WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Small Business is holding a full committee hearing titled “A Year in Review: The State of Small Business in America.”

Chairman Williams’ opening statement as prepared for delivery:

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our last hearing of the year of 2023.

I want to thank our witnesses for being here today. I know all of you traveled a long way to share your stories with us today, and we greatly appreciate it.

This Committee serves as the voice for Main Street America in Washington. The goal today – and every day – is to learn more about the current state of small business from the people who know it best: our nation’s job creators. There’s no doubt that in a year like this one, they’ve experienced many ups and downs.

In my opinion, starting a small business is the definition of the American Dream. Any American from any background can take a risk, bet on themselves, and bring a new service or product to the marketplace. Our economy is dependent upon small businesses, and our entrepreneurs should be celebrated every day.

As job creators, they are the engines of our economy, accounting for over half of the payroll of the entire country. More importantly, they are the beacon of light and extension of culture into each of our communities, giving back selflessly though your business with many of your struggles often going unnoticed. I have been carrying on my family business for over 50 years, and I understand the highs and lows of being your own boss. 

America’s entrepreneurs have had to confront historic challenges over the past few years: the COVID-19 pandemic, out-of-control inflation, broken supply chains, high interest rates, access to capital, and a national labor shortage. But as small businesses have done countless times before, they’ve endured.

Here on the Committee on Small Business, we’ve been working to create an environment where businesses can thrive. Small business owners dedicate their lives and finances to the products and services they bring to the marketplace. Every business owner knows every extra hour of paperwork is one less hour they can tend to their business operations; every inflated tax is an extra dollar that could have gone somewhere else; and every job vacancy is one more a small business owner must cover themselves.

As we listen to the state of small business in America, we salute the entrepreneurs who continue to fight and give selflessly back to their communities. We are eager to hit the ground running in the new year and enact policy solutions that will help pave a path toward success for both now and the future.

Today marks our 20^th full committee hearing of the year, and in each one we hear briefly about what small businesses are enduring at any given moment. I wanted to have this hearing today so we could specifically discuss the state of entrepreneurship as a whole and think about the bigger picture as we move forward to 2024. I am excited to have you all here with us today and I am very much looking forward to today’s hearing.

Lastly, I would like to welcome Ms. Celeste Maloy from the great state of Utah as the newest Member of the majority on our Committee. Congresswoman Maloy is a fighter and came to Congress to advocate on behalf of her district’s families and small businesses. We are excited to have you on our team and look forward to working with her in the future.

With that I will yield to our distinguished Ranking Member from New York, Ms. Velázquez.

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