Fraud and Scam Reduction Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Pallone for his tireless work to advance this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 1215, the Fraud and Scam Reduction Act. Bad actors preying on older Americans is unfortunately nothing new, but in the midst of a global pandemic, cracking down on those scams must be a priority of the Federal Government.

That is why I proudly introduced the bipartisan Fraud and Scam Reduction Act with my colleagues Mr. Walberg, Deutch, Buchanan, and Welch.

The bill, as its name suggests, was aimed at cracking down on these scams by doing two main things. It would create an advisory group under the Federal Trade Commission made up of government agencies, consumer advocates, and industry representatives, such as financial services and retail, to help identify potential sources of fraud and create educational materials for our Nation's seniors to protect them from these dangerous schemes. It would also establish the senior fraud advisory office, which would give seniors hope in recovering their assets stolen by fraudsters and improve our understanding of senior fraud by encouraging seniors to report this activity.

We are proud to say that the bill has broad support, including AARP, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Target, Best Buy, Walmart, and Western Union, as well as many more.

Mr. Speaker, one of the most fundamental obligations of government is to protect our citizens. The least we can do is protect already vulnerable seniors from being taken advantage of by bad actors.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, for their work in strengthening the bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of the measure.

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