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.
“THE PENSION PROTECTION ACT OF 1995” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H4551 on May 9, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE PENSION PROTECTION ACT OF 1995
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 1995, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Saxton] is recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing a bill today which is known as the Pension Protection Act of 1995. I must say that usually I am pleased to introduce a bill. Today I say that I regret that it is necessary to introduce this bill. But it is, because when American workers get their check at the end of the pay period and they look at the check stub, they look to see, how much has been deducted for their contribution to their pension plan. And those pension plans have become very, very important, because those are essentially savings that the American worker is putting aside for his or her retirement.
The Clinton administration has been up to some mischief, I believe, that is destructive to that process. So the Pension Plan Act of 1995, which is cosponsored by our leadership on the Republican side, and I certainly invite our Democrat friends to join with us as well, is an attempt to protect the American worker from the mischief of the Clinton administration.
It is interesting to note that something over $3.5 trillion are in private pension funds today. This is the magnitude of the risk that has been brought about by the Clinton administration. Why? Because the administration has targeted private pension funds as a new way to finance their liberal social agenda.
Faced with an angry revolt of voters last November against too much Federal spending, President Clinton and his Department of Labor are trying to use private pensions to do what they used to do through old fashioned taxing-and-spending. These social investments include: Public housing, infrastructure, and pork-barrel projects.
The administration has dubbed these social projects ``Economically Targeted Investments'' or ETI's, but I prefer to call them PTI's or
``Politically Targeted Investments.''
Let me emphasize that targeting private pension fund investments is a radical and dangerous idea. ETI's violate the clear mandate of the Federal law that Congress passed to protect private pensions--the Employee Retirement Income Security Act or ERISA--which requires that a pension fund manger must give complete and undivided loyalty to the pension beneficiaries.
Let me quote directly from ERISA: A pension fund manager must
``discharge his duties with respect to a plan solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries and for the exclusive purpose of (I) providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries; and (II) defraying reasonable expenses of administering the plan.''
Besides ETI's obvious conflict with ERISA, the best
economic research indicates that pension funds that target social investments produce below market returns.
The Clinton administration's ultimate objective is to establish an ETI quota for every private pension fund.
What Secretary Reich would make permissible today, will become compulsory tomorrow.
Today, I am introducing a bill that will protect the 36 million private pension participants from President Clinton's pension fund grab. My bill, the Pension Protection Act of 1995, will not alter the fiduciary duties laid out in ERISA. Instead, my bill will simply reiterate that the act means what it says, no more, no less.
ERISA could not be clearer. Trustees may not invest in ETI's because by definition ETI's seek to benefit someone other that solely the participants and beneficiaries of the pension plan; and ETI's pursue an objective other than exclusively the interest of the plan's participants and beneficiaries.
The security of our pension funds is no small issue. Every American who plans on retiring someday should be very concerned about that the Clinton administration is up to. I believe that if we act quickly, we can ensure that everyone working today can rest easier if my bill to protect their pensions is passed.
____________________
