Senior Financial Empowerment Act of 2010

Thank you, Chairman Scott, for yielding the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3040, the Senior Financial Empowerment Act of 2009.

My own experience as the primary caregiver for my grandmother opened my eyes to some troubling exploitative tactics targeted at America's seniors. Growing up in Wisconsin, I was raised by my maternal grandparents. Though I went east for college, I returned to my hometown, Madison, after graduation to be there for my grandmother, who by then was widowed and who had sacrificed so much of her own time and energy to raise me. Eventually, I became my grandmother's primary caregiver.

Around the time that my grandmother turned 90 years old, she asked me to help her sort through her mail and balance her checkbook. Now, first, I was struck by the sheer volume of solicitations she was getting. I was also shocked by how many were fly-by-night organizations or ``look alike'' charities that were writing her on a monthly basis. Their pleas for donations looked and sounded legitimate, but I had my suspicions, so I started digging a little bit deeper.

I was also disturbed by the amount of money my grandmother had been giving to some of these entities. She believed that those who were able to do so ought to be as generous as possible to those in need, but she had no way of determining the legitimacy of the entities that were contacting her and soliciting her so regularly.

That experience opened my eyes to the very real exploitation of seniors, like my grandmother, through the mail, telephone, and Internet. Millions of Americans become victims of similar financial exploitation each year, but it is not just the isolated and lonely who may fall prey to these scams. One only need read one's local newspaper in order to hear how widespread this really is.

In my home district in Wisconsin, over the years, we have seen all sorts of scams. One reads of ongoing reports about ``notch baby'' schemes in which Social Security beneficiaries born between the years 1917 and 1921 are asked to send money to organizations that promise to change the Federal laws to increase their benefits. These organizations go so far as to ask these seniors whether they would like their Federal money in a lump sum or in monthly payments.

Earlier this year, The Capital Times newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, reported that an 84-year-old Madison woman was duped out of nearly $3,000 after a phone scammer convinced her that her ``granddaughter's boyfriend'' was in a Canadian jail and needed bail money. Madison police reported that she received a phone call from the man, who called her ``Grandma,'' and he told her he was in a Canadian jail after being picked up for drunk driving. To convince the elderly woman, ``Officer Jacob Harris'' came on the line and convinced her of the need for bail money for her ``granddaughter's boyfriend.'' This elderly woman wired the money, and fell victim to a disturbingly common scam.

I also read that, not days after President Obama signed the historic health care reform bill into law, fraudsters were figuring out how to scam seniors. A cable TV advertisement exhorted viewers to call an 800 number so that they wouldn't miss a limited enrollment period to obtain coverage. We all know that there was no limited enrollment period for any coverage in the health care legislation that we passed.

Though we all have read and heard these anecdotal stories, it is difficult to estimate the prevalence of financial exploitation cases due to severe underreporting. According to a 2009 report by Met Life Mature Market Institute, for every case of abuse reported, there are an estimated four or more that go unreported. We do know some facts, though. This same study found that the annual financial loss by victims of senior financial abuse is estimated to be at least $2.6 billion.

In my home State of Wisconsin, the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups estimates that 35,000 seniors in Wisconsin alone were the victims of financial exploitation last year. The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions reports that half of their cases now being investigated include older victims.

On a national level, postal inspectors investigated almost 3,000 mail fraud cases in the U.S., and they arrested more than 1,200 mail fraud suspects in 2007 alone. Further, the FBI has confirmed that criminals are modifying their targeting techniques to include online scams, such as phishing and email spamming.

Given the prevalence of financial fraud targeting seniors, Congressman Howard Coble and I introduced the Senior Financial Empowerment Act

with a very specific goal in mind--to empower seniors and to end the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of America's elders. The bill builds on the good work already being done by the Federal Trade Commission and by the U.S. Department of Justice, and it seeks to empower these agencies to support local and State efforts to combat financial fraud and to empower our seniors.

I would like to extend a special thanks to my colleague Howard Coble from North Carolina for his leadership on this issue. It has been a pleasure working with him to advance this legislation.

I also want to thank Chairman Scott, Chairman Conyers, and Ranking Members Gohmert and Smith for their longstanding commitment to America's seniors.

