[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 157 (Friday, September 27, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN'S BUSINESS ENTERPRISE ACT OF 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GRACE MENG

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 27, 2019

  Ms. MENG. Madam Speaker, I rise to bring attention to the critical 
need to support women-owned businesses. Women-owned businesses are 
driving economic growth in our nation.
   Since 1972, the number of women-owned businesses increased nearly 
3,000 percent. Between 2018 and 2019, U.S. women of all backgrounds 
started an average of 1,817 new businesses per day, representing 42 
percent of all businesses. These businesses generate $1.9 trillion and 
employs 9.4 million workers. As of 2019, women of color account for 50 
percent of all women-owned businesses, and these businesses in 
particular are growing at a significantly faster rate than women in 
general and all businesses. The social and economic benefits of 
encouraging and supporting women entrepreneurs are undeniable and 
enormous.
   Despite the incredible ingenuity of women entrepreneurs, women still 
face significant barriers to business ownership due to unmanageable 
expectations for work-life balance, implicit biases against women in 
STEM, and limited access to capital.
   That is why I am introducing the Interagency Committee on Women's 
Business Enterprise Act of 2019--a bill to reauthorize a federal agency 
(of the same name) that would help coordinate federal resources and 
grow women-owned businesses. Better coordination is critical to making 
sure women business owners and entrepreneurs receive the assistance 
they need to help start, grow, and sustain their business enterprises. 
The Interagency Committee's responsibility will be to look at the 
behavior of the federal agencies in how they support, expand, and 
strengthen resources and programs for women-owned businesses--
ultimately making sure our federal government is doing all that it must 
to support women entrepreneurs.
   First established in 1979, the ICWBE led several federal agencies in 
the development of policies to assist women business owners. While the 
Interagency Committee was initially maintained through both Democratic 
and Republican administrations, it has been inactive since 2000 with no 
chairperson at the helm. My bill would amend Title IV of the Women's 
Business Ownership Act to reauthorize the Interagency Committee by 
making sure a Chairperson is at the helm. Getting the Interagency 
Committee back to functioning status would help increase the ability of 
the federal government to provide targeted assistance to women 
entrepreneurs so they can achieve their business goals, while ensuring 
this entity carries out its mission to support and reinvigorate women-
owned businesses.
   Madam Speaker, women entrepreneurs are the key to engineering new 
and better innovations in today's global economy--and I urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation.

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