Recognizing Financial Planning Week, recognizing the significant impact of sound financial planning on achieving life's goals, and honoring families and the financial planning profession for their adherence and dedication to the financial planning process.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 973, recognizing ``Financial Planning Week,'' October 2nd through the 8th of this year. I was very pleased that my colleague and good friend from Illinois, Congresswoman Judy Biggert, joined me in introducing this important and timely resolution.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Congresswoman Biggert, Congressman Kanjorski and his staff, Congresswoman Maloney and her staff, Tania Shand with Government Reform, and Jerry Hartz and Catlin O'Neill with the Minority Leader's office for the assistance they provided me in bringing this resolution to the floor today.

As Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Financial and Economic Literacy Caucus, I decided to introduce this resolution to place the spotlight on yet another important piece of the financial and economic literacy puzzle that we must all put together during our lives: financial planning. Financial planning plays a key role in meeting the goal of the Caucus to improve financial literacy rates for individuals during all stages of their lives.

Mr. Speaker, at this point, I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record the following letters in support of H. Res. 973: letters from the Financial Planning Association, the Financial Services Roundtable, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Cross Financial Services Corporation, MasterCard and Citigroup.

Despite daily challenges of balancing work, family, and personal matters, it's important--now more than ever--that all Americans take time to increase their financial knowledge and plan for a secure future. Like most people, we all have hopes and dreams and life goals for ourselves and our families. These might include buying a home or business . . . saving for college education for our children . . . taking a dream vacation . . . reducing taxes . . . or retiring comfortably.

Managing your personal finances is ultimately your responsibility. However, you don't have to do it alone.

There are community centers, non-profits, community-based organizations, financial counseling organizations as well as private sector financial groups and associations that can help you make decisions that make the most of your financial resources. Certified Financial Planners are among those groups. This advice is available in many languages.

All these entities can help you set realistic financial and personal goals. They can assess your current financial health by examining your assets, liabilities, income, insurance, taxes, investments and estate plan. These same groups can help you develop a realistic, comprehensive plan to meet your financial goals by addressing financial weaknesses and building on financial strengths. They can help you put your plan into action and monitor its progress.

Furthermore, they can help you stay on track to meet changing goals. . . changing personal circumstances. . . changing stages of your life. . . changing products, markets and tax laws.

Research has shown that people with a financial plan tend to save more money, feel better about their progress, and make more appropriate decisions--no matter what their income.

Moreover, a written financial plan is far more effective than a mental one. Seeing your plan in writing helps to remind you about what actions are necessary to reach your goals, and it helps you to check your progress more easily than relying on memory alone.

Following the financial plan is the biggest challenge for most people. The pay-off for

meeting this challenge will be increased family financial security and satisfaction.

Many people are amazed to see how much of their money is spent on take-out lunches, morning coffees, and other expenses that can add up over time. It is up to all of us to decide whether these ``extras'' are really worth the trade- off. Are these everyday ``extras'' worth giving up money for current expenses and future goals?

The reality is that your everyday spending decisions have a greater impact on your long-term financial well-being than all of your investment decisions combined.

Next week, I hope that all of you will focus on mapping out your financial future.

I would like to commend the financial planners who will be volunteering their services on October 4th, financial planning day in room 430 of Senate Dirksen Office Building from noon to 3pm. Over a dozen financial planners will be available to answer any financial questions from you or your staff. More than likely, just your staff will be able to attend the event, but I encourage them to do so.

Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing I would like my colleagues and the public to understand today is that it is never too late to take control of your finances.

Whether you are a youth learning the fundamentals of savings and checking or an older person concerned that you haven't planned for your golden years, it is never too late to start. So, why not start today!

Again, I rise in strong support of this resolution and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of it.

The Financial Planning Association,

Washington, DC, September 8, 2006.

Hon. Ruben Hinojosa,

House of Representatives, Rayburn House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Hinojosa: As the leading membership

organization for the financial planning community, the

Financial Planning Association (FPA) would like to thank you

for introducing H.R. 973, in recognition of Financial

Planning Week. This resolution will help expand our goal of

increasing financial literacy and as a result, help the

national savings rate.

In a few weeks, our efforts to promote the benefits of wise

personal financial planning will be extended to Capitol Hill.

We would like to personally invite you to attend our sixth

annual Financial Planning Day on Capitol Hill on October 4,

in the Senate Dirksen Building, room 430, from 12 p.m. to 3

p.m. Over a dozen financial planners will be available to

answer any financial questions from you or your staff. I

would also like to use that opportunity to personally express

my gratitude for your efforts in support of sound financial

planning for all Americans.

FPA connects those who need, support and deliver financial

planning. Our 28,000 members work with a variety of clients,

including individuals and small businesses, to support and

deliver objective financial planning advice from a competent,

ethical financial planner. Our members demonstrate and

support a professional commitment to education and a client-

centered financial planning process.

Sincerely,

Daniel B. Moisand,

President, FPA.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 973, which supports the goals and ideals of designating the week of October 2-8, 2006 Financial Planning Week.

I want to thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Hinojosa, for introducing this resolution. I want to commend him for his leadership on the important issue of financial education.

In addition to serving together on the Financial Services Committee, Congressman Hinojosa and I co-chair the Financial and Economic Literacy Caucus, which now has 79 members. His commitment to improving financial literacy levels among all Americans is unwavering. I am honored to co- chair the caucus with him and to be the lead co-sponsor of this resolution.

