[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 149 (Tuesday, December 9, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6432-S6433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     AMERICAN SAVINGS PROMOTION ACT

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I am on the floor this afternoon to speak 
briefly about the American Savings Promotion Act, H.R. 3374.
  My understanding is that this bill may soon pass the Senate--it was 
passed by the House of Representatives in September--and I wish to 
speak briefly about its value to our country, to its citizens, and to 
our country's future.
  I believe this is a fairly narrow circumstance with broad 
consequences. I believe if there is a primary responsibility we have in 
being a citizen of this country, it is to make sure, among other 
things, that we pass on to future generations of Americans the 
opportunity to pursue the American dream--to be able to have an idea to 
pursue a business plan, to save for your family's and children's 
education, to save for your own retirement, to prepare yourself for a 
bright financial future. Unfortunately, many Americans struggle to do 
that.
  Certainly, one of the aspects of that circumstance is there is very 
little savings that goes on in our country today. People are unable or 
unwilling, or perhaps undisciplined, in a way that allows them to 
prepare for their financial security and their financial future. The 
problem is--and statistics bear this out--people aren't saving. The 
reality is, according to a recent survey, 44 percent of American 
households lack the savings to cover basic expenses for 3 months if 
unemployment or medical emergency or another crisis leads to a loss of 
stable income. Many Americans have the inability--almost the majority 
of Americans have the inability to care for themselves and their 
families if there is an emergency or a problem for more than 3 months. 
That is something we ought to try to resolve.

  I also think there has been over a period of time a disparity of 
incomes. We want to make certain those at the lowest income levels have 
an opportunity to increase their income and to increase their financial 
stability. In fact, the Senator from Oregon, Senator Wyden, and I 
created sometime ago the Senate Economic Mobility Caucus, trying to 
make certain that people have a chance to move up the ladder of 
economic success and security in our economy and in our country. 
Senator Wyden and I came together to bring some of the best minds from 
conservative to more liberal thought-provoking organizations and policy 
organizations to visit with Republican and Democratic Senators and 
their staffs about what ideas are out there that might increase the 
chances that a person or a family has the chance to improve their 
financial circumstances.
  One of the ideas that arose from that caucus's discussions was this 
legislation called the American Savings Promotion Act, again, with the 
realization that people are not saving for their own financial 
security, that they lack stability in times of emergency and difficult 
economic challenges to care for themselves, how can we encourage 
Americans to save more?
  One of the ideas that came forth in this regard is the opportunity to 
link savings to prizes. When I first heard this, I thought it sounded a 
little bit odd, a little bit like a gimmick. But the reality is with 
little savings, people still believe--in fact, 20 percent of Americans 
believe that winning the lottery is a meaningful strategy to build 
wealth. Americans spend more than $60 billion every year on lottery

[[Page S6433]]

tickets and families earning the least spend the highest percentage of 
their earnings on lottery tickets despite the long odds of winning.
  This legislation is not about a lottery, but about allowing financial 
institutions the opportunity to provide prizes for those who save, who 
open a savings account and deposit money into that account. In our 
country, because of the way financial institutions are regulated, that 
has been an opportunity in a number of States in credit union financial 
institutions for a period of time. In fact, the statistics and the 
facts that arise from that experiment or that experience indicate that 
savings increases when there is a prize associated with the savings 
behavior. So it is one of the reasons this makes sense. Prize-linked 
savings is an innovation, a tool to encourage savings while offering 
the chance to win a larger prize.
  We know these programs work because of the evidence in the States 
that I mentioned in which credit unions have been offering these prizes 
associated with savings, and that has occurred in Nebraska and North 
Carolina and Washington. Since 2009, over 50,000 accountholders have 
collectively saved more than $94 million, and it only is available in 
the credit union setting and not available in a bank setting because of 
Federal barriers that prevent banks and thrifts from offering these 
prize-linked savings products.
  With the passage of this legislation--again, which is a pretty 
straightforward, commonsense kind of opportunity--this legislation will 
update Federal laws to allow States to expand prize-linked savings to 
other financial institutions beyond credit unions.
  Increasing savings is a win-win for individuals. It is certainly 
valuable to boost the financial institutions' accounts and an 
improvement to the American economy.
  This legislation was introduced by me, with the cosponsorship efforts 
of Senator Sherrod Brown, the Senator from Ohio, in an effort to create 
one more opportunity, one more piece of encouragement for people to 
save for their own financial well-being, to care for themselves and 
their families, and to increase the savings rate in this country for 
the benefit of the entire economy, but most importantly for the benefit 
of low-income individuals who need a boost of encouragement to save.
  I wish to thank my colleagues in the House. As I say, this 
legislation passed in the House where Congressman Kilmer and 
Congressman Cotton led the effort in the House, and my colleague, the 
Senator from Ohio, Senator Brown, for his efforts in supporting this 
legislation here in the Senate. It is an opportunity for us to do 
something modest but useful, something based upon common sense, and 
something that accomplishes a goal we all should have of making certain 
the American dream is alive and well, that individuals and families 
take personal responsibility for themselves and their family members. 
We all know that increased savings, preparing for any kind of 
circumstance or emergency that comes our way, is something that ought 
to be encouraged.
  I appreciate that it is likely that later today or tomorrow H.R. 3374 
will pass, again, an example of where we have been able to work 
together and bring new ideas to the cause of making certain that 
everybody has the opportunity to increase their economic value, to 
increase the economic worth for their family available for the future, 
to pay their bills, and to make certain their future is bright, again, 
in my mind making sure the American dream is more alive and all 
American families are better off.
  Mr. President, I thank you for the opportunity to address the Senate, 
and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Warren). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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