[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 30, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H3314-H3316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            NATIONAL SENIOR INVESTOR INITIATIVE ACT OF 2019

  Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1876) to create an interdivisional taskforce at the 
Securities and Exchange Commission for senior investors.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1876

       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 ``National Senior Investor 
     Initiative Act of 2019'' or the ``Senior Security Act of 
     2019''.

     SEC. 2. SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE.

       Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 
     78d) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(k) Senior Investor Taskforce.--
       ``(1) Establishment.--There is established within the 
     Commission the Senior Investor Taskforce (in this subsection 
     referred to as the `Taskforce').
       ``(2) Director of the taskforce.--The head of the Taskforce 
     shall be the Director, who shall--
       ``(A) report directly to the Chairman; and
       ``(B) be appointed by the Chairman, in consultation with 
     the Commission, from among individuals--
       ``(i) currently employed by the Commission or from outside 
     of the Commission; and
       ``(ii) having experience in advocating for the interests of 
     senior investors.
       ``(3) Staffing.--The Chairman shall ensure that--
       ``(A) the Taskforce is staffed sufficiently to carry out 
     fully the requirements of this subsection; and
       ``(B) such staff shall include individuals from the 
     Division of Enforcement, Office of Compliance Inspections and 
     Examinations, and Office of Investor Education and Advocacy.
       ``(4) Minimizing duplication of efforts.--In organizing and 
     staffing the Taskforce, the Chairman shall take such actions 
     as may be necessary to minimize the duplication of efforts 
     within the divisions and offices described under paragraph 
     (3)(B) and any other divisions, offices, or taskforces of the 
     Commission.
       ``(5) Functions of the taskforce.--The Taskforce shall--
       ``(A) identify challenges that senior investors encounter, 
     including problems associated with financial exploitation and 
     cognitive decline;
       ``(B) identify areas in which senior investors would 
     benefit from changes in the regulations of the Commission or 
     the rules of self-regulatory organizations;
       ``(C) coordinate, as appropriate, with other offices within 
     the Commission, other taskforces that may be established 
     within the Commission, self-regulatory organizations, and the 
     Elder Justice Coordinating Council; and
       ``(D) consult, as appropriate, with State securities and 
     law enforcement authorities, State insurance regulators, and 
     other Federal agencies.
       ``(6) Report.--The Taskforce, in coordination, as 
     appropriate, with the Office of the Investor Advocate and 
     self-regulatory organizations, and in consultation, as 
     appropriate, with State securities and law enforcement 
     authorities, State insurance regulators, and Federal 
     agencies, shall issue a report every 2 years to the Committee 
     on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Special 
     Committee on Aging of the Senate and the Committee on 
     Financial Services of the House of Representatives, the first 
     of which shall not be issued until after the report described 
     in section 3 of the National Senior Investor Initiative Act 
     of 2019 has been issued and considered by the Taskforce, 
     containing--
       ``(A) appropriate statistical information and full and 
     substantive analysis;
       ``(B) a summary of recent trends and innovations that have 
     impacted the investment landscape for senior investors;
       ``(C) a summary of regulatory initiatives that have 
     concentrated on senior investors and industry practices 
     related to senior investors;
       ``(D) key observations, best practices, and areas needing 
     improvement, involving senior investors identified during 
     examinations, enforcement actions, and investor education 
     outreach;
       ``(E) a summary of the most serious issues encountered by 
     senior investors, including issues involving financial 
     products and services;
       ``(F) an analysis with regard to existing policies and 
     procedures of brokers, dealers, investment advisers, and 
     other market participants related to senior investors and 
     senior investor-related topics and whether these policies and 
     procedures need to be further developed or refined;
       ``(G) recommendations for such changes to the regulations, 
     guidance, and orders of the Commission and self-regulatory 
     organizations and such legislative actions as may be 
     appropriate to resolve problems encountered by senior 
     investors; and
       ``(H) any other information, as determined appropriate by 
     the Director of the Taskforce.
       ``(7) Sunset.--The Taskforce shall terminate after the end 
     of the 10-year period beginning on the date of the enactment 
     of this subsection, but may be reestablished by the Chairman.
       ``(8) Senior investor defined.--For purposes of this 
     subsection, the term `senior investor' means an investor over 
     the age of 65.''.

