Encouraging Employee Ownership Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. I am opposed in its current form.

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Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, in a bipartisan spirit, I offer a motion to recommit in order to make needed improvements to the current proposal.

Let me start with the story of Charles Bacino, as noted in ``The Street,'' a financial news service.

Charles grew up in Pueblo, Colorado. He was an accomplished musician. He taught music for over 30 years and brought joy to audiences across our country, from Disney World in Orlando to the Venetian in Las Vegas. He even performed alongside the famed tenor, Luciano Pavarotti. But most importantly, Charles was the loving father of three children and seven grandchildren.

At age 73, as Charles lay dying of pancreatic cancer in a hospital bed in Las Vegas, he called his financial affairs manager to his bedside to discuss his investments and put his final affairs in order. As a morphine drip was working to ease his pain, Charles' financial adviser persuaded him to invest $82,000 in a cocoa and banana plantation in Ecuador. Charles gave the adviser the keys to his house to get his checkbook, and in a matter of moments, his money was gone.

Financial fraud against our seniors cuts deep. Sadly, there are many more out there like Charles. One in five Americans over age 65 have been victimized by financial fraud. This equates to seniors losing nearly $13 billion a year due to financial fraud.

I am sad to report to you that close to 1 million seniors are currently forgoing meals as a result of economic hardship due to financial abuse, and this problem may get worse as older Americans live longer.

Here is the thing: the bill that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle bring to us today shields abusers like Charles' so-called financial adviser and strips Congress of the power to protect our grandmothers and grandfathers from con artists who swindle them.

Mr. Speaker, my motion to recommit would preserve decades of SEC consumer protections designed to help folks just like Charles. It would ensure that those criminals who prey on seniors will be held accountable.

My amendment adds something to this legislation that every person in this Chamber--Democratic and Republican--should want to do and get behind: stronger protections for the people who held us in their arms when we were young and that sheltered us and shared their wisdom with us as we grew. As they protected us, we must protect them.

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Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

A recorded vote was ordered.

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