Thank you, Chairman Shaw, for calling today’s hearing. I am hopeful that today’s hearing – taken together with the investigations that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has conducted in recent months – will help to alert our nation’s senior citizens to the unscrupulous activities that some will pursue for the sake of their own gain or advancement.

I think it is simply unconscionable that there are some organizations and individuals who are willing to deceive senior citizens and prey upon their anxieties. Solicitations such as the ones we will hear about today seek to profit off of seniors in their seventies and eighties who depend on Social Security to provide a significant part of their income. It is disgraceful that any organization would try to take advantage of our senior citizens’ trust in the good name of Social Security.

In addition, while the OIG’s most recent investigation into solicitations about a fictional "Slave Reparations Act" and so-called "notch" legislation proved inconclusive, I look forward to hearing from Inspector General Huse about some of the information that came to light as a result of his office’s inquiry.

Lastly, I am hopeful that today’s hearing – and the increased attention that it will bring to the issue of misleading solicitations – will deter other organizations and individuals from pursuing these scams. Scams like the "Slave Reparations Act" not only deceive senior citizens, but erode their faith in their government and its responsiveness to their concerns.