     SEC. 3. GAO STUDY.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 
     States shall submit to Congress and the Senior Investor 
     Taskforce the results of a study of financial exploitation of 
     senior citizens.
       (b) Contents.--The study required under subsection (a) 
     shall include information with respect to--
       (1) economic costs of the financial exploitation of senior 
     citizens--
       (A) associated with losses by victims that were incurred as 
     a result of the financial exploitation of senior citizens;
       (B) incurred by State and Federal agencies, law enforcement 
     and investigatory agencies, public benefit programs, public 
     health programs, and other public programs as a result of the 
     financial exploitation of senior citizens;
       (C) incurred by the private sector as a result of the 
     financial exploitation of senior citizens; and
       (D) any other relevant costs that--
       (i) result from the financial exploitation of senior 
     citizens; and
       (ii) the Comptroller General determines are necessary and 
     appropriate to include in order to provide Congress and the 
     public with a full and accurate understanding of the economic 
     costs resulting from the financial exploitation of senior 
     citizens in the United States;
       (2) frequency of senior financial exploitation and 
     correlated or contributing factors--
       (A) information about percentage of senior citizens 
     financially exploited each year; and
       (B) information about factors contributing to increased 
     risk of exploitation, including such factors as race, social 
     isolation, income, net worth, religion, region, occupation, 
     education, home-ownership, illness, and loss of spouse; and
       (3) policy responses and reporting of senior financial 
     exploitation--
       (A) the degree to which financial exploitation of senior 
     citizens unreported to authorities;
       (B) the reasons that financial exploitation may be 
     unreported to authorities;
       (C) to the extent that suspected elder financial 
     exploitation is currently being reported--
       (i) information regarding which Federal, State, and local 
     agencies are receiving reports, including adult protective 
     services, law enforcement, industry, regulators, and 
     professional licensing boards;
       (ii) information regarding what information is being 
     collected by such agencies; and
       (iii) information regarding the actions that are taken by 
     such agencies upon receipt of the report and any limits on 
     the agencies' ability to prevent exploitation, such as 
     jurisdictional limits, a lack of expertise, resource 
     challenges, or limiting criteria with regard to the types of 
     victims they are permitted to serve;
       (D) an analysis of gaps that may exist in empowering 
     Federal, State, and local agencies to prevent senior 
     exploitation or respond effectively to suspected senior 
     financial exploitation; and
       (E) an analysis of the legal hurdles that prevent Federal, 
     State, and local agencies from effectively partnering with 
     each other and private professionals to effectively respond 
     to senior financial exploitation.

[[Page H3315]]

       (c) Senior Citizen Defined.--For purposes of this section, 
     the term ``senior citizen'' means an individual over the age 
     of 65.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Foster) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I am proud to support H.R. 1876, the Senior Security 
Act of 2019, a bipartisan bill introduced by Congressman Gottheimer and 
Congressman Hollingsworth.
  The financial exploitations of senior citizens is a major problem 
today, and with the aging of the baby boomer generation, it will only 
get worse in the coming years.
  By 2030, one in five persons in the U.S. is projected to be 65 or 
older. That would equal approximately 75 million people who are senior 
citizens.
  It is also estimated that nearly one in five Americans over the age 
of 65 have been a victim of financial exploitation. This can take many 
forms, including being steered towards inappropriate investment, paying 
unreasonably high fees for financial services, or outright fraud.
  Senior citizens are often targeted because they are more likely to 
suffer from problems of memory and judgment, making them vulnerable to 
fraud. Exacerbating the issue is that the overwhelming majority of 
incidents of elder financial exploitation go unreported to authorities.
  The Senior Security Act would help combat elder financial abuse by 
creating a task force in the SEC to identify the challenges that senior 
investors encounter and areas in which senior investors would benefit 
from changes to SEC regulations.
  The bill also requires that the GAO conduct a study on the financial 
exploitation of senior citizens. The GAO study would give us an 
important comprehensive look at this issue, including a breakdown of 
the economic costs of financial exploitation of senior citizens, 
answers to how often this happens, why such abuses often go unreported, 
and factors that contribute to an increased risk of exploitation.
  Americans work hard over their lifetime in order to save for 
retirement and be financially safe and secure when they get older. 
Unscrupulous people and companies would take advantage of these senior 
citizens and rob them of their hard-earned money. Those people and 
companies should not be able to get away with such egregious behavior.
  This bill would allow us to more effectively combat this growing 
problem. For that reason, I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Gottheimer) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hollingsworth) for 
bringing this bipartisan initiative forward. I urge all Members to vote 
``yes.''
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  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.

