WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House on September 25 passed a resolution, by a vote of 258-152, urging the Senate to complete action on bipartisan pension protections so that President Bush can sign this measure into law before the conclusion of the 107th Congress. The House in April passed the bipartisan Pension Security Act (H.R. 3762) in April more than 160 days ago but the Senate has not acted on the House bill or any pension reform proposal. Moreover, according to this afternoon’s edition of National Journal’s CongressDaily, Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ_ -- one of the top Senate Democrats on the pension reform issue -- says the Senate should consider abandoning efforts to follow the House in passing pension reform legislation to protect worker 401(k)s.

“Senate Democrats have promised for months to act on bipartisan pension protections that could have protected workers from Enron-style corporate meltdowns,” said House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH). “How much longer will Senate Democrats make American workers wait for pension protections? It has been more than five months since the House acted on pension reform and we continue to wait for Senate Democrats to make pension reform a priority.”

“President Bush is ready to sign a bill into law,” said Boehner. “As long as Senate Democrats continue to stall on bipartisan pension reform, the retirement security of American workers will remain vulnerable.”

· Give workers new freedoms to diversify their retirement savings within three years;

· Expand worker access to investment advice that can help them manage their retirement accounts;

· Empower workers to hold company insiders accountable for abuses; or

· Give workers better information about their pensions.

 

All of these reforms were included in the Pension Security Act passed by the House.

Since April, House Republican pension reform leaders have twice sent letters to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) asking that he schedule a vote on comprehensive pension protection legislation, but the Senate Democrat leader has not responded to either request -- despite a pledge he made back in February that the Senate would consider pension reforms “as soon as possible.”

According to the September 26 afternoon edition of National Journal’s CongressDaily, Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) -- one of the top Senate Democrats on the pension reform issue -- said the Senate should consider abandoning efforts to follow the House in passing pension reform legislation to protect worker 401(k)s.

“At least one Senate Democrat is questioning whether the Senate should take up a pension reform bill before the end of the session, as Senate Majority Leader Daschle has said he would do. ‘There’s some serious questions about it on the part of some of our folks,’ said Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.” (Excerpt from National Journal’s CongressDaily, “Objections Voiced As Pension Bill Outlook Still Unclear,” by April Fulton & Charlie Mitchell, Sept. 25, 2002)

Moreover, the September 20th edition of CongressDaily/A.M. quotes Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) as saying the Senate will not be ready to consider any pension bill for “a couple weeks” -- this after Senate Democrats have repeatedly promised for months to make pension reform a priority.

More than 160 days ago, with the support of 46 House Democrats, the Republican-led House passed legislation to give workers more freedom to diversify their retirement savings; empower workers to hold company insiders accountable for abuses; expand worker access to professional investment advice; and give workers better information about their pensions. But instead of gathering President Bush’s signature, the legislation has been gathering dust in the Democrat-controlled Senate.