[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8321 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8321
To establish a task force to protect members of the Armed Forces,
veterans, and military families, from financial fraud.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 11, 2022
Mr. Lynch introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a task force to protect members of the Armed Forces,
veterans, and military families, from financial fraud.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Military Consumer Protection Task
Force Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military
families continue to be disproportionately targeted and
impacted by imposter scams, investment-related schemes, fake
check scams, veterans' charity scams, pension poaching, and
other methods of financial fraud.
(2) Financial fraud attacks targeting members of the Armed
Forces, veterans, and military dependents increased by 69
percent from 2020 to 2021.
(3) In 2020, more than 56,000 military consumers submitted
fraud reports to the Federal Trade Commission indicating a
collective fraud loss of approximately $102 million; in 2021,
over 110,000 military consumers submitted fraud reports to the
Federal Trade Commission indicating a collective fraud loss of
approximately $267 million, a 162 percent increase in fraud
loss over 2020.
(4) Veterans alone reported a collective fraud loss of $177
million in 2021, with members of the Armed Forces reporting a
nearly $60 million total fraud loss in 2021.
(5) The exponential increase in financial fraud targeting
members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families
demands a robust and coordinated interagency approach that
examines current and emerging fraudulent schemes to safeguard
the financial security of our military consumers.
SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE TO PROTECT MEMBERS, VETERANS, AND
MILITARY FAMILIES FROM FINANCIAL FRAUD.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall establish an Interagency Task
Force on Financial Fraud targeting members of the Armed Forces and
veterans (referred to in this section as the ``Task Force'').
(b) Membership.--The Task Force established under this section
shall include representatives from the following:
(1) The Department of Defense.
(2) The Department of Veterans Affairs,
(3) The Federal Trade Commission.
(4) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
(5) The Department of Justice.
(6) The Federal Communications Commission.
(7) The Postal Inspection Service.
(8) Three representatives, appointed by the Secretary of
Defense in consultation with the Secretary of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, of non-governmental organizations (at least
one of whom is a representative of a veterans' service
organization) with expertise in identifying, preventing, and
combatting financial fraud targeting members of the Armed
Forces, veterans, and military families.
(c) Consultation.--The Task Force shall regularly consult with the
following:
(1) Members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and members of
military families that have been victims of financial fraud.
(2) Relevant Federal agencies and departments that are not
represented on the Task Force.
(3) Other relevant public and private sector stakeholders,
including State and local law enforcement agencies, financial
services providers, technology companies, and social media
platforms.
(d) Meetings.--The Task Force shall not meet less frequently than
three times per calendar year.
(e) Purpose.--The purpose of the Task Force is to identify and
examine current and developing methods of financial fraud targeting
members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families and issue
recommendations to enhance efforts undertaken by Federal agencies to
identify, prevent, and combat such financial fraud.
(f) Duties.--The duties of the Task Force shall include the
following:
(1) Collecting and reviewing robust data pertaining to
medical billing, credit reporting, debt collection, and other
serious financial challenges facing members of the Armed
Forces, veterans, and military families.
(2) Identifying and reviewing current methods of financial
exploitation targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans,
and military families, including--
(A) imposter or phishing scams;
(B) investment-related fraud;
(C) pension poaching;
(D) veterans benefit fraud;
(E) fraudulent offers pertaining to employment or
business opportunities;
(F) predatory lending;
(G) veteran charity schemes;
(H) foreign money offers and fake check scams;
(I) mortgage foreclosure relief and debt management
fraud;
(J) military allotment system abuse; and
(K) military records fraud.
(3) Identifying and evaluating the new financial risks that
emerging financial technologies, including buy-now-pay-later
credit and digital payment ecosystems, may present to members
of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families.
(4) Evaluating the efficacy of current Federal programs,
educational campaigns, policies, and statutes, including the
Military Lending Act and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act,
in preventing and combatting financial fraud targeting members
of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families.
(5) Developing recommendations to enhance efforts of
Federal agencies to detect, prevent, and combat financial fraud
targeting members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military
families.
(g) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Task Force shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on its
findings to date and recommendations to enhance the efforts of Federal
agencies to identify, prevent, and combat financial fraud targeting
members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and military families.
(h) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the following:
(1) The Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of
Representatives.
(2) The Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives.
(3) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
(4) The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate.
(5) The Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.
(6) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate.
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