Jackie Speier

Ms. SPEIER

Ms. SPEIER. Of course we can do it. It's all about whether we have the will. We can even allow Big Oil to continue to have some little subsidies, or equalize the subsidies that we are providing there and take that other money, take $6 billion, retrofit 3.3 million homes in this country, create hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of jobs, and we would be better off.

Ms. SPEIER

Ms. SPEIER. I thank the gentlelady from California. The numbers of seniors in our country is growing exponentially, in part because some of us who are baby boomers are growing older and reaching that age ever so quickly. But I note that while there are 40 million Americans who are now 65, in 10 years that number will more than double to 88.5 million Americans who will be over the age of 65. So making sure that seniors are protected is going to be a more and more significant responsibility for Congress to ensure. You mentioned the doughnut hole. For seniors who are on Medicare, health care reform has been somewhat challenging, because they didn't know what was in it for them. Part of what we are talking about is what have you done for seniors lately. The health care reform measure has huge benefits for seniors that are important to underscore, one being that if you do find yourself in the doughnut hole by this fall, you will receive a check for $250. If you are in the doughnut hole come the first of January, you are going to be able to buy your prescription drugs at 50 percent of what the retail costs of them are. And the greatest news of all, and this is a benefit for senior citizens as well as every one of us, and that is for preventative care, there will no longer be a copay. That kind of gets lost in translation from time to time. But I just had, and I am proud to admit it because I think we all should have colonoscopies after age 50, but I just had a colonoscopy. I got the bill, and we all kind of experience sticker shock when we see those health care bills arrive at our home, and, thank God, we have health insurance, but my bill was over $3,000 for that procedure. Now, a copay on that procedure is like $600. But moving forward, whether it is a colonoscopy, a mammogram, any kind of screening for cancer, that will no longer carry with it a copay, because we want to incentivize seniors and younger people to actually take advantage of the preventative services that are out there, that really prevent people from getting sicker and requiring more health care and more hospitalization. So lots of good things for seniors are in health care reform.

Ms. SPEIER. Will the gentlewoman yield?

Ms. SPEIER. Would you repeat that?

Ms. SPEIER. Isn't that amazing.

Ms. SPEIER. I thank the gentlelady from Ohio. You know, it would be great for us to focus for just a minute on the prescription for Wall Street reform for the 40 million seniors in America and just kind of list out the protections that are in the Wall Street reform. As you mentioned, the office of financial protection for older Americans, this is going to be a huge benefit for seniors, because they are going to be able to call this office and say, you know, I have just been offered X. Is this something that makes sense? Let me give you an example. Sergio Del Toro, he has been banned from the securities industry for defrauding a 90-year-old Minnesota nursing home resident of $511,000. Mr. Del Toro recommended that the elderly man put his entire net worth into the stock of a firm called Third Dimension, for which there was no market or publicly quoted pricing. Mr. Del Toro's alleged motivation? A 15 percent commission, equal to $76,000. Now, as part of Wall Street reform, one of the standards that is going to have to be met is, is there a net tangible benefit to the client? Clearly, in this case there was no net tangible benefit. What happened was this nursing home resident lost his whole savings of $500,000, and Mr. Del Toro was the recipient of $76,000 in commissions. Mr. Del Toro is banned from the industry now, but this is another example of why having Wall Street reform is so necessary. I now yield to one of our newest Members of the House, Mr. Deutch from Florida, to have him offer up his thoughts.

