[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7966 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7966

 To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the verification of 
 the financial independence of financial services counselors providing 
    services to members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 11, 2024

  Ms. Sherrill (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. 
  Ryan, Mr. Pascrell, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Mr. 
 Gottheimer, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Kean of New Jersey, Ms. Garcia 
 of Texas, and Mr. Molinaro) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the verification of 
 the financial independence of financial services counselors providing 
    services to members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting our Service Members and 
their Families from Predatory Financial Practices Act''.

SEC. 2. VERIFICATION OF THE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE OF FINANCIAL 
              SERVICES COUNSELORS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

    (a) Verification of Financial Independence.--Section 992 of title 
10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2)(A)--
                    (A) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (B) in clause (ii)--
                            (i) by striking ``may'' and inserting 
                        ``shall'';
                            (ii) by striking ``installation by any 
                        means elected by the Secretary from among the 
                        following:'' and inserting ``installation--'';
                            (iii) in subclause (I)--
                                    (I) by striking ``Through'' and 
                                inserting ``through''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``Defense.'' and 
                                inserting ``Defense;'';
                            (iv) in subclause (II)--
                                    (I) by striking ``By contract'' and 
                                inserting ``by contract''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``Internet.'' and 
                                inserting ``Internet; or''; and
                            (v) in subclause (III)--
                                    (I) by striking ``Through'' and 
                                inserting ``through''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``counseling.'' 
                                and inserting ``counseling; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new clause:
            ``(iii) may not provide financial services through any 
        individual unless such individual agrees to submit financial 
        disclosures annually to the Secretary.'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(2)(B), by striking ``installation by 
        any of the means set forth in subparagraph (A)(ii), as elected 
        by the Secretary concerned.'' and inserting ``installation in 
        accordance with the requirements established under subparagraph 
        (A)(ii) and (iii).''; and
            (3) in subsection (b)(4)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``The Secretary''; 
                and
                    (B) by inserting at the end the following new 
                subparagraphs:
    ``(B) In carrying out the requirements of subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary concerned shall establish a requirement that each financial 
services counselor under paragraph (2)(A)(i), and any other individual 
providing counseling on financial services under paragraph (2), submit 
financial disclosures annually to the Secretary.
    ``(C) The Secretary concerned shall review all financial 
disclosures submitted pursuant to subparagraph (B) to ensure the 
counselor, or the individual providing counseling, is free from 
conflict as required under this paragraph.
    ``(D) If the Secretary concerned determines that a financial 
services counselor under paragraph (2)(A)(i), or any other individual 
providing counseling on financial services under paragraph (2), is not 
free from conflict as required under this paragraph, the Secretary 
shall ensure that the counselor, or the individual providing 
counseling, does not provide such services until such time as the 
Secretary determines that such conflict is resolved.''.
    (b) Report on Financial Independence.--Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
each Secretary concerned shall submit to Congress a report on the 
percentage of financial services counselors under paragraph (2)(A)(i) 
of section 992(b) of title 10, United States Code (as amended by 
subsection (a)), and other individuals providing counseling on 
financial services under paragraph (2) of such section (as amended by 
subsection (a)) whom the Secretary determined to be free from conflicts 
as required under paragraph (4) of such section (as amended by 
subsection (a)).
    (c) Secretary Concerned Defined.--In this section, the term 
``Secretary concerned'' shall have the meaning given to such term in 
section 101 of title 10, United States Code.
                                 <all>