Senior Financial Empowerment Act of 2010

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. BALDWIN. Thank you, Chairman Scott, for yielding the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3040, the Senior Financial Empowerment Act of 2009.

My own experience as the primary caregiver for my grandmother opened my eyes to some troubling exploitative tactics targeted at America's seniors. Growing up in Wisconsin, I was raised by my maternal grandparents. Though I went east for college, I returned to my hometown, Madison, after graduation to be there for my grandmother, who by then was widowed and who had sacrificed so much of her own time and energy to raise me. Eventually, I became my grandmother's primary caregiver.

Around the time that my grandmother turned 90 years old, she asked me to help her sort through her mail and balance her checkbook. Now, first, I was struck by the sheer volume of solicitations she was getting. I was also shocked by how many were fly-by-night organizations or ``look alike'' charities that were writing her on a monthly basis. Their pleas for donations looked and sounded legitimate, but I had my suspicions, so I started digging a little bit deeper.

I was also disturbed by the amount of money my grandmother had been giving to some of these entities. She believed that those who were able to do so ought to be as generous as possible to those in need, but she had no way of determining the legitimacy of the entities that were contacting her and soliciting her so regularly.

That experience opened my eyes to the very real exploitation of seniors, like my grandmother, through the mail, telephone, and Internet. Millions of Americans become victims of similar financial exploitation each year, but it is not just the isolated and lonely who may fall prey to these scams. One only need read one's local newspaper in order to hear how widespread this really is.

In my home district in Wisconsin, over the years, we have seen all sorts of scams. One reads of ongoing reports about ``notch baby'' schemes in which Social Security beneficiaries born between the years 1917 and 1921 are asked to send money to organizations that promise to change the Federal laws to increase their benefits. These organizations go so far as to ask these seniors whether they would like their Federal money in a lump sum or in monthly payments.

Earlier this year, The Capital Times newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, reported that an 84-year-old Madison woman was duped out of nearly $3,000 after a phone scammer convinced her that her ``granddaughter's boyfriend'' was in a Canadian jail and needed bail money. Madison police reported that she received a phone call from the man, who called her ``Grandma,'' and he told her he was in a Canadian jail after being picked up for drunk driving. To convince the elderly woman, ``Officer Jacob Harris'' came on the line and convinced her of the need for bail money for her ``granddaughter's boyfriend.'' This elderly woman wired the money, and fell victim to a disturbingly common scam.

I also read that, not days after President Obama signed the historic health care reform bill into law, fraudsters were figuring out how to scam seniors. A cable TV advertisement exhorted viewers to call an 800 number so that they wouldn't miss a limited enrollment period to obtain coverage. We all know that there was no limited enrollment period for any coverage in the health care legislation that we passed.

Though we all have read and heard these anecdotal stories, it is difficult to estimate the prevalence of financial exploitation cases due to severe underreporting. According to a 2009 report by Met Life Mature Market Institute, for every case of abuse reported, there are an estimated four or more that go unreported. We do know some facts, though. This same study found that the annual financial loss by victims of senior financial abuse is estimated to be at least $2.6 billion.

In my home State of Wisconsin, the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups estimates that 35,000 seniors in Wisconsin alone were the victims of financial exploitation last year. The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions reports that half of their cases now being investigated include older victims.

On a national level, postal inspectors investigated almost 3,000 mail fraud cases in the U.S., and they arrested more than 1,200 mail fraud suspects in 2007 alone. Further, the FBI has confirmed that criminals are modifying their targeting techniques to include online scams, such as phishing and email spamming.

Given the prevalence of financial fraud targeting seniors, Congressman Howard Coble and I introduced the Senior Financial Empowerment Act
with a very specific goal in mind--to empower seniors and to end the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of America's elders. The bill builds on the good work already being done by the Federal Trade Commission and by the U.S. Department of Justice, and it seeks to empower these agencies to support local and State efforts to combat financial fraud and to empower our seniors.

I would like to extend a special thanks to my colleague Howard Coble from North Carolina for his leadership on this issue. It has been a pleasure working with him to advance this legislation.

I also want to thank Chairman Scott, Chairman Conyers, and Ranking Members Gohmert and Smith for their longstanding commitment to America's seniors.

Mr. Speaker, when I saw my grandmother go through the last years of her life, and what she went through with these solicitations, I made a pledge to make sure that all older Americans have the tools that they need to protect themselves against financial crimes and fraud. I urge support for the Senior Financial Empowerment Act.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source