Supporting the Protection of Elders Through Financial Literacy

Floor Speech

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

Madam Speaker, I am proud to support H. Res. 328, a resolution introduced by Congressman Casten of Illinois and Congressman Rose of Tennessee.

This bipartisan resolution acknowledges an important component of financial literacy, and it is raising awareness of threats to personal finances, especially for vulnerable targeted populations such as older adults. It also encourages continued public-private partnerships and information sharing to effectively prevent, detect, report, and investigate elder financial exploitation.

As we have heard, the baby boomer generation is getting older; 10,000 of them are turning 65 each day. According to the National Center on Aging, up to 5 million older Americans are abused every year, and the annual loss by victims of financial abuse is estimated to be at least $36.5 billion. That is why we need to be proactive about combating this serious problem on multiple fronts.

We should work to arm our senior citizens with the knowledge they need to effectively detect and prevent financial exploitation by would- be criminals. Understanding the red flags and warning signs to look for is important first step.

In addition, we should continue to support efforts by FinCEN and other regulatory and law enforcement agencies to ensure that information at the disposal of these agencies is used to better deter and respond to incidents of elder financial exploitation.

Efforts like H. Res. 328, together with the Senior Security Act of 2019 and the Senior Safe Act of 2018, show Congress' commitment to supporting our Nation's senior citizens on a bipartisan basis. It also shows our commitment to encouraging collaboration, public-private partnerships, and information sharing in order to effectively combat financial exploitation of senior citizens.

Madam Speaker, for these reasons, I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Casten) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. John W.

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Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Casten), the co-author of this legislation.

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

Madam Speaker, I want to again congratulate Mr. Casten and Mr. Rose for having brought this resolution to the floor. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this important resolution to empower senior citizens and promote public-private partnerships in order to strengthen our enforcement against crimes of financial exploitation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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