[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 153 (Wednesday, October 30, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RETAIL INVESTOR PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 29, 2013

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, well, here we go again. The House is taking 
up another bill that seeks to gut the Dodd-Frank Act. H.R. 2374's 
authors purport that the bill is meant to protect investors. But its 
practical effect would be just the opposite. The bill would impose 
onerous--and unnecessary--new requirements on the Securities and 
Exchange Commission from imposing a common fiduciary standard on 
broker-dealers and investment advisers alike. Dodd-Frank directed that 
the Commission study this matter, and it did. The Commission found it 
necessary in a 2011 report and stands ready, willing, and able to 
complete a rulemaking. What's worse is that the bill would also prevent 
the Department of Labor from moving forward with a fiduciary duty 
rulemaking for employee benefit plans until after the Commission has 
acted. In the simplest of terms, the Commission's and Department of 
Labor's common intention with these rulemakings is to protect 
investors. H.R. 2374's practical effect would be to prevent both from 
doing so.
  This is another example of not having learned the lessons of the 
past. Investor abuses in part precipitated the 2008 financial crisis. 
Passing H.R. 2374 would be a terrible step backward and a validation of 
the practices that nearly brought this country to its knees. The 
financial services industry is in no way, shape, or form deserving of 
this type of deregulation. Vote this bill down, and stand up for the 
financial security of American investors.

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