act, also known as the JOBS Act 3.0.

What we are trying to do, Mr. Speaker, number one, we are doing it on a bipartisan basis, but we are trying to ensure that our entrepreneurs at least don't face the challenge of having the capital they need to launch their companies, because, Mr. Speaker, when we have more small businesses that are launching new enterprises and going public and staying public, these are the Amazons and the Googles and the Microsofts of the future.

So, again, Members on both sides of the aisle have come together because, historically, capital formation has been a bipartisan issue here. We have come together, Democrat and Republican, to make sure that these small

businesses get this start. And we try to treat the whole capital formation ecosystem, from venture capital with the HALOS Act and helping accredited investors be able to bring their capital to the table, to early growth companies and how they have to handle the very expensive 404(b) Sarbanes-Oxley provision, to the stages of companies going public, but once they go public, Mr. Speaker, the ability to stay public, and so we have a venture exchange bill to make sure that they can concentrate their liquidity in one area.

So this is important. It is important to keep 3 percent economic growth. It is important that America's garages have fewer old cars, more new startups.

I want to thank Members on both sides of the aisle, but I especially want to thank the ranking member, the gentlewoman from California, working so strongly and fervently and on a good, bipartisan, cooperative basis to produce the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act.

Mr. Speaker, I expect that we can have a strong bipartisan vote on the floor, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), the chairman of the Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments Subcommittee, the real leader of this capital formation package on the Republican side of the aisle, and also the sponsor of two provisions of the bill: H.R. 477, the Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act, and H.R. 6139, the Improving Investment Research for Small and Emerging Issuers Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), who is the chairman of the House Small Business Committee and who has sponsored a very important provision in the package, H.R. 79, the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), the chair of our Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, also the lead sponsor of an important provision in this package of bills, H.R. 5970, the Modernizing Disclosure for Investors Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr), the chair of our Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren), who is the vice-chairman of our Capital Markets, Securities, and Investment Subcommittee.

Mr. Hultgren is the lead sponsor of two provisions of the bill, H.R. 5749, the Options Market Stability Act, and H.R. 6319, the Expanding Investment in Small Businesses Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy), who is the chairman of our Housing and Insurance Subcommittee. Mr. Duffy is the sponsor of a provision of this bill, H.R. 4537, the International Insurance Standards Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Pittenger), who is the vice-chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus), the vice chairman of our Financial Institutions Subcommittee, who is also the lead Republican sponsor of one of the bills in the package, H.R. 6069, the Fight Illicit Networks and Detect Trafficking Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman), a senior Democrat on the committee and the lead sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams), the vice chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), the majority whip of the committee and also the lead sponsor of H.R. 5783, the Cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act, and who worked, also, extensively on H.R. 1585, the Fair Investment Opportunities for Professional Experts Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer), who is the lead sponsor of a very important provision in the package, H.R. 5877, the Main Street Growth Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Loudermilk), who is the lead sponsor of two provisions in the package: H.R. 3555, the Exchange Regulatory Improvement Act, and H.R. 5953, the earlier referenced BUILD Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Budd), the lead sponsor of one of the provisions in the bill, H.R. 3903, the Encouraging Public Offerings Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from California an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

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

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, some would say the ranking member and I can't agree even on the time of day. I was told when this debate started that thunderstorms came over Washington, D.C., it was that monumental of an achievement.

But in seriousness, I do want to offer my thanks and my gratitude to the ranking member. She and her staff worked very constructively with us on this bill and the preceding important bill, the CFIUS reform, which we are still trying to work out our differences on with the Senate. But, long story short, we came together.

This is going to be an important day for small business. It is an important day for 3 percent economic growth, which is so important to American families.

I, too, want to echo how important the work of our staffs is. Particularly on the majority side, I wish to thank Kevin Edgar and Fritz Vaughan and their staff for their contribution.

This is going to make a difference, ultimately, because small businesses one day become big businesses. This will make a difference in economic growth for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, this bill is an example of true bipartisanship. I want to thank Chairman Hensarling, the members of the Financial Services Committee, and the staff on both sides of the aisle for their work on this legislative package.

S. 488, the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018, is evidence that Democrats and Republicans can come together to strengthen our Nation's small businesses and entrepreneurs, bolster investor confidence, protect consumers, promote financial stability, and counter human and drug trafficking.

S. 488 helps small businesses grow by encouraging capital formation and requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to consider unique issues facing rural small businesses and small investment advisers. When entrepreneurs are looking to retire, S. 488 allows them to easily sell their businesses.

The bill also requires several rulemakings and studies to encourage small businesses to go public, including by protecting them from excessive underwriting fees.

Main Street investors and consumers also benefit from S. 488. One provision, which I authored, cracks down on corporate insiders engaged in illegal insider trading.

Democrats also led provisions to enhance disclosures about outsized insider voting power.

The bill also creates a task force at the SEC to protect seniors and their financial best interests.

