[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6831]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            ANGEL INVESTORS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, this week I received a letter from a friend 
who works for a medical device company that is looking to expand its 
business by attracting an angel investor. Who are angel investors? They 
are wealthy individuals who invest their own money in companies with 
promise. They are not speculators. They are not brokers. They are 
individuals with vision who seek out entrepreneurs with creative ideas.
  New regulations proposed in the Senate financial reform bill would 
require a 120-day waiting period for startups seeking funds and add 
more restrictions on the minimum assets or income needed to become an 
angel investor. Angel investing is not what brought down our economy. 
In fact, startups funded by such investments provided 10 percent of all 
new jobs even though they account for less than 1 percent of the new 
companies. Starbucks, Costco, Facebook, Google, the list of successful 
angel investment companies is long.
  In my friend's case, if his company is not able to attract new 
investment, they will be unable to hire new workers or invest in new 
equipment. We should not cut short job growth with excessive new 
regulations.

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