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, the Democratic Caucus feels very strongly that seniors in America count and, in so doing, created a Seniors Task Force cochaired ably by Congresswoman Schakowsky of Illinois and Congresswoman Matsui of California. And we thought it was fitting tonight, this being the month in which we honor seniors, to spend an hour talking about the seniors of America. There are 45 million seniors in this country, and they have the right to ask us what have we done for them lately. And tonight, we're going to ask that question, and we're going to answer it. First of all, I think we should focus in on Wall Street, and our message is ``When Wall Street gambles, she loses.'' So part of what we want to focus on tonight is the reforms on Wall Street that will protect seniors in America. The biggest winners, we suggest, in the Wall Street reform are people over the age of 50, who hold 70 percent of the Nation's wealth. Oftentimes, seniors don't realize how big their assets really are or how valuable they are, and they become ripe for scam artists to take them on a wild ride that oftentimes means that they lose the very assets that they have held so dear. Seniors often have caregivers they share their financial data and information with and, oftentimes, can be exploited by those very caregivers. So we have created a Senior Financial Bill of Rights, which I would like to share with you right now. And the Democrats believe that there are four simple principles that we espouse on behalf of seniors. The first is the right to simple-to-understand and suitable financial products. Now, this would seem so very obvious, but I'm going to share with you a couple of stories that suggest seniors become the most vulnerable population in terms of being captured by an industry that has plagued us with all kinds of financial products that are not understandable. I first want to talk about a 67-year-old retired widow living alone in a home she's had for 24 years. She recently got a part-time, minimum wage job as a kitchen helper that helps with her expenses. She's getting $500 a month for that. She gets $973 a month in her Social Security benefits. And the balance due on her home is $90,000. Now, her husband died in 2003, and she was having a hard time making those mortgage payments, so she went to Wells Fargo and got them to offer her a reverse mortgage. In so doing, she was able to pay off her regular mortgage and did not have payments for as long as she continued to live in the home, which appeared to be a good result. Yet, in 2007, agents working for World Savings in Orange County, California, found her 500 miles away in Yuba City, California. In a series of phone calls, they convinced her that Wells Fargo was demanding the repayment of her reverse mortgage because home values were declining to levels of less than the loan balance. They convinced her that Wells Fargo would foreclose if she did not refinance to pay off the reverse mortgage. She was confused and frightened, and she did not understand the reverse mortgage for which she had paid $11,000 in origination fees. So, before long, she was into yet another mortgage with an adjustable rate mortgage and was paying $4,000 a month at one point. Even the lowest payment option constituted 68 percent of her Social Security income--an absolute nightmare. She made three payments out of savings and then gave up. The trustee sale was first set for January 2, 2009. A legal aid attorney came to her benefit and was able to postpone the sale of her home, and negotiations continue today. This is a real story. She is a real person in California who was not given the right to a simple-to-understand and suitable financial product. That is, in part, what we are going to make sure happens as a result of the Wall Street reform, in part because we are creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency so that this kind of activity can't continue to go on. In another case, a 90-year-old California retiree was sold a $100,000 annuity in 2001. He would have to live to be 100 to have unfettered access to his money. Instead, he died at 91, and his heirs were hit with an $11,000 surrender charge. In another example, an 83-year-old woman was sold a $125,000 annuity in 2002. According to her son, she suffered from dementia and believed she had access to her savings when she had to enter a nursing home. In fact, she would have to pay exit penalties of 25 percent if she withdrew more than 10 percent of her money in any year during the first 6 years of the contract. So, when she died in 2004, her son had to pay--now, are you ready for this?--a $50,000 surrender fee. That's why we need a Consumer Financial Protection Agency in this country, because that kind of activity goes on and has gone on. While you may suggest that it's ``legal,'' it's totally unethical, and the CFPA will provide that kind of protection for seniors. I am going to go to these other senior financial bill of rights later on in the hour. I would now like to yield to Congresswoman Kilroy as much time as she may consume.

Ms. SPEIER. When you were referring to credit cards, I was reminded that, in 1980, a credit card application was one page long, about 700 words. Today, a credit card application--and, indeed, a contract--is closer to 30 pages. Imagine if senior citizens were trying to wend their way through 30 pages of legalese and knew precisely what they were getting. Isn't it true that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency is going to simplify that process for seniors and for all Americans?

