I
118THCONGRESS
2
DSESSION H. R. 7966
To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the verification of the
financial independence of financial services counselors providing services
to members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL11, 2024
Ms. S
HERRILL(for herself, Mr. BACON, Mr. LARSENof Washington, Mr.
R
YAN, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. DAVISof North Carolina, Mr.
G
OTTHEIMER, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. KEANof New Jersey, Ms.
G
ARCIAof Texas, and Mr. MOLINARO) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the
verification of the financial independence of financial
services counselors providing services to members of the
Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting our Service 4
Members and their Families from Predatory Financial 5
Practices Act’’. 6
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SEC. 2. VERIFICATION OF THE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE 1
OF FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNSELORS IN 2
THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. 3
(a) V
ERIFICATION OFFINANCIALINDEPENDENCE.— 4
Section 992 of title 10, United States Code, is amended— 5
(1) in subsection (b)(2)(A)— 6
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 7
end; 8
(B) in clause (ii)— 9
(i) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 10
‘‘shall’’; 11
(ii) by striking ‘‘installation by any 12
means elected by the Secretary from 13
among the following:’’ and inserting ‘‘in-14
stallation—’’; 15
(iii) in subclause (I)— 16
(I) by striking ‘‘Through’’ and 17
inserting ‘‘through’’; and 18
(II) by striking ‘‘Defense.’’ and 19
inserting ‘‘Defense;’’; 20
(iv) in subclause (II)— 21
(I) by striking ‘‘By contract’’ and 22
inserting ‘‘by contract’’; and 23
(II) by striking ‘‘Internet.’’ and 24
inserting ‘‘Internet; or’’; and 25
(v) in subclause (III)— 26
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(I) by striking ‘‘Through’’ and 1
inserting ‘‘through’’; and 2
(II) by striking ‘‘counseling.’’ and 3
inserting ‘‘counseling; and’’; and 4
(C) by adding at the end the following new 5
clause: 6
‘‘(iii) may not provide financial services through 7
any individual unless such individual agrees to sub-8
mit financial disclosures annually to the Secretary.’’; 9
(2) in subsection (b)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘instal-10
lation by any of the means set forth in subparagraph 11
(A)(ii), as elected by the Secretary concerned.’’ and 12
inserting ‘‘installation in accordance with the re-13
quirements established under subparagraph (A)(ii) 14
and (iii).’’; and 15
(3) in subsection (b)(4)— 16
(A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The Sec-17
retary’’; and 18
(B) by inserting at the end the following 19
new subparagraphs: 20
‘‘(B) In carrying out the requirements of subpara-21
graph (A), the Secretary concerned shall establish a re-22
quirement that each financial services counselor under 23
paragraph (2)(A)(i), and any other individual providing 24
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counseling on financial services under paragraph (2), sub-1
mit financial disclosures annually to the Secretary. 2
‘‘(C) The Secretary concerned shall review all finan-3
cial disclosures submitted pursuant to subparagraph (B) 4
to ensure the counselor, or the individual providing coun-5
seling, is free from conflict as required under this para-6
graph. 7
‘‘(D) If the Secretary concerned determines that a 8
financial services counselor under paragraph (2)(A)(i), or 9
any other individual providing counseling on financial 10
services under paragraph (2), is not free from conflict as 11
required under this paragraph, the Secretary shall ensure 12
that the counselor, or the individual providing counseling, 13
does not provide such services until such time as the Sec-14
retary determines that such conflict is resolved.’’. 15
(b) R
EPORT ONFINANCIALINDEPENDENCE.—Not 16
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 17
this Act, and annually thereafter, each Secretary con-18
cerned shall submit to Congress a report on the percentage 19
of financial services counselors under paragraph (2)(A)(i) 20
of section 992(b) of title 10, United States Code (as 21
amended by subsection (a)), and other individuals pro-22
viding counseling on financial services under paragraph 23
(2) of such section (as amended by subsection (a)) whom 24
the Secretary determined to be free from conflicts as re-25
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quired under paragraph (4) of such section (as amended 1
by subsection (a)). 2
(c) S
ECRETARYCONCERNEDDEFINED.—In this sec-3
tion, the term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ shall have the mean-4
ing given to such term in section 101 of title 10, United 5
States Code. 6
Æ
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