Additionally, the bill helps nonprofits, like Habitat for Humanity, continue to extend affordable mortgages to low-income families aspiring to the dream of homeownership.

Thanks to Mr. Ellison, the legislation enables millions of Americans with thin credit files to improve and build their credit by allowing alternative types of data, like the on-time payment of rent and utilities, to be included in their credit reports without preempting State law.

S. 488 also improves financial stability. The bill directs regulators to improve the calculation for bank capital held to offset risk in the options and derivatives markets so that riskier products are covered by more capital

Finally, S. 488 strengthens our government's efforts to stop drug and human trafficking by preventing criminals who engage in these unconscionable acts from accessing the financial system.

There are several provisions that we did not reach bipartisan agreement on in time, including reforms to private offerings under regulation D that requires issuers to file disclosures before their first sell and after the termination of the offering. I am pleased that the chairman has offered to continue working on this and other issues with me, and I hope that the Senate has its own chance to make these and other changes.

Throughout my work on this legislation, I insisted that nothing could be included that would weaken Dodd-Frank's financial reforms, harm consumers, or provide giveaways to Wall Street. Instead, building on the bipartisan work of the Financial Services Committee, S. 488 includes measures that will help small businesses grow and protect hardworking Americans who entrust their savings to the capital markets.

Mr. Speaker, I again thank my colleagues for their strong bipartisan support on this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), the ranking member of our Capital Markets, Securities, and Investment Subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee, and the leading sponsor and Democratic cosponsor of several of the bills in this package.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee and the leading Democratic cosponsor of several of the bills in this package.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Himes), a member of the Financial Services Committee, the chair of the New Democrat Coalition, and the author of one of the bills in this package that ensures companies aren't paying excessive fees to go public.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster), who is a member of the Financial Services Committee and a leading Democratic cosponsor on several of the bills in this package.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Illinois an additional 20 seconds.

Will the Speaker please check the minutes again? We have calculated differently, and we think I have 9 minutes.

I am sorry. What is the Chair saying about the time that I have remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), who is a member of the Financial Services Committee who helped ensure that this bill cracks down on the use of digital currency in human trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), who is a member of the Financial Services Committee and author of one of the bills in this package.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield myself the remainder of my time to close.

I once again thank my colleagues for their outstanding bipartisan work on this carefully crafted bipartisan legislation. S. 488, the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018, is an example of Members on both sides of the aisle working together to support our Nation's small businesses and investors.

S. 488 facilitates access to capital for small businesses, increases protections for consumers and investors, fights the scourge of drug and human trafficking, and promotes financial stability.

S. 488 is supported by institutional investors, angel investors, venture capitalists, biotech companies, credit unions, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and exchanges. This bill will help entrepreneurs, small businesses, and investors to thrive in our economy.

Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Hensarling for his foresight in knowing that this was possible because both sides of the aisle really support small businesses. It was Mr. Hensarling who said: Given that we do both support small businesses, why can't we come together around a package where we have already shown our support on individual bills either in committee or on the floor and put it all together?

He did that. He provided that leadership. I joined with him.

Our staffs are to be congratulated because they worked very hard on both sides of the aisle to work out any concerns that we may have, any differences that we may have. They did a magnificent job, and they are responsible for helping us to understand what certainly is and was possible.

So despite this, if I may say, there are many onlookers who never thought this could happen. There are many pundits, those who come from special interests, those who come from right here in the House on both sides of the aisle, who are still questioning.

Mr. Speaker, I had one inquiry from one of the magazines, I believe it was, who said: Tell me what happened in the background, what was really going on. How did this all come together?

I want the gentleman from Texas to know I told him it is none of his business. It really happened, and we are pleased about it. We worked very hard on that.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Hensarling and all of the members who worked so hard to make this happen, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I too rise in support of H.R. 5877, the Main Street Growth Act.

Ever since the JOBS Act was signed into law, Congress has worked hard to build on its success to ensure American businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors are able to realize the real and potential benefits that make our markets the envy of the world.

The Main Street Growth Act continues that discussion. Approved by the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 56-0, this legislation will facilitate the creation of venture exchanges, a concept many see as a viable means to encourage more early-stage IPOs and improve capital formation.

When businesses go public, jobs are created and new centers of wealth are formed. In fact, a 2012 study found that for the 2,766 companies that participated in an IPO between 1996 and 2010, total employment across these businesses increased by 2.2 million jobs, while total revenue increased by over $1 trillion.

Unfortunately, sustaining and encouraging more companies to move forward with an IPO has proven difficult over time. Every year for the past two decades, the number of public companies in the United States has dropped,

with the only exception being the year Congress passed the JOBS Act.

Since 2009, the number of U.S.-listed IPOs, on average, has hovered at fewer than 200 a year, well below the previous decade's average.

While there are a multitude of factors that a company takes into consideration when determining whether to go public, one such calculation is whether or not the current market structure fosters an active and liquid secondary trading environment for that company's securities.