Mr. Speaker, when I saw my grandmother go through the last years of her life, and what she went through with these solicitations, I made a pledge to make sure that all older Americans have the tools that they need to protect themselves against financial crimes and fraud. I urge support for the Senior Financial Empowerment Act.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3040) to prevent mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud targeting seniors in the United States, to promote efforts to increase public awareness of the enormous impact that mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud have on seniors, to educate the public, seniors, their families, and their caregivers about how to identify and combat fraudulent activity, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days 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, H.R. 3040 was introduced to address the need to educate and inform the public of the predatory practices of unscrupulous individuals who prey upon the vulnerabilities of our senior citizens. Ours is an aging society. The U.S. Census Bureau tells us the following: in 2006, the year in which the first baby boomers began turning 60, persons age 60 and older compromised almost 17 percent of the population. By 2030, it is estimated that the 60-plus population will compromise nearly 25 percent of the U.S. population, and the number of people older than 65 will exceed 71 million, double the number in just 2000.

The oldest segment of our population owns the largest portion of wealth in the United States, and too often seniors have become a very enticing target to those who would seek to defraud them of their life savings. Although we currently lack national reporting mechanisms for tracking financial exploitation of elders, there is no doubt that we've got a real problem in this country. With the present state of the economy, older Americans are at greater risk of having their financial security threatened and disrupted.

Fraud perpetrated against seniors is a crime that they very often are incapable of recovering from because they don't have enough years left, so it's a matter of urgency. This bill, H.R. 3040, when enacted into law, will be part of the continuing effort to curb the rapidly growing problem of the victimization of senior citizens via telemarketing, mail, and Internet fraud through public awareness, education, and prevention.

It will accomplish this by creating a centralized service for consumer education on mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud targeting seniors. It will direct the Federal Trade Commission to disseminate information on mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud. It will provide means of referring complaints of fraud to appropriate law enforcement agencies. It will direct the FTC to establish a Web site to serve as a resource for seniors on financial

fraud. This will be accomplished through an authorization to the FTC of $10 million per year from FY11 through FY15.

H.R. 3040 will also authorize $20 million a year from fiscal year 2011 through fiscal year 2015 for the Attorney General to establish and administer a competitive grant program to award grants to eligible organizations to carry out locally focused mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud prevention and education programs for seniors.

Finally, the bill declares a sense of the Congress related to National Senior Fraud Awareness Week, and declares that a week in the month of May, Elder Abuse Awareness Month, should be designated as ``National Senior Fraud Awareness Week.'' It also encourages the President to issue a proclamation supporting increased public awareness.

I want to thank the gentlewoman from Wisconsin for her leadership on this bill, and for those reasons, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the sponsor of the bill, a great advocate for seniors and a member of the Judiciary Committee, the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin).

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Baldwin) for her leadership on this bill, as well as the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble). This important legislation will protect a lot of seniors, and I would hope that we would pass the bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, crimes against the elderly are a serious growing problem in America. Senior citizens are often the victims of abuse and neglect. Experts estimate that as many as 2 million older Americans are the victims of physical and psychological abuse every year. They are also the victims of financial crimes, including telemarketing fraud and identity theft.

The FBI reports that older Americans are prime targets for financial fraud because they are more likely to have nest eggs, own their homes, and have excellent credit. Seniors are more vulnerable to fraud schemes because they are less likely to report fraud or are ashamed of having been scammed or do not realize that they have been scammed.

These types of fraud are both creative and difficult to detect. Criminals will offer just about anything in an effort to defraud elderly victims--from counterfeit drugs, to health insurance, to anti- aging products, and even funeral services. Additionally, email scams have become more and more common.

In my home State of Florida, Attorney General Bill McCollum's office reports that, in 2009, it received over 13,000 consumer fraud complaints from residents over the age of 60. The number of complaints has doubled since the previous year and has increased six-fold since 2006.

Congress must address the rising incidence of fraud and scams that endanger our Nation's seniors. I am pleased to support H.R. 3040, the Senior Financial Empowerment Act, which is cosponsored by my colleagues Congresswoman Baldwin, Chairman Conyers, Ranking Member Smith, Chairman Scott, and Ranking Member Gohmert.

This legislation aims to do just what the title promises--to empower older Americans to protect themselves from seemingly harmless but devastating financial fraud schemes. The bill directs the Federal Trade Commission to provide tips to seniors on how best to safeguard themselves against fraud, and the bill directs the FTC to educate victims on how to report fraud to law enforcement authorities. Just learning simple steps, like shredding our billing statements, can help anyone prevent identity theft.

Today's seniors need to be empowered to protect themselves from the Internet, email, and telephone schemes. H.R. 3040 will help them achieve this goal. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged concurrent resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.