On the recordOctober 27, 2015
I would like to thank Chairman Hensarling and Subcommittee Chair Garrett for their support on this tremendous issue. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to stand before the House as the sponsor of H.R. 1090, the Retail Investor Protection Act. This important legislation that I have sponsored and worked on for 3 long years now came about after my colleagues on the Financial Services Committee and I, along with Member of Congress on both sides of the aisle saw the potential negative effects that this rulemaking from the Department of Labor could have on millions of Americans seeking advice on how to invest their retirement savings. For that reason, we felt it was important to put the Securities and Exchange Commission--the primary and expert regulator for these financial professionals--in charge of studying and writing the rules on this issue. This isn't such a radical idea. In fact, this is what Congress intended when they included section 913 in the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. Mr. Speaker, the same legislation received the support of 30 House Democrats last Congress, and, once again, I hope that they heed the concerns and the warnings that their constituents have provided them about the dire consequences this rule will have on Americans' retirement savings. Make no mistake. There is a savings crisis in this country. About half of all households age 55 and over have no retirement savings at all. How does this happen?…
