Increasing Investor Opportunities Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Chair, Chairwoman Ann Wagner has been a great leader on capital markets and driving real innovation, but also real investment across this country through our INVEST Act. That is why I rise in support today of the INVEST Act, legislation that will transform the way we bring capital to the heart of the heartland, in places like Missouri and Iowa.

Consider, if you will, Mr. Chair, a precision agriculture company in Atlantic, Iowa, that develops a new soil monitoring technology. They want to raise capital to manufacture sensors and hire engineers. Under current rules, they face excessive auditing requirements that cost up to $200,000 just in compliance alone. That is an amount that a coastal tech giant might spend in a day, but for a heartland company, that is a year's worth of an entire payroll for multiple employees.

My ELEVATE Act, included in this package, fixes this challenge. It reduces auditing requirements for emerging growth companies from 3 years to 2 years, cutting costs while protecting investors.

Iowa's innovators and America's innovators are creators of solutions that help feed the world and drive America forward. We should remove barriers, not continue to create or make them harder, because a startup in Perry, Iowa, deserves the same shot at success as one in Palo Alto, California.

The INVEST Act delivers fairness, and my work on the ELEVATE Act delivers it right to the heart of this country.

Mr. Chair, I urge passage.

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