Ms. SPEIER. I thank the gentlewoman for her outstanding comments in protecting the seniors of America. I now yield to my good friend and colleague from the great State of California (Ms. Richardson) as much time as she will use.

Ms. SPEIER. I thank the gentleman from Florida for his passionate commitment to seniors. I'd like to address this whole issue of mortgages. You know, so many Americans have seen their homes being foreclosed on over the last 2 to 3 years. The numbers are staggering. We're talking about, 7, 8, 9 million homes. And I think that there's a misconception that somehow those are all younger families, but the truth is many of these people are senior citizens. One of the protections in the Wall Street reform is that we are going to deal with banning predatory mortgage lending, and I want to just share with you one example. This is back in 2000, at the age of 57, Willie Howard, who, at long last, became a homeowner. He had this tiny house here in Washington, DC, of 963 square feet. Now, Willie never learned how to read, so he proved to be an easy touch for refinancing offers as the housing bubble inflated. By May of 2005, his $108,000 loan had ballooned to $137,000 because he had been courted by mortgage brokers who wanted to suggest that he could, in fact, save more money. By October of 2006, after four more refinancings, Mr. Howard's loan balance had ballooned to $238,000. Now, half of the increased debt came from $51,000 in points, fees, prepayment penalties, and negative amortization. So it really was all about the scam artists; in this case, a mortgage broker who wanted to churn. By getting him in and out of loans, he was able to make more money as a mortgage broker, and poor Mr. Howard, who could not read, went from having a $108,000 loan to a $238,000 loan. And as Mr. Howard said, the problem with the system is that the broker had no obligation to act on behalf of Mr. Howard's best interest. So what does Wall Street reform do to help Mr. Howard and seniors across this country? Two things. It requires that they show a net tangible benefit to the client consumer and that that client consumer has the ability to pay. Now, those two tests couldn't possibly have been met for Mr. Howard by that mortgage broker. So, as a result of Wall Street reform, seniors and Americans across this country are going to have recourse. And, in this case, Mr. Howard would be in a position to have that contract rescinded, have his costs, his consumer costs, be they attorney's fees or anything else, paid for, and have the opportunity to have that particular loan reworked in 90 days or less. That's the kind of benefit that accrues to seniors in the new reform. The final area that I thought would be worth us spending a little time on is the other rights that benefit seniors, and that's the right to know that Wall Street bankers will not gamble away their retirement savings. Both Mr. Deutch and Ms. Kilroy had spoken about the 401(k)s turning into 201(k)s. And as clever as that sounds, it's tragic when it happens, and it's happened to senior Americans across the country. I'm going to talk to you about a senior citizen in my district. This is a real story of a senior citizen who spent his entire life as a doctor providing health care to those who did not have resources. He provided health care in a county hospital setting, and he made, you know, a good salary doing that. So he retired, had a comfortable home, had $1 million in retirement in his 401(k). Now, he was using a financial adviser, one of the slick financial advisers that we've heard too much of over the last couple of years, much like the employees at Goldman Sachs who would sell a risky investment to someone but, on the other hand, would short it for their personal gain. This particular constituent had the situation where his financial adviser was not looking out for his best interest. So, over the course of the financial meltdown, this constituent lost three-quarters, three- quarters of his 401(k). Now, that's just outrageous on so many scores, but particularly so when you're dealing with the 401(k)s of senior citizens who don't have the luxury of trying to find other ways of making up that money, don't have the ability to go back to work. And our financial service reform is going to make sure that that particular activity of Wall Street gambling away retirement savings can no longer happen because we do have the standards put in place. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SPEIER

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman, a great leader, from Louisiana (Mr. Melancon),.

