The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“FRAUD ENFORCEMENT AND RECOVERY ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S4725-S4726 on April 27, 2009.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FRAUD ENFORCEMENT AND RECOVERY ACT
Mr. REID. Mr. President, every day brings more bad news for American homeowners. In Las Vegas alone, 1 in every 22 families received a foreclosure notice between January and March. That is seven times the national average. All across the country, the numbers have skyrocketed since the beginning of the year. As foreclosures menace more and more hard-working homeowners, they become more desperate for help. Unfortunately, schemers, swindlers, and scam artists are all too happy to pounce. Just today it was announced that the Justice Department charged five people in Maryland with orchestrating a massive and complex mortgage fraud scheme. The company cheated more than 1,000 people out of more than $70 million. There would be more of these cases filed if the authorities had more resources to do so.
This week, we are going to vote on the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act. This bill provides critical funding and new tools to let law enforcement prosecute and punish those responsible for the mortgage and corporate frauds that have hurt countless hard-working Americans and led to the worst financial crisis in decades. Passing this bill will be a crucial step toward deterring the types of financial fraud and illegal manipulation of markets that are the root cause of the current economic crisis.
Law enforcement agencies charged with protecting the American people from financial fraud are chronically understaffed. These agencies are in desperate need of personnel to help them because these schemes, such as the one I mentioned in Maryland, are ones where people have to be involved. You just can't do this working out of some office. We need investigators, we need prosecutors, we need personnel with specialized knowledge who can investigate and prosecute complicated money-
laundering schemes, mortgage fraud, and conspiracies to manipulate derivatives. The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act will give the FBI, the Department of Justice, and other Federal agencies the resources to hire the help they need to protect American investments. It will also close several legal loopholes that otherwise may allow individuals guilty of criminal conduct to evade prosecution. Individuals who have engaged in corruption or deliberate criminal behavior should not be able to escape punishment on a technicality.
This bill would update Federal fraud statutes to include mortgage lending businesses that are not directly regulated or insured by the Federal Government. Although these companies were responsible for nearly half of the residential mortgage market before the economic collapse, they have remained largely unregulated. It would also protect the funds provided under the economic recovery plan and the Troubled Asset Relief Program and swiftly punish anyone who would attempt to misuse this money.
Finally, this bill will strengthen the False Claims Act, one of the most important civil tools we have for rooting out fraud in Government. In the last few months, we have taken strong steps to steer the American economy toward recovery, but we must do more. We must ensure that the money we are spending to get our economy back on track is used in the manner in which we intended it.
The American people are depending on us to act quickly to ensure that those whose criminal behavior caused the current financial crisis are brought to justice and to ensure law enforcement has the tools and resources to deter such conduct in the future. We cannot allow con artists to cheat working families who play by the rules. We cannot allow them to deceive those who make an honest living. We cannot let them steal from people who seek nothing more than their fair share of the American dream.
I would like to spread across the record here what terrific work Senator Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has done--and members on his committee. This is important legislation. The wise nature of Senator Leahy and his experience have allowed this bill to be reported out of that big committee, and it is going to pass tomorrow. I commend and applaud Senator Leahy for his good work. It is something the country has badly needed. It is long overdue, but it is certainly ripe for passage now.
I urge my colleagues to support the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act and protect struggling homeowners at the time they need it the most.
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