VIDEO RELEASE Chairman Rick Scott Spearheads Joint Aging Committee Hearing on Communist China’s Exploitation of American Investments and National Security

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Senator Rick Scott, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, led a joint hearing with the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), entitled, “Financial Aggression: How the Chinese Communist Party Exploits American Retirees and Undermines National Security.”  During the hearing, Chairman Scott exposed the significant threats posed by Communist China to American investments, with a focus on the urgent need for seniors to safeguard their retirement savings from the CCP’s predatory practices. Communist China’s growing influence in U.S. financial markets jeopardizes the financial security of hardworking Americans and poses a serious risk to U.S. national security.

Chairman Scott urges Americans to take immediate and decisive action to protect themselves from the risk of CCP-linked investments, and calls on regulators and his colleagues to join him in working to address this growing threat.

Chairman Scott just reintroduced a legislative package aimed at protecting American investors and cracking down on Communist China’s influence in and exploitation of U.S. markets. Chairman Scott recently sent a letter thanking President Trump’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nominee, Paul Atkins, and secured his commitment to protecting U.S. markets and investors and upholding the law to hold Communist Chinese companies operating on U.S. financial markets accountable.

Chairman Scott’s witnesses for yesterday’s hearing included Floridians Kevin O’Leary, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of O’Leary Ventures, and Chris Iacovella, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Securities Association.

Watch Chairman Scott’s full remarks HERE. Read Chairman Scott’s remarks as prepared for delivery below:

First, let me welcome our colleagues from the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

I want to thank Chairman Moolenaar and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi for joining myself and Ranking Member Gillibrand for this incredibly important hearing.

The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging is charged with examining any and all matters pertaining to the problems and opportunities of older people.

Our jurisdiction is purposefully broad because what most impacts aging Americans today, could be radically different from what impacts the seniors of future generations.

In fact, if we do our jobs here, the problems we worry about today will be solved long before any of our grandchildren have reached their seniors years.

It’s in that spirit that we come together with our colleagues from the U.S. House China Select Committee for a joint hearing focused on the threats that Americans face when their retirement savings are invested in Communist China.

Let’s make something very clear about why we are here today: Communist China has chosen to be America’s enemy.

It’s simple. I wish it wasn’t true, but it is.

Unfortunately, that’s not a problem that only our military or intelligence community has to worry about.

The government of Communist China has shown again and again that it will do ANYTHING to hurt America and weaken our place in the world – including going after our citizens and targeting the retirements and hard-earned savings of American seniors.

I want to be clear about the threat here: IF YOU HAVE YOUR RETIREMENT INVESTED IN ANYTHING THAT IS CONTROLLED BY OR UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY YOU ARE AT RISK OF LOSING EVERY DOLLAR. And this can happen overnight.

I know this may sound extreme to some, but here is what we know:

There’s a clear risk to American investments in Communist China because the Chinese Communist Party, which does nothing but lie, cheat and steal, controls every business in its country. There is no real private industry in Communist China – the CCP controls EVERYTHING.

Choosing to invest in Communist China threatens our national security and jeopardizes the retirement savings of hardworking Americans.

During today’s hearing, we will talk about the threats posed to the individual retirements of American seniors, the scams run by the CCP and the national security risks of investing in Communist China.  

But as the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, my focus is on our seniors and using today’s hearing, and our partnership with our colleagues in the Senate and the House, to protect seniors from known bad actors, like the Chinese Communist Party, and make sure they know where their dollars are being invested and why they need to get the heck out of Chinese investments NOW.

I bet many in this room have retirement accounts and investments, but may not even know what companies these investment dollars are being invested in.

THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM.

Too often, Washington fails to fix problems not because it lacks the authority to do so, but because of intentional or incompetent failure to enforce existing laws and rules.

This is true in every part of government, and it’s dangerously true when it comes to holding foreign companies and governments accountable.

In 2020, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act was signed into law by President Trump which mandated that if companies in Communist China did not comply with U.S. auditing standards for three consecutive years, they must be delisted and banned from trading on American exchanges.

This law was amended in 2022, reducing the consecutive years of non-compliance from three years to two years. But, under the Biden administration, the SEC FAILED to enforce this law, and today many Chinese companies including Yum China, Alibaba, and Baidu are still listed on American exchanges in clear violation of U.S. law.

This is a perfect example of why your money is NOT SAFE when invested in companies tied to Communist China.

I am going to hold the SEC accountable to enforce the law, and I hope to work with Chairman Moolenaar, Ranking Member Gillibrand, and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi to make sure laws intended to protect Americans from threats posed by Communist China are fully enforced.

I am also fighting to fill gaps in current law and strengthen U.S. enforcement authority with multiple pieces of legislation that will hold Communist China accountable. These bills will take the necessary steps to secure our markets, protect consumers, demand transparency and accountability, and ensure investors, especially seniors, who are the most vulnerable, are protected.

WE NEED TO STOP putting Americans’ retirements at risk with investments in the corrupt businesses and practices of Communist China.

STOP putting Americans’ retirements at risk due to their involvement with propping up the agenda of the CCP.

Americans work too hard to have their financial security destroyed by Communist China.

Today, we are going to learn more about this problem and come up with the policy plan to stop it before it is too late and Americans retirement stability is wiped out by Communist China.

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