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I present H. Res. 1347 for consideration. This resolution honors the 11 workers who perished on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform following an explosion on April 20 of this year. We mourn their loss and extend our prayers and condolences to their families. H. Res. 1347 was introduced by our colleague, the gentleman from Louisiana, Representative Charlie Melancon, on May 11, 2010. The measure was reported to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which waived consideration of the measure to expedite its consideration on the floor today. The resolution has the support of over 50 Members of the House. Mr. Speaker, the deaths of the 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform last month were a tragic reminder of the severe hazards that offshore workers face every day. As we mourn the loss of these men, let us take a moment to reaffirm our commitment to the safety of our offshore oil workers and all Americans who perform such dangerous and necessary work every day. Let us also take a moment to commend our Coast Guard and the local rescue crews for their tireless efforts responding to this catastrophe. Their jobs are also incredibly difficult and dangerous, and we thank them for their hard work. Mr. Speaker, the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the ongoing crisis of the oil spill it produced will have significant political and policy ramifications. We will debate those here on the House floor, but that is not what we are here to do today. As we are joined today by the family of one of the victims of the explosion, let us put aside all differences and offer our united, heartfelt, and profound sympathies to the families and friends of these 11 workers. I would now like to place into the Congressional Record the names of these hardworking Americans who lost their lives in this tragedy: Dale Burkeen, Donald Clark, Roy Wyatt Kemp, Jason Anderson, Stephen Curtis, Gordon Jones, Karl Kleppinger, Blair Manuel, Dewey Revette, Shane Roshto, and Adam Weise. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for introducing it, and I also thank the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Congressman Towns of New York, as well as the ranking member, Representative Issa of California, for their support. [From Times Online, Apr. 30, 2010] The Missing Men of Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig (By Joanna Sugden) Eleven men were missing presumed dead after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded last week. Dale Burkeen, 37 was a crane operator on the platform and was trained to lower crew members to boats in an emergency. He had returned to the rig from Neshoba, near Philadelphia, about a week before the explosion. He and wife, Rhonda, have two children, Aryn, 14 and Timothy, 6. Donald Clark, 49 of Newellton, Louisiana, was expected to leave the rig the day after the explosion for a three-week break. He was an assistant driller. Roy Wyatt Kemp, 27, has two children, Kaylee, 3, and 3- month-old Maddison, with his wife, Courtney. He loved fishing and the outdoors and attended a Baptist church in Jonesville, Louisiana, where a memorial service for him will be held today. Jason Anderson, was a father of two from Bay City, Texas. Stephen Curtis was an assistant driller on the rig from Georgetown, Louisiana. Gordon Jones, 28, of Louisiana, was expecting to become a father to a second son with his wife, Michelle. Karl Kleppinger, 38, of Natchez, Mississippi was a Desert Storm veteran who spent more than ten years working on oil rigs. He was a floorman who made about $75,000 a year working off the Louisiana coast. Blair Manuel, 56, resident of Gonzales, Louisiana, was a chemical engineer on the rig. Dewey Revette, 48, from State Line, Mississippi, was a father who had worked for the company as an oil driller for 29 years. Shane Roshto, 22, was from Franklin County, Mississippi. His family were named on law suits filed by Louisiana's fisheries industry, accusing BP and Transocean, the rig operator, of negligence. Adam Weise, 24, of Yorktown, Texas, came straight from high school work on the rig in 2005. He loved to hunt and fish and play football. He was the youngest of four children.

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 1347, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1347) honoring the workers who perished on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, extending condolences to their families, and recognizing the valiant efforts of emergency response workers at the disaster site.

Ms. SPEIER

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Ms. SPEIER. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1073, a measure supporting the goals and ideals of RV Centennial Celebration Month. This measure was introduced by my colleague, the gentleman from Indiana, Representative Joe Donnelly, on February 4 of this year. It was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which waived consideration of the measure to expedite its consideration on the House floor today. The measure enjoys the support of over 50 Members of the House. Mr. Speaker, RVing is one of the great American traditions in travel. The 30 million Americans who regularly vacation via their recreational vehicles get to travel far and wide around our country, exploring our majestic landscapes, our national and State parks, and taking part in a healthy, outdoor activity. RVs help them do so at a price affordable to families. There are destinations for RVing across our 50 States, and we can all agree that we'd love for more Americans to visit the places we are most proud of in our communities. For instance, I'd like for the RVing community to come and set their eyes on the Golden Gate Bridge, on the cable cars, on the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, or on the San Francisco Bay Estuary. RVs make exploring our great country a practical option for many families. The first RVs came into mass production 100 years ago this June. Let us now take time to mark that significant moment in American history by supporting this resolution. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Donnelly).

