[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 19 (Monday, January 29, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H654-H655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SMALL BUSINESS ACCESS TO CAPITAL AFTER A NATURAL DISASTER ACT

  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4792) to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to expand 
access to capital for small businesses affected by hurricanes or other 
natural disasters, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4792

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Access to 
     Capital After a Natural Disaster Act''.

     SEC. 2. EXPANDING ACCESS TO CAPITAL FOR SMALL BUSINESSES 
                   IMPACTED BY A NATURAL DISASTER.

       Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 
     78d) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (j)(4)(C), by striking ``minority-owned 
     and women-owned small businesses'' and inserting ``minority-
     owned small businesses, women-owned small businesses, and 
     small businesses affected by hurricanes or other natural 
     disasters''; and
       (2) in subsection (j)(6)(B)(iii), by striking ``minority-
     owned and women-owned small businesses'' and inserting 
     ``minority-owned small businesses, women-owned small 
     businesses, and small businesses affected by hurricanes or 
     other natural disasters''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tipton) and the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TIPTON. 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 this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Colorado?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, small businesses across the country are especially 
vulnerable to natural disasters. Recent natural disasters like 
Hurricane Harvey in Texas and the wildfires in California have left 
small businesses torn apart in their wake.
  Nationally, there has been a survey of 500 small businesses. In 2015, 
they found that 75 percent of small businesses do not develop plans to 
be able to prepare for disasters. This means that small businesses are 
nationally unprepared for natural disasters and are likely to 
experience a fair amount of difficulty in reopening their doors, a 
concerning economic challenge in the aftermath of an already 
challenging time.
  Ms. Velazquez's bill, the Small Business Access to Capital After a 
Natural Disaster Act, would help alleviate some of these challenges by 
requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission's Advocate for Small 
Business Capital Formation to identify any unique challenges in 
securing access to capital for small businesses that have been affected 
by hurricanes or natural disasters.
  As a former small-business owner and co-chair of the Small Business 
Caucus, I know firsthand the positive economic impact a small business 
can have on regional and local economies that they serve. In the wake 
of a natural disaster, small businesses that reopen and rebuild can 
have a major impact on helping the local economy recover.
  Mr. Speaker, as the small business advocate is already involved in 
communicating with small businesses, requiring the SEC to study issues 
with access to capital after a natural disaster and report annually on 
its finding is common sense.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend Ms. Velazquez for taking the initiative on 
this important issue, and I encourage my colleagues to support her 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to start off by thanking both Chairman Hensarling 
and Ranking Member Waters for working with me on this legislation and 
moving it onto the floor. This has truly been a bipartisan effort.
  My bill, H.R. 4792, the Small Business Access to Capital After a 
Natural Disaster Act, is simple and straightforward.
  One of the most important functions of the SEC's Office of the 
Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation is to develop proposals 
and recommend changes to Congress that will promote the interests of 
small businesses and their investors, mitigate their problems, and help 
them secure access to credit.
  When we created the Advocate's Office in 2016, we specifically 
charged it with looking into the unique challenges facing minority- and 
women-owned small businesses. My bill requires the advocate to now also 
consider the unique challenges that small businesses affected by 
hurricanes or other natural disasters have with securing access to 
credit and work to promote their interests.
  I developed this legislation because, as ranking member of the House 
Small Business Committee, I understand that small businesses are the 
lifeblood of many communities around the country, and I have witnessed 
firsthand the terrible impact hurricanes and other natural disasters 
can have on the economic outlook for small businesses.
  For example, in 2012, Superstorm Sandy ripped through the tristate 
area and decimated many communities along the New Jersey and New York 
coasts. Toms River, New Jersey, was considered ground zero for the 
storm.
  Half a decade later, the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce 
reports that the small businesses in that community are still trying to 
recover at a cost of $600 million in lost ratables, even at this point.
  For small businesses in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands trying to 
recover from the effects of Hurricane Maria, the situation is much 
worse.

                              {time}  1915

  2017 was the costliest year on record for weather and climate 
disasters in the United States, and the effects of Hurricane Maria on 
Puerto Rico's small businesses are unprecedented.
  Nelson Ramirez, the president of the Centro Unido de Detallistas, a 
small business advocacy group in San Juan, estimates two-thirds of the 
island's roughly 45,000 small and midsize businesses have closed at 
least temporarily, and as many as 10,000 will never reopen.
  Small and midsized businesses represent 90 percent of the private 
companies on the island and about one-third of the workforce. In 
October, the Puerto Rican Retail Trade Association revealed that a 
study conducted by economists estimated that the island's small 
business sector will lose $8.9 billion in a period of 6 months due to a 
lack of electricity on the island.
  But while the situation in Puerto Rico is unprecedented, this 
legislation is about more than just Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. 
This legislation will serve to drive capital to other areas of our 
Nation impacted by hurricanes and other natural disasters this past 
season including Texas; Florida; the U.S. Virgin Islands; and 
California, which is facing the effects of devastating wildfires and 
mudslides.
  Ninety-nine percent of the companies in Houston are considered small 
businesses, and most of them do not have the same economic resources as 
the State's massive oil and medical industries. As a result, these 
businesses face

[[Page H655]]

a long and expensive road to recovery. This legislation seeks to 
shorten that distance for those businesses as well.
  FEMA estimates that nearly 40 percent of small businesses never 
reopen after a disaster. Therefore, developing strategies to drive 
private capital to a community's small business is one of the most 
efficient uses of private sector capital and one of the most effective 
ways we in the Federal Government can help an area recover.
  Nearly 4 months after Hurricane Maria, the Puerto Rican economy is at 
a near standstill and thousands of the island's small businesses are 
teetering towards insolvency. The businesses in southeast Texas, 
Florida, the Virgin Islands, and California face tough situations as 
well, and we must do all that we can to help them recover.
  Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank Chairman Hensarling and Ranking 
Member Waters for working with me on this important legislation, which 
passed our committee earlier this month on a wide bipartisan basis, 57-
0. I also want to thank Representatives Green, Sinema, and Plaskett for 
cosponsoring this legislation with me.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to vote ``yes'' and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rutherford). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4792.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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