Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2025

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2478, the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2025, sponsored by Representative Wagner.

This bill will help protect vulnerable Americans by allowing for mutual fund companies to delay the redemption or sale of mutual funds when the company believes there is an attempt to defraud a senior or an adult who cannot protect themselves.

Financial fraud targeting older adults is a widespread and growing problem. Millions of seniors are victimized each year, and reported losses are just soaring. In 2025 alone, America's seniors lost nearly $8 billion to fraud, an 80 percent increase over the prior year.

Seniors are especially vulnerable to scams and financial abuse because they may not be familiar with the ever-increasing technological sophistication with which current scammers operate. Scammers exploit these factors through tactics like AI-powered deep fakes that emulate the voice of a grandchild pretending to be in a difficult or dangerous situation, romance schemes that prey on lonely seniors, tech support hoaxes, lottery scams, and other tricks. The introduction of artificial intelligence is making these scams all the more prevalent and harmful.

We should do all we can to stop these scammers and fraudsters. Unfortunately, that is not what Congress and the President are doing. The Trump administration, with Republican support in Congress, has been shrinking, and in some cases dismantling, the financial cops who detect fraud and hold bad actors accountable. Trump's administration has walked away from court cases where fraudsters had admitted to harming Americans and agreed to pay compensation. As a result, victims didn't receive compensation, but the criminals' pockets were lined.

While this bill could empower financial industry participants to help protect seniors when they suspect fraud, it is absurd that, at the same time, Republicans are cheering on Trump's attempts to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and defang and defund the SEC. All the while, Trump's family reaps in millions, if not billions, of personal profits from their corrupt business dealings and private- sector shakedowns.

Some of these actions have a direct impact on Americans. The Trump meme coin scam, for example, has resulted in billions of dollars of losses for Americans. We cannot talk about fraud without acknowledging this massive elephant in the room.

The American people are asking for this House to hold the Trump administration and family accountable. Until then, we are left taking small steps, such as passing H.R. 2478.

Mr. Hill, the chairman of the committee and my friend, talked about this having bipartisan support. I don't know if bipartisan support means anything these days.

I am stunned that we worked hard for over 1 year on doing something substantive about housing. We had bicameral and bipartisan support and, all of a sudden, the President of the United States canceled the signing of the bipartisan bill today.

What is up? What is going on?

Does it mean anything that Republicans worked very hard?

Mr. Hill spent a lot of time on the bill, and I spent a lot of time on this bill. All of a sudden, the President says: Oh, I don't feel like signing it today. As a matter of fact, I want something else. I want the SAVE America Act that will undermine voting and strip those who have been protected by the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act from being able to vote in a way that our democracy demands and the Constitution protects.

I am very pleased that Mrs. Wagner has this bill. I know she has worked on it. I certainly support it, but we need more.

Mr. Speaker, with the advent of new technologies like artificial intelligence, senior fraud is more prevalent today than it ever has been, and it is only going to get worse. We need to do everything in our power to make sure that seniors have the appropriate protections to comfortably enjoy retirement.

Chair Wagner's H.R. 2478 is part of that effort, allowing mutual fund providers to delay redemptions of a senior's shares if they suspect they may be falling victim to a scam.

Mr. Speaker, we are in a terrible time in this country. We are in a terrible time because we have so many difficulties with the economy and the groceries are higher. Gasoline is out of control. The price is absolutely unusual and unnecessary, except the President of the United States said he doesn't care.

As a matter of fact, the President of the United States said he loves inflation, for example, and we know what his tariffs have done to our economy. Yet, he is in another country saying that he doesn't care about the financial situation that we are confronted with.

This is a good bill. This is a bill to try and protect our seniors. Our seniors need protection. Many of them are on fixed incomes. Many of them don't have a lot of money, and if they are ripped off, they may end up homeless and on the street. The President doesn't care about that. Yes, this is a bipartisan bill. Bipartisan, for those who are listening, means that both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans, agree, but we don't know whether the President will agree. For all I know, he may veto the bill. We don't know what to expect from him.

We are in a terrible situation with the President of the United States of America. We know he canceled the bill's signing that is supported by both sides of the aisle, in both the House and the Senate, knowing that we have 800,000 people who are on the streets in this country every night and he is not willing to generously step up to the plate and say: I support a bill that is going to get housing built for the average family. We are going to support a bill to keep people off the street, homelessness. We are going to support a bill that ensures that people have an opportunity to pursue their talent and to do what they can to make their lives more comfortable.

If he can't support that and he is canceling it today, I don't know what we can expect about a good bill like this that is protecting seniors. I just ask all of the Members of the House of Representatives, vote ``aye'' on this bill. Vote ``aye'' on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, for those who have influence with the President of the United States, call him and tell him: Mr. President, don't veto this. Mr. President, come on back and sign this housing bill so we can deal with this housing crisis. Mr. President, get us out of this war in Iran. Mr. President, do something to deal with this economy where people are getting hurt and harmed every day.

Mr. Speaker, we could go on talking about it. It is embarrassing. The American people should not have to hear this kind of conversation, but those of us who were sent here by the people we represent have to speak truth to power. That is what we do when we come up with legislation with both sides of the aisle supporting it, in both the House and Senate supporting it. We have to get in the President's face and say: Sign these bills. He has to talk about these problems. He has to deal with this economy, and that is a bit of what we are doing today. I have added to it a little bit, but that is my responsibility.

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