Retail Investor Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1090. I think that we don't have to go back too far to look at what is happening here right now.

It is almost a message to the American people: You poor, poor people. You can't possibly understand how to handle your physical health decisions. The government is going to have to step in and tell you how to handle your financial decisions because you just can't do it on your own.

So we attack those people who make a living of giving good advice to people who don't have the ability to navigate a very difficult terrain when it comes to their retirement.

So who is always there to step in? That knight in shining armor, that parasitic leviathan that just can't wait to gobble up every single asset that the American people have.

We talk about fiduciary responsibility. I would say that also falls in the House. Really, if you are acting in the best interests of those folks who you represent or those people whose problems you handle, you will probably get a chance to come back here. If you handle their retirement accounts the right way, they will probably keep you as their retirement adviser, and they will also refer you to other people who are having the same problem.

Isn't it amazing that it always comes down to the government because they know so much better than everyday Americans about the way things should be done. When we have to go after some group, what we do is we raise the bar so high, we put so much responsibility on them that at the end of the day, they say: You know what? I can't pony up in this game anymore. I can't ante up. I am going to get out of here. Then who is left? Oh, my goodness, thank God for this safety net of a Federal Government that has done such a marvelous job with Social Security, that does such a marvelous job of protecting everyday Americans.

This is not a Republican initiative, and thank God for the gentlewoman from Missouri, the Show Me State, to show us what is happening here right now. The Department of Labor does not have to get involved in this. As has already been said, this is a solution hunting for a problem.

Why don't we just use good common sense? When it comes to lower income people and lower middle-income people, they look to those folks who do financial advising to help them get through that night, that dark night and get ready for retirement. Why in the world would we turn our back on the people who generate all this revenue?

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