emmer of minnesota. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 609, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. emmer, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from minnesota. mr. emmer: mr. chairman, i recognize myself for as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. emmer: thank you, mr. chairman. the amendment i'm offering today will enhance anti-fraud and consumer protections for small businesses and startups seeking to take advantage of the micro offering exemption outlined in the underlying bill. while the legislation itself requires three specific criteria to be met simultaneously in order to trigger a safe harbor exemption for a security offering, my amendment adds an additional layer of protection to further safeguard investors from bad actors. specifically, my amendment prohibits the exemption from being available for those who have been disqualified under the bad actor disqualification standard establi

emmer for introducing this legislation to alleviate the burdensome compliance environment that is imposed on small businesses. and again encourage my colleagues to support this legislation. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back my time.

the miners act by tom emmer return the rights to states to help create jobs, priority for this congress. the re-authorization of brownfield programs, every single district has a brownfield. we want to clean those up and create more jobs. the equal act will provide the time necessary to make sure new federal employees is the right fit for accountability in government, the manufacturing housing act by andy ba rmp r will help people own their own homes and barbara comstock's bill requiring each member to complete sexual harrassment training every year. we have watched chairman harper and his hearing. i will finish my training and my office will be done. and one note i want to make. the senate is continuing to work to pass tax reform and big day out of committee. we believe they will get the work done this week and we want to go to conference as quickly as possible. i advised that the members' should be flexible. they may be later on friday. we will make sure we get tax cuts reform done for the american public. >> i'm thankful for the blessings we received. speaker ryan: i thank greg harper

the minors act by tom emmer, return the rights to states and help create jobs. priority for this congress. the re-authorization of brown field program. every single district has a brown field. we want environmentally be able to clean those up and create more jobs in the community as well. the equal act will provide the time necessary to make sure new federal employees is the right fit for their taxpayer funded role. accountability in government. the manufacturing housing act of 2017 by andy barr, will ensure fair lending standards to help people own their own homes. then barbara comstock's bill, requiring each member in office to complete sexual harassment training every year. this is something that we take very seriously. you have watched chairman harper on his hearings. this is just the beginning and not the end of where we're going. i will finish my education and training session today. my entire office will be done by the end of this month. then one notice i want to make, i know the senate is continuing book to -- this week to pass tax reform. we believe the

emmer: i thank my colleague from the great state of colorado. mr. speaker, obtaining accessible and reliable forms of capital is one of the biggest challenges that small businesses and entrepreneurs face today. i will say that again. we're not talking about large corporations. we're talking about small businesses and entrepreneurs. according to 2016 year-end economic report from the national small business ssociation, 41% of all small businesses surveyed said that, quote, lack of capital is hindering their ability to grow their siness or expand operations. and 20% said they had to reduce the number of employees as a result of tight credit. that is why i introduced their microoffering safe harbor act. this bill does not create new securities registration -- it does not create a new securities registration exemption under the securities act. rather it defines what constitutes a permissible nonpublic offering. it provides small business with the clarity and confidence to know that they are offering -- their offering is not a violation of the securities

emmer. h.r. 3905 requires congressional approval of any mineral withdrawal or monument designation involving the national forest system lands in the state of minnesota. and provides for the renewal of certain mineral leases in those lands. this is necessary, mr. speaker, because in the final hours of the obama administration the administration withdrew hundreds of thousands of acres in minnesota from mineral development and improperly terminated two federal mineral leases. the effect of this decision halted potential mining projects in minnesota, robbing the region of 650 direct and 1,300 indirect jobs, as well as the tax revenue for the -- the mining operation would bring. mining jobs, mr. speaker, are good, high-paying jobs. the average mining wage in minnesota is roughly $25,000 a year higher than the average wage in the state. coming from a state where we mine more coal than any state in the nation, i understand and appreciate the economic development mining projects can bring to a regio

emmer, for five minutes. mr. emmer: mr. speaker, i rise today to celebrate an outstanding educator in my district. ian omar of st. cloud was recently honored as seven recipients of an outstanding refugee from the minnesota department of human services. this award honors refugees or their children who are making innovative contributions to heir community and ian is well deserving of this commendation. as a language arts teacher at st. cloud technical high school, but for ms. herrera beutler: work in education extends beyond the classroom and -- for her her work in education extnds beyond the classroom and she was at the st. cloud event where she spoke about interpersonal education. thank you, ian, for your commitment to education and congratulations on this well-deserved award. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize an outstanding constituent from my district, andy feel of monticello. andy recently competed in the 2017 food distributor association truck driving championships in orlando, florida. this competition highlights t

emmer, for five minutes. mr. emmer: mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize a leader in our community who has received a great honor. skip dolan, the head boys basketball coach for the annandale cardinals was inducted into the minnesota basketball coaches hall of fame in october. i'm not going to go through all his statistics, although they are quite impressive. i think it's important that we note that a good coach can have a major impact on a kids' life. coaches don't just teach a game to our kids, they ingrain -- ingrain important life skills in their minds. they teach our kids how to work with others and how to act as a team. they teach our children the value of practice and perseverance, and they teach our kids how to compete with honor, dignity, and how to win with grace. a good coach guides our kids along the road to success which is why i'm so happy that we have a coach like skip dolan in our community. we can never thank him enough for working with and teaching our kids. and we congratulate him on this incredible hon

emmer: mr. speaker, i rise in support of the 21st century flood insurance reform act, which will re-authorize and reform our national flood insurance program. the nfip provides important relief. millions of americans rely on this program to provide coverage when disaster strikes. the nearly 50-year-old nfip program, however, is in desperate need of reform. today's legislation will not only re-authorize the program for five years, it will take steps to better align premium rates to risk, improve fema's mapping and appeals process, and begin to correct the way the nfip manages what are known as repetitive loss properties. most importantly, h.r. 2874 lays the groundwork for a private flood insurance marketplace to take hold. which will improve the fiscal stability and solvency of the nfip for future generations to come. this bill is a good start. but these reforms must continue to be built upon in the years ahead. i'm thankful for the hard work of chairman hensarling and housing and insurance subco

house will consider h.r. 2201, the microoffering safe harbor act, sponsored by representative tom emmer. part of our innovation initiative, this is a smarter way for entrepreneurs to start new ventures or grow existing businesses. additional legislative items are possible in the house. if anything is added to the schedule i'll be sure to inform my friend and all member. with that, i thank my friend and yield back. mr. hoyer: i thank my friend for for that information. first i want to start by saying the majority leader and i and four other members of the house had an opportunity to visit both puerto rico and the virgin islands last weekend since we had our last colloquy. first i want to thank the majority leader for organizing that trip. and including me on it. it was a -- an eye-opening trip. the majority leader and i have done an op-ed which will be appearing at some time on our observations. one of the things i know the majority leader and i had the opportunity to see, we were in marathon, where you had housing that was built after andrew and housing built before andrew. the differen