Patrick McHenry

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is a simple one. It states that the Congress denounces socialism in all its forms and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States of America. It is a statement that I would hope all elected leaders in the United States could support. Despite my Democratic colleagues' claims, there is nothing in this resolution about entitlement programs or banning social services or anything of the like. In fact, I would encourage anyone who has doubts to actually go and read the resolution--it won't take long. It outlines the pain and hardship experienced by millions around the world who have suffered under a socialist regime. This is something the sponsor of the resolution, Ms. Salazar of Florida, can speak to personally. Congresswoman Salazar is the daughter of Cuban exiles and was born in Miami's Little Havana. H. Con. Res. 9 is not just messaging or a waste of time--as some of my colleagues across the aisle said--it speaks to people who have known all too well the atrocities of socialism, and it gives voice to their pain. I thank Congresswoman Salazar for her work on this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), the vice chair of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mooney), who is a great leader and a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose), a great leader for agriculture issues and a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson), chair of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Flood).

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire the time remaining on both sides?

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim).

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler), a great new member of the Financial Services Committee from the Hudson Valley.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from New York an additional 1 minute.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), my friend.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I have heard the most absurd argument just now on the House floor. The contents of this resolution are very simple and very straightforward: A system that is borne out of freedom inevitably begets freedom and a liberation of people from tyranny. An economic system that is borne out of taking inevitably leads to the loss of human life and centralization and control by despotic people. That is what this resolution speaks to. It does not speak to any programs here in the United States. It doesn't talk about our system of government. It doesn't speak of other systems, economic systems. It is simply in the resolved that Congress denounces socialism in all its forms and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States. Period. So rather than contorting themselves to vote ``no'' against a resolution condemning tyrants who use socialism to centralize their power, my colleagues are contorting themselves to speak against previous Presidents or a question of Republicans' views on domestic social programs. That is not a part of this resolution. It is a part of other debates everywhere else in Congress. Let's read the resolution. Let's stick to the terms of debate of the resolution, and let's figure out a way that we can actually come together and denounce socialism in all its forms here in the United States. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I have one further speaker, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds, as well.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to take a moment to thank my colleague for his fulsome defense of socialism and historical socialists. I think that was the most intellectually honest piece of debate we have had here on the House floor. If this resolution were just simply to draw out my Democrat colleagues to just say, yes, they are in favor of socialism, maybe this is a worthwhile endeavor. Again, this is not my resolution. It was reported to my committee. We are reporting out this resolution as Ms. Salazar of Florida presented and wrote because this is the early stages of the House. This came straight to the House floor rather than through the committee markup. It came through the Rules Committee. What I would have preferred in this resolution was a fulsome defense of capitalism and the juxtaposition between that optimistic sense of freedom that is borne out of our property rights, our speech rights, and our individual liberties in this country that has deeply connected us with an economic system of freedom, the juxtaposition of that to the misery of socialism and what the taking of people`s individual liberty and centralizing it in government and government control does to economic progress, to the best of humanity, to social outcomes, to the health and welfare of the people, to the economic prosperity of the people, and the misery that it begets to those people suffering in those regimes. What we have here is the history of international moments of terror begat by Putin. It is not in there. He doesn't currently call himself a socialist, but Lenin did, Stalin did, Mao Zedong did, Fidel Castro did, and the list goes on. Then, it talks about the loss of human life under those regimes from those socialist leaders. The resolve clause, I have read before: ``That Congress denounces socialism in all its forms, and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States of America.'' I would be happy to work with my colleague on the type of resolution that I outlined, happy to have that come back to the floor, in time, on something that my Democrat colleagues would actually support, a proper denunciation of the miseries of socialism and a proper embrace of our economic capitalism here in the United States, but that is not what we have before us today. I encourage my colleagues to look at what is in the resolution and judge it based off the contents of what is here, not what is omitted. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. I object.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington), the Budget Committee chairman, to close on behalf of the Republicans.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 500, the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act, a bipartisan bill that will help combat the financial exploitation of our seniors and other vulnerable adults. I thank the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), the new chair of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, for her work on this bill. Financial exploitation, particularly of seniors and other vulnerable adults, is a serious and growing issue. Consider this: The number of Americans age 65 and older is projected to nearly double from 52 million in 2018 to 95 million by 2060. At the same time, the 65 and older age group's share of the total population is predicted to rise from 16 percent to 23 percent. Right now, approximately 44 percent of households are headed by a baby boomer, and 30 percent of Silent Generation and GI Generation households own mutual funds. As more and more investors transition into retirement, the risk of financial exploitation for older households will only increase. Right now, roughly one in five senior investors already fall prey to fraudsters, losing an estimated $2.9 billion annually. Those are just the cases we know about. Unfortunately, there is research that shows only 1 in 44 cases of financial abuse is ever reported. This bill provides a tool to fight against this type of elder abuse. Some mutual fund shareholder accounts are held directly with the mutual fund and serviced by the fund's transfer agent, otherwise known as direct-at-fund accounts. The transfer agent is typically responsible for opening and servicing the accounts, managing account records, and serving as the fund's point of contact with those shareholders. Under current law, when a funds transfer agent suspects financial exploitation in a direct-at-fund account, it cannot lawfully delay the disbursement or redemption proceeds while an investigation occurs. This bill would codify a 2018 Securities and Exchange Commission-issued no- action letter that permits a mutual fund and its transfer agent to delay the redemption period of a security if it is reasonably believed that a request was made by exploited seniors or other vulnerable adults. In many cases, this work is done by financial firms using technology. That technology is widely available across financial platforms, and this is enabling that technology to flag a question and give pause to the movement of funds, thereby protecting a senior's accounts. Codifying this Securities and Exchange Commission no-action letter will provide our potentially at-risk investors with the protection they need to make sure they can receive the hard-earned savings that they have built up over the years. This is an important bill. It takes the existing practice from the Securities and Exchange Commission and makes it law, giving it a stronger force of protection for our seniors. It is a bipartisan bill. I am very proud that this is the first bill reported out of the House Financial Services Committee and that it has bipartisan support. Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption and support of this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 500) to amend the Investment Company Act of 1940 to postpone the date of payment or satisfaction upon redemption of certain securities in the case of the financial exploitation of specified adults, and for other purposes.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 582) to amend the Federal Credit Union Act to modify the frequency of board of directors meetings, and for other purposes.