National Senior Investor Initiative Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support, as well, of H.R. 1876, the Senior Security Act, and I want to thank my friends and colleagues, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hollingsworth), for their collaboration and work on this important bipartisan legislation, all focused on protecting our seniors.

Madam Speaker, America's capital markets are open. They are innovative, and they are essential for our families. That is how we live the American Dream. We can grow a nest egg that helps us for our retirement, helps put our kids or grandkids through college, or helps buy a home.

But as Americans age, they become more critical to the success of those open, transparent, and vibrant capital markets because those Americans over 50, Madam Speaker, roughly, have 77 percent of the financial assets in our country.

So when bad actors violate our laws and regulations, commit fraud, or exploit our senior Americans or their families, the integrity of those transparent and open markets and the opportunity of that American Dream are threatened.

To that end, protecting senior investors and preventing such behavior within our financial system is a shared goal. H.R. 1876 protects senior investors and will help the SEC reduce increasing instances of financial exploitation. It will create an interdivisional task force at the SEC to examine and identify challenges facing senior investors.

I have to say, Madam Speaker, over two decades of working in the investment world and working with the SEC and working with FINRA, the regulatory body for broker-dealers and investment advisers, their efforts of sweep exams and the education of the responsibilities of investment advisers are critical.

This will give them more tools to identify what the gaps are today.

I would add, in my career, that gap extends way beyond financial advisers to CPAs, lawyers, people in a position of trust that advise and guide over Americans.

It is shocking for us to report that $36 billion each year are lost to financial scams in this country and that one out of five seniors have reported being victims of exploitation.

Many States are taking action on their own. According to the National Conference of State Legislators: ``The number of bills introduced by State legislators to combat elder financial exploitation increased by over 57 percent in 3 years.''

So this bipartisan bill is a very important step in generating awareness at the Federal level of the need to strengthen protections for our senior investors.

Madam Speaker, protecting seniors and ensuring the integrity of our capital markets are things that I believe we all stand behind on this House floor. It is our duty to protect our constituents, particularly the most vulnerable, and that is why I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1876.

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Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the work of the sponsor, Mr. Gottheimer, and his important personal testimony about his family and the importance of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hollingsworth), the minority sponsor of this bill and my good friend.

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Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Indiana's comments. He has been an excellent author.

Again, Madam Speaker, you hear the testimony from both sides of the aisle, from constituents in both these districts, and the importance of this.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of my colleagues, we urge adoption of H.R. 1876, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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