                              {time}  1245

  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.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), the coauthor of this legislation.
  Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for allowing me 
to speak on behalf of this bipartisan legislation. I also want to thank 
my good friend, Congressman Trey Hollingsworth, for being a great 
partner on this important legislation.
  Since I took office, I have been committed to helping seniors save 
their hard-earned money for retirement, to helping them cut their taxes 
and afford their prescription drugs, and to protecting Social Security 
and Medicare so that, at the end of the day, they can afford to stay in 
New Jersey and enjoy their lives with their kids and their grandkids.
  Unfortunately, there are millions of seniors across the country who 
have been the victims of financial scams and abuses that have cheated 
them out of their rightful retirement and are now putting that all at 
risk. Here are a few disturbing facts.
  According to a report from the Senate Special Committee on Aging, 
older Americans lose approximately $3 billion each year to financial 
scams and abuse.
  Scammers claim to be a child or a grandchild on the phone. Thousands 
pose as IRS agents, others as tech support people and representatives; 
and then, in the end, they are just going after personal data and bank 
information.
  A separate survey from the Investor Protection Trust found that 
approximately 7 million Americans have reported being victims of 
exploitation. They scare and intimidate seniors, and many seniors don't 
even report it. Only 1 in every 24 cases of elder exploitation actually 
gets reported.
  My mom was even a victim of one of these scammers.
  It is appalling. It is offensive. It is unacceptable. Thankfully, we 
are here today to do something about it.
  Today, the House of Representatives is considering our bipartisan 
legislation, the Senior Security Act, to help

[[Page H3316]]

protect vulnerable seniors from predatory scams and financial abuse.
  The bipartisan Senior Security Act will help stop financial predators 
from scamming seniors out of their savings by finding ways to 
strengthen protections and safeguards for seniors and by creating a 
senior investor task force at the Securities and Exchange Commission to 
focus on how seniors are being targeted by fraudsters and to help stop 
those who seek to take financial advantage of our seniors.
  New Jersey's seniors have given us so much. We should always have 
their backs and help protect them from those who would seek to do them 
harm and take advantage of them.
  Madam Speaker, again, I would like to thank my colleague, Mr. 
Hollingsworth, for his commitment to protecting seniors, and I urge my 
colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.
  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.
  Mr. HOLLINGSWORTH. Madam Speaker, I, too, rise in support of this 
legislation.
  This is not just a Main Street issue. It is an Elm Street issue; it 
is a Maple Street issue; it is a Broad Street issue. This is an issue 
that affects our friends; it affects our neighbors; it affects our 
veterans; it affects our parents and our grandparents. This is 
something that has gone on far too long.
  We have all seen the startling statistics. Over 24,000 cases were 
reported to the Treasury Department last year alone, more than double 
just 5 years ago.
  We have seen the statistics about how over $3 billion a year are lost 
by our senior citizens to scammers and fraudsters.
  We have all seen the statistics showing how more than 10,000 baby 
boomers are retiring each and every year, so this problem will only 
grow into the future.
  I applaud Representative Gottheimer for reaching across the aisle and 
working on how we stop this problem, how we slow the growth of this 
problem by setting up a task force at the SEC to specifically focus on 
how our senior citizens are being targeted, how we can lessen their 
vulnerabilities.
  This is an issue that I am extremely passionate about, not only 
because of the statistics that are startling and eye-opening, but also 
because of the Hoosiers who walk through our offices every single day 
being the victims of these crimes.
  We had one a couple of weeks ago who had already wired half of her 
life savings as a part of a scheme to get a Nigerian prince into the 
country. We had somebody last year who had wired over $8,000 because 
they believed that their son had been imprisoned in Mexico, wrongfully, 
and the money was needed to get him out of prison.

  They try all sorts of schemes. They try all sorts of ruses. Well, it 
is time that we come together and try to stop them.
  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the work of Representative Gottheimer 
reaching across the aisle and developing legislation on how we find the 
best practices to ensure that our senior citizens, our veterans, our 
friends, our neighbors, our parents, and our grandparents are protected 
in this very important time.
  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.
  Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time.
  Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate, again, Mr. Gottheimer and Mr. 
Hollingsworth for having brought this bill to the floor. I urge my 
colleagues to join us in supporting this important piece of legislation 
to comprehensively examine and strengthen the protections against 
financial exploitation of our senior citizens.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1876.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. FOSTER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________