WASHINGTON, DC— House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) today issued the following statement on the House passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012:

“Americans who want to start new businesses currently face many discouraging obstacles that have dampened the entrepreneurial spirit of this country and damaged a critical source of job creation. Since 2007, we've seen a 23 percent drop in new business creation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and October’s annual World Bank's Doing Business report found that the United States fell to No. 13 for ease of starting a business, down from No. 3 in 2007.

“To build a stronger economic recovery, we should end any threats of tax increases, address our debt crisis, pull back on unnecessary federal regulations, and remove barriers to starting businesses. The JOBS Act will help do this by increasing capital formation opportunities and paving the way for more small-scale businesses to go public and create more jobs. The JOBS Act will allow access to more financing for small businesses and address regulatory burdens that small firms face. Economic data is slowly starting to show signs of improvement, but we still are far from the strong economy our nation is accustomed to, as evidenced by today’s Gallup report that unemployment increased to 9.1 percent and underemployment to 19.1 percent in February. The JOBS Act will help our economy grow by jumpstarting business startups at a time when we need it most.”

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