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to urge my colleagues to support this measure honoring the 100 years that RVs have been in production, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1073) supporting the goals and ideals of RV Centennial Celebration Month to recognize and honor 100 years of the enjoyment of recreational vehicles in the United States.

Ms. SPEIER

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month and the remarkable contributions the Asian and Pacific Islander community have made to our Nation. I am a proud member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and my district includes some of the most robust and active Filipino and Chinese communities in America. For centuries our Nation has been strengthened by the enormous courage, sacrifice, and dedication of immigrants from across the globe, and the Asian American Pacific Islander community is no exception. As the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants, I know firsthand how weaving values and principles from our cultures into our national fabric is a part of what makes our country great. The heroes of the AAPI community represent the very best aspects of American life, and their contributions have been invaluable to my district, the State of California, and to our country.

Ms. SPEIER

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, you know, the Army Corps of Engineers had a saying during World War II: ``The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.'' In 1993, President Clinton tried to do the impossible by lifting the decades-long ban on gay and lesbian soldiers serving openly in the military. Unfortunately, Congress opposed him, and the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell law was passed. Since then, over 13,500 servicemembers have been fired and countless other courageous and qualified Americans have been prevented from serving. Well, it's been 17 long and painful years since we tried to do the impossible. Congress now has the chance to end this injustice. The President agrees, the military agrees, the American people agree. Let's honor our Nation's over 1 million gay veterans this Memorial Day. This week, let's lift the ban on gays serving openly once and for all.

Ms. SPEIER

Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor of a remarkable American, Joseph Cotchett, of San Mateo, CA who is on everyone's list of the top 100 most influential lawyers in the nation, a distinction that I believe understates his achievements in the area of law and social justice. Twenty years ago Joe was the lead trial lawyer for 23,000 plaintiffs defrauded in the Charles Keating/Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal, initially winning at that time one of the nation's largest jury verdicts, $3.3 billion. Fast forward to 2009 and he is again representing consumers, this time investors victimized by Bernie Madoff's financial wrongdoings. During his 40-year legal career, he has tried more than 100 cases and settled hundreds more, but this is not the thrust of what I would like to say about him today. Throughout his career he has done extensive pro bono work for the disadvantaged, establishing himself as a true champion of social justice. He lends his skills and talent when it is needed, not when it is convenient. His giving is not restricted to legal work. At the local level, he has been on the board of directors for the San Mateo County Heart Association; the San Mateo Boys & Girls Clubs; the Peninsula Association of Retarded Children and Adults; the Bay Meadows Foundation and the Disability Rights Advocates. Joe and his family have been active in supporting organizations helping children, women, ethnic minorities and animals. The Cotchett Family Foundation was specifically created to aid individuals and groups in need of assistance. In 2004, Joe endowed a $7 million fund to support science and mathematics teacher education at California State Polytechnic University, a program aimed at serving inner city and rural minority children. He is an accomplished author, lecturer and keynote speaker. His titles include The Ethics Gap and California Courtroom Evidence Foundations. Although he has focused on legal matters, in 2002 he co- authored and published, The Coast Time Forgot, a historic guide to the San Mateo County coast. Joe Cotchett truly loves the community in which he lives and works and it is only fitting, Madam Speaker, that on May 21, 2010, Notre Dame De Namur University presented him with the Community Spirit Award in honor of his work in promoting social justice through community engagement.