Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1090, the so-called Retail Investor Protection Act. This bill puts an effective end to the Department of Labor's responsible effort to modernize a fiduciary standard under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, that was implemented 40 years ago. As we all know, our country's retirement savings landscape has changed significantly since that time. Forty years ago, the majority of retirement assets were held in defined benefit plans and managed by professionals. Forty years ago, employer-based 401(k) plans did not exist and IRAs had just been established. Today, Americans have more than $12 trillion invested in 401(k) plans and IRAs, and they have to make their own financial decisions. Many workers and their families don't have the expertise in managing investment portfolios and so they often have to rely on financial advisers to help them save for retirement. While many of those advisers do right by their clients, others do not. There is a lot of different financial products that Americans can purchase. Some have extremely high fees, while comparable products--and perhaps even better ones--have lower fees. This current standard allows for unscrupulous advisers to give conflicted advice and push a financial product from which they will reap a bigger profit even if the product is not in the best interest of their client.…”