Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5914) to amend the Investor Protection and Securities Reform Act of 2010 to provide grants to States for enhanced protection of senior investors and senior policyholders, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to voice my support for H.R. 5914, the Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act. I thank Mr. Gottheimer for introducing this legislation that provides grants to State securities regulators to support programs that protect senior investors. I also thank Mr. McHenry, the minority spokesperson, for working with us on this important bill.

Madam Speaker, seniors are particularly vulnerable to investment frauds, scams, and deceptive practices. In October of last year, in its annual report on elder fraud and abuse, the Department of Justice reported that in 2020 alone, seniors suffered over $1 billion in financial losses due to fraud.

State securities and insurance regulators are on the front lines of protecting our investors. The SEC, with the support of its Investor Advocate and Division of Enforcement, is well placed to evaluate and administer grant programs to bolster State regulators' efforts to better protect senior investors.

This bill is widely supported by investor advocates and State securities regulators, including the North American Securities Administrators Association, the Consumer Federation of America, Public Citizen, and the CFA Institute.

Madam Speaker, I, again, thank Members on both sides for coming together on this bill, and I urge its passage.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Garcia).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, this is a strongly bipartisan bill aimed to strengthen senior investment protection programs at our States' securities and insurance regulators. It will help protect millions of seniors who are vulnerable to scams and fraudsters.

I thank Mr. Gottheimer for his leadership on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my colleague from New Jersey Mr. Gottheimer's bill, H.R. 5914, the Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act, of which I am a proud cosponsor.

Increasingly, senior investors and consumers have become the target of financial exploitation. Sadly, one in five older Americans have been victimized by financial fraud.

Madam Speaker, in today's world of technology and telemarketing calls and robocalls, it is only getting worse.

I can tell you, Madam Speaker, that I have had many lives in my life. I am like a cat. The first life I had was as a geriatric social worker. I saw it back then, but it was a little bit different. Now, with technology and all the high-tech things that one can do, it gets worse and worse. The numbers are getting higher, and the dollar values are getting higher.

Protecting seniors from financial exploitation is critical to ensuring that seniors can maintain a secure retirement.

This bill will help do that. It creates a senior investor protection grant program to be implemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will work closely with State securities regulators to protect older investors and educate seniors about financial matters and financial scams.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters and Representative Gottheimer for bringing this bipartisan bill before us today. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill, and I look forward to seeing it come to fruition.

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

I rise today in support of H.R. 5914, the Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), my friend, for his work on this important legislation.

Protecting investors, especially the most vulnerable to financial crimes and fraud, is a bipartisan effort. In the great State of Arkansas, our seniors make up 17.4 percent of our population and, across the Nation, with 54 million seniors over the age of 65, senior investors are a frequent target of investment fraudsters.

It is especially important that we protect this population against fraud and punish bad actors, especially since these investors are largely on fixed incomes, living on their savings.

H.R. 5914 better equips State securities regulators and their enforcement and investigative arms to pursue, punish, and deter financial crimes and fraud committed against our seniors.

With this being a new grant program, important provisions have been included that require an interim and final report to the Congress. This will allow us to determine the effectiveness of this program before it is renewed.

I urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, let me again urge our colleagues to provide support for this bill.

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

Madam Speaker, I was not present for the following Roll Call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows:

Roll Call No. 152, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass bill (S.66) South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act, I would have voted YEA;

Roll Call No. 153, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended bill (H.R. 7077) Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act, I would have voted YES;

Roll Call No. 154, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended bill (H.R. 1437) PRECIP Act, I would have voted YES;

Roll Call No. 155, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass bill (S.1872) United States Army Rangers Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act, I would have voted YEA;

Roll Call No. 156, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended bill (H.R. 5911) Fair Hiring in Banking Act, I would have voted

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