Ensuring there is a place for investors to easily trade and sell their securities is often a key determinant in a decision not to list, if the business owner is not confident that such a marketplace exists.

Small business hesitation when making this determination is not unfounded. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, small cap stocks, or those with capitalization below $100 million, typically exhibit the least liquidity, while mid cap stocks, with capitalization between $2 billion and $5 billion, tend to exhibit a greater amount of liquidity.

Recognizing the continued challenges we face in courting new IPOs, and understanding that liquidity is key for small companies interested in going public, as well as securities currently trading in the marketplace, it is clear that we must take steps to better tailor our markets in order to account for the varying size and nature of potential public companies if we are to encourage new capital formation.

Here is where the Main Street Growth Act can help.

Under the Main Street Growth Act, an entity can register with the SEC to establish a venture exchange; a market designed specifically to support the trading of small and emerging companies, as well as currently listed but liquidity-challenged securities.

These venture exchanges will trade venture securities, which include early stage and emerging growth companies, as well as securities currently trading in the marketplace but are below a certain public float or average daily trade volume threshold.

In my home State of Minnesota, there are more than 30 companies currently listed on an exchange that may meet the necessary criteria to explore the benefits of a new venture exchange as envisioned by this legislation.

Additionally, there are over 130 Minnesota-based companies that are not listed publicly and have utilized private means of funding for their businesses, but could qualify to list on a venture exchange to improve their ability to create new growth and employment opportunities.

The Main Street Growth Act includes important provisions to concentrate liquidity by ensuring that the trading of securities listed on a venture exchange may only occur on that venture exchange.

Also, utilizing the current exchange model serves as an efficient way to ensure investor protection while improving their standing in our capital markets.

The Main Street Growth Act is a consensus bill with input from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and with the administration as well. It directly complements SEC Chairman Clayton's ongoing efforts to ``examine whether the current market structure meets the needs of all types of companies that have the potential to be public companies.''

Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my gratitude to the chairman and ranking member of the Financial Services Committee and their staff for their tireless work on this legislation and the issues related to improving capital formation in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5877.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5877) to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to allow for the registration of venture exchanges, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5877, the Main Street Growth Act, introduced by my friend and colleague from the Financial Services Committee, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer), which would help further facilitate capital formation for smaller issuers.

Specifically, the Main Street Growth Act would provide for the creation and registration of venture exchanges. Venture exchanges would be prohibited from extending unlisted trading privileges, or UTP, as they are known, to any venture security, which would prevent venture securities from trading on exchanges other than the one that it is listed on, in order to concentrate liquidity onto the venture exchange. In addition, venture exchanges would also be exempt from decimalization.

The U.S. capital markets have, and continue to be, a vibrant ecosystem, fueling America's economic growth and generating millions of private sector jobs. These markets provide financing and needed resources to the smallest startups, as well as the largest international companies.

However, a company's size has often impacted how easily it is to access capital, as larger companies generally found the capital markets easier to access than smaller companies.

While the number of IPOs in the U.S. has rebounded from its post- crisis collapse--thanks, in part, to the success of the JOBS Act-- smaller companies still face significant regulatory and market impediments that disincentivize them from accessing capital via the public markets.

There are differing perspectives as to why fewer companies, particularly smaller companies, have gone public over the past few decades. In fact, Chairman Clayton recently said, at the end of the day, no matter what those reasons are, it is ``not good'' that would be happening.

The data suggests that, in order to fulfill its capital formation mandate, the SEC needs to tailor its approach to account for the varying nature and size of companies, including the one-size-fits-all regulatory structure of the current equity markets.

As a natural extension of the JOBS Act and the new securities offerings available to startup enterprises, venture exchanges offer one possible solution to the liquidity and capital access challenges faced by smaller issuers.

A venture exchange construct would expand access to capital for entrepreneurs; enable earlier public participation in the company's lifecycle; and attract post-issuance support, including research, sales, and capital commitments by market-makers.

In fact, the SEC's Commissioners, market participants, and other interested parties have all expressed interest in the concept of venture exchanges as a means to provide secondary market liquidity to smaller companies.

NASDAQ recently testified at a hearing held on May 23 of this year: ``NASDAQ recommends permitting issuers to choose to trade in an environment with consolidated liquidity as would be allowed under the Venture Exchange Legislation. By creating a market for smaller issuers that is voluntary for issuers to join and largely exempt from the UTP obligations, subject to key exemptions, we can concentrate liquidity to reduce volatility and improve the trading experience.''

Additionally, at that same hearing, the U.S. Chamber stated: ``While the JOBS Act did a great deal to help EGCs raise capital in primary offerings, it did comparatively little to address the secondary market trading in these same companies.''

Legislation like the Main Street Growth Act is an important bipartisan step to better tailoring market structure rules for small issuers and helping to facilitate capital formation.

I commend my colleague, Mr. Emmer, on his bipartisan work on the Main Street Growth Act, which passed the Financial Services Committee by a vote of 56-0, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 5877.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer), the author of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I also have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.