{time}  1220

  Protecting Americans from financial exploitation requires strong
coordination among families, financial institutions, brokers, financial
advisers, and, of course, law enforcement. This bill would help
strengthen those partnerships and provide additional tools to safeguard
the most vulnerable among us from an avalanche of fraud and abuse.
  Importantly, too, this bill is tailored to address suspected
exploitation while preserving the rights of customers and maintaining
appropriate oversight.
  No American should lose their hard-earned money because an investment
firm or financial institution lacks the authority or certainty to
intervene where there are clear signs of exploitation that were
present.
  H.R. 2478 is a commonsense, bipartisan measure that helps protect our
most vulnerable citizens from the growing number of financial
predators.
  I thank Chair Wagner and Mr. Gottheimer of New Jersey for their
leadership on this important issue. I urge all my colleagues to support
this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2478, the Financial
Exploitation Prevention Act of 2025, sponsored by Representative
Wagner.
  This bill will help protect vulnerable Americans by allowing for
mutual fund companies to delay the redemption or sale of mutual funds
when the company believes there is an attempt to defraud a senior or an
adult who cannot protect themselves.
  Financial fraud targeting older adults is a widespread and growing
problem. Millions of seniors are victimized each year, and reported
losses are just soaring. In 2025 alone, America's seniors lost nearly
$8 billion to fraud, an 80 percent increase over the prior year.
  Seniors are especially vulnerable to scams and financial abuse
because they may not be familiar with the ever-increasing technological
sophistication with which current scammers operate. Scammers exploit
these factors through tactics like AI-powered deep fakes that emulate
the voice of a grandchild pretending to be in a difficult or dangerous
situation, romance schemes that prey on lonely seniors, tech support
hoaxes, lottery scams, and other tricks. The introduction of artificial
intelligence is making these scams all the more prevalent and harmful.
  We should do all we can to stop these scammers and fraudsters.
Unfortunately, that is not what Congress and the President are doing.
The Trump administration, with Republican support in Congress, has been
shrinking, and in some cases dismantling, the financial cops who detect
fraud and hold bad actors accountable. Trump's administration has
walked away from court cases where fraudsters had admitted to harming
Americans and agreed to pay compensation. As a result, victims didn't
receive compensation, but the criminals' pockets were lined.
  While this bill could empower financial industry participants to help
protect seniors when they suspect fraud, it is absurd that, at the same
time, Republicans are cheering on Trump's attempts to shut down the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and defang and defund the SEC. All
the while, Trump's family reaps in millions, if not billions, of
personal profits from their corrupt business dealings and private-
sector shakedowns.
  Some of these actions have a direct impact on Americans. The Trump
meme coin scam, for example, has resulted in billions of dollars of
losses for Americans. We cannot talk about fraud without acknowledging
this massive elephant in the room.
  The American people are asking for this House to hold the Trump
administration and family accountable. Until then, we are left taking
small steps, such as passing H.R. 2478.
  Mr. Hill, the chairman of the committee and my friend, talked about
this having bipartisan support. I don't know if bipartisan support
means anything these days.
  I am stunned that we worked hard for over 1 year on doing something
substantive about housing. We had bicameral and bipartisan support and,
all of a sudden, the President of the United States canceled the
signing of the bipartisan bill today.
  What is up? What is going on?
  Does it mean anything that Republicans worked very hard?
  Mr. Hill spent a lot of time on the bill, and I spent a lot of time
on this bill. All of a sudden, the President says: Oh, I don't feel
like signing it today. As a matter of fact, I want something else. I
want the SAVE America Act that will undermine voting and strip those
who have been protected by the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights
Act from being able to vote in a way that our democracy demands and the
Constitution protects.
  I am very pleased that Mrs. Wagner has this bill. I know she has
worked on it. I certainly support it, but we need more.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), who is the chair of the
Capital Markets Subcommittee. She has worked on this and has been a
leader in every way she can in the House to protect our friends and our
neighbors from financial fraud.
  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Financial
Services Committee, my friend, Mr. Hill, for his tremendous support,
his leadership, and for yielding his time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bipartisan bill, H.R.
2478, the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act.
  Far too often, back home in Missouri and across this Nation, our
senior citizens are directly targeted for financial fraud. Like
Chairman Hill, I, too, hear from scores and scores of constituents in
my district who have fallen prey to these horrible, horrible scams and
fraudsters.
  The consequences of this crime extend to millions of Americans, with
one out of every five senior investors falling victim to financial
fraud and exploitation.

  Sadly, the problem is only getting more severe.
  According to the FTC, fraud perpetrated against those over the age of
60 increased by nearly 400 percent between 2020 and 2024, Mr. Speaker.

  The total cost to American seniors reached almost $2.5 billion. Even
worse, a significant portion of this increase is attributed to
individual financial losses of over $100,000.
  Think about that for a moment, Mr. Speaker. Seniors and retirees
across our country work their entire lives to save for their future,
and they depend on their savings to pay the bills, keep the lights on,
and put food on the table. A loss of over $100,000 is absolutely
devastating, and these financial crimes are being committed every
single day.
  We have the tools to fix this. There are gaps in Federal law that can
be addressed to prevent this exploitation from occurring, and that is
exactly what my bill does.
  My bill, the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act, allows financial
institutions, including investment companies like mutual funds, to
temporarily delay a transaction if they have a reasonable belief that
the transaction is the result of financial exploitation.
  By allowing for this pause, the bill creates a crucial window of up
to 15 days with the possibility of a 10-day extension that will provide
the time necessary to investigate the situation and notify the
appropriate authorities.
  This gives potentially vulnerable investors, including our seniors,
as well as those with certain disabilities, a crucial, extra layer of
defense that will help preserve the hard-earned savings they have built
over decades.
  This bill would also establish a safe harbor for financial
institutions that make a good-faith effort to prevent exploitation. By
removing the fear of litigation, this change will empower the financial
system to stop fraudsters in their tracks through timely and decisive
action.
  Finally, my bill requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to
report to Congress on additional legislative solutions to further
combat the financial exploitation of seniors and vulnerable adults.