I also want to thank the gentleman from Virginia, Chairman Tom Davis, for expeditiously moving this resolution through the Committee on Government Reform.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 973 calls on the Nation to observe the week of October 2-8, 2006, as ``Financial Planning Week.'' The Financial Planning Association, along with many states and municipalities across the country, have designated October 2-8, 2006, as ``Financial Planning Week.'' Our collective goal for the week is to make Americans aware of their financial planning needs, and encourage them to take the actions necessary to achieve financial security for their families.

Mr. Speaker, proper financial planning is an essential part of achieving one's life goals. Whether saving for a child's education, planning for retirement, or purchasing a first home, virtually every major decision that we make requires comprehensive financial planning.

Financial Planning Week will provide a good opportunity to talk to your kids about their personal finances, to remind your friends and loved ones of the need to plan for retirement, or to seek help with your own financial situation, if need be.

In the last quarter of 2005, the personal savings rate dropped to negative-point-two-percent--one of the lowest since the Great Depression. Studies show that as many as 10 million households in the United States are `un-banked.' They don't even have a bank or credit union account. In addition, 37 percent of workers are not currently saving for retirement. This has to change, and the best way for it to change is for us as Americans to get educated about properly managing our finances.

This October, during ``Financial Planning Week,'' I will join my colleagues, and financial literacy advocates nationwide, to encourage Americans to seek out information about the benefits of properly managing their personal finances.

I ask my colleagues to join me and support the goals and ideals of designating October 2-8, 2006, as Financial Planning Week.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support for House Resolution 973--recognizing Financial Planning Week. Now more than ever, working families need the tools and resources to make sound financial decisions.

American families are struggling with financial burdens--from growing student loan and credit card debts to increasing interest rates. Flattened wages and negative savings rates mean that too may families have to choose between sending their children to college and saving for retirement.

The financial situation for most American families is grim. In fact in 2005--for the first time since the Great Depression--the personal savings rate of Americans was negative. Americans have depleted their savings to pay off debt and to simply make ends meet. This is a dangerous trend for Americans that must be reversed.

That is why financial planning is more critical than ever. Americans need the tools and resources to know how to save for a variety of life opportunities and situations--including retirement, college, starting a new business, and buying a first home. Many families simply need assistance with budgeting for everyday needs. I commend the financial institutions that have included in their business models financial planning assistance for their customers. These institutions help to strengthen the economic situation for our communities and families.

What is unfortunate is that this Republican Congress has done little to provide relief to struggling families. Instead, families are being squeezed--flat wages, increased costs of health care, skyrocketing prices at the gas pump, and double digit college tuition increases. In nearly every aspect of life, American families are faced with financial burdens and tough budget decisions.

Congress could benefit from better financial planning--America deserves a Government that knows how to model good budget decisions. Unfortunately, this Republican Congress has led our Government into a negative savings rate--spending and borrowing more than our Nation can afford--while passing budgets that benefit the Nation's wealthiest while shortchanging hardworking, middle class families.

Today, I rise to support this important resolution. I will continue to work to support legislation that will encourage working families to save for their futures and to ensure that working families have the resources to make sound budget decisions.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 973, and the goals and the ideals of Financial Planning Month. I am proud to say that I am an original co- sponsor of this bill, and a member of the Financial Literacy Education Caucus.

I would first like to start by thanking my colleagues Mrs. Biggert and Mr. Hinojosa for their leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, we need to be paying more attention to financial literacy in this country, and to making sure our constituents have the tools to be responsible consumers, good savers and savvy investors.

An estimated 40 percent of Americans say they know only some, a little or not much, about how to manage their finances and only 10 percent of college students have had financial education in high school.

And yet, everyday life requires an increasing knowledge of banking and finance. The average American family spends $200,000 to raise a child to the age of 18, but the overall savings in this country barely breaks above 1 percent.

Prices for basic essentials--for health care, housing, schooling--are all skyrocketing. How are our families going to pay for it all if they aren't saving?

I am pleased that the Congress is voting to pass this financial planning awareness resolution at this time. Next week, I will be hosting the banking and finance portion of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Summit.

Financial literacy education is such an important topic that I have chosen to make it the focus of our summit. During our discussion, we will talk about ``best practices'' in financial literacy education.

It is essential that our citizens develop the tools of good financial management. These are the tools that will allow them to build wealth to enrich their families and communities.

They are also the tools that will protect them from fraud and exploitation, and help them be more responsible with their finances. This is not just important for individuals and their families, it is important to our nation as a whole. Less debt, more savings and more investment will be the foundation of our future economic success.

Once again I thank my colleagues for bringing H. Res. 973 to the floor and urge its passage.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 973) recognizing Financial Planning Week, recognizing the significant impact of sound financial planning on achieving life's goals, and honoring families and the financial planning profession for their adherence and dedication to the financial planning process, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that a sound financial foundation can provide people with more opportunities and a better quality of life. H. Res. 973, as amended, recognizes the importance of thorough planning to the achievement of financial aspirations, and it commends the millions of Americans who are already working and planning to achieve their personal goals.

In the past year, proclamations have been made in several States, as well as the District of Columbia, recognizing this fact, and I am pleased to support H. Res. 973 designating the week of October 2, 2006, as National Financial Planning Week.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the adoption of H. Res. 973, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.