Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the name of this bill is the Retail Investor Protection Act. If you didn't know better, you would think it was a bill designed to protect the retail investor. But, in fact, it does the opposite of that because it blocks the Department of Labor from putting in place commonsense rules that would make sure that retirement investment advisers handle their clients with care and with a fiduciary duty. The Department of Labor wants to update rules that are now 40 years old, and that, again, makes common sense. Here is what happens: A retiree wants to take his 401(k) plan and make a decision about where to invest it. The retirement adviser comes along and offers up that advice. Meanwhile, the retiree does not realize that that person may be getting a commission from the very funds to which that retiree is being directed. That is a conflict of interest, pure and simple. If you asked the average retiree, ``Do you think we need a rule that would protect retirees and other investors from this kind of conflict of interest, that would put some kind of fiduciary duty in place so the retirement investor is acting in the interest of the client,'' if you said, ``Do you think we need a rule,'' the average retiree would ask, ``Do you mean we don't already have that rule in place?'' He wouldn't believe it.…”