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News
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 29, 2002 |
CONTACTS:
Dave Schnittger or Kevin Smith Telephone: (202) 225-4527 |
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Workforce Committee Republicans Challenge Gephardt on Enron WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) and Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) tonight welcomed Minority Leader Richard Gephardt’s (D-MO) call for bipartisan action that “protects employees from the next Enron” and urged Gephardt to press Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) for action on a bipartisan bill already passed by the House (H.R. 2269, the Retirement Security Advice Act) that would help workers preserve their retirement savings. “We’re encouraged that the Minority Leader is interested in protecting workers and helping them preserve and maximize their retirement savings, because the Retirement Security Advice Act that’s already been passed by the House does just that. It’s time for the Senate to approve this important bipartisan bill, and we hope Minority Leader Gephardt conveys this urgency to Senator Daschle.” “If Enron’s employees were victims of criminal wrongdoing or neglect, we’re going to find out -- investigations by the Bush administration, our committee, and other congressional committees will see to that. But what we already know is that Enron’s employees were victims of an outdated federal law that prevented them from getting quality investment advice.” “Whatever the eventual outcome of the Enron investigations, this is something we can change now. It’s clear that some of Enron’s workers would have benefited from the investment advice bill approved by the House with strong bipartisan support. It would have allowed professional investment advisers to warn them they needed to diversify their portfolios.” “We hope that the Minority Leader’s concern
for Enron’s employees will be the basis for further bipartisan action on
H.R. 2269 this year. Enactment of this bill can’t come a moment too soon.
While investment advice may not be the only legislative change needed to
prevent another Enron tragedy, it’s a good first step.” # # # |