U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin

One of my top priorities as a legislator has been to help more Americans save for their retirement. Over the years, I have joined with my Republican colleague, Rep. Rob Portman of Ohio, in introducing legislation that makes it easier for businesses to create retirement savings plans and for Americans to have more control over their retirement income.

Rep. Portman recently was appointed by President Bush to be the U.S. Trade Representative, a Cabinet level post that helps formulate U.S. trade policy. I have vowed to continue the work that Rep. Portman and I began almost a decade ago.

Our nation is facing a retirement crisis as the baby boom generation prepares to retire. While the President has proposed allowing Americans to divert money from Social Security into private accounts, I believe that will only weaken the program and make it less solvent. Instead, I support adjusting Social Security to guarantee its solvency for 75 years and helping Americans supplement their Social Security with additional retirement savings.

The first step is to ensure that every American has access to a pension plan. I recently introduced The Pension Preservation and Savings Expansion Act, HR 1961, to encourage businesses to establish retirement plans and to enable Americans to save more for retirement. My legislation would:

• Improve the "savers" tax credits to make it easier for young people and low- and moderate-income Americans to save for retirement;
• Ensure that catch-up contributions for individuals over 50, increased contribution limits, and increased portability of retirement savings remain available to Americans;
• Allow Americans to electronically contribute some or all of their federal income tax refund directly into their Individual Retirement Account (IRA) by checking a box on their tax returns;
• Provide incentives for employers to automatically enroll employees in retirement savings plans unless the employee opts out;
• Provide workers with new protections for their 401(k)-type plans and give them better access to retirement planning services; and,
• Exempt individuals with less than $100,000 in savings from requirements that they must begin to take money out of their retirement savings at age 70-1/2.

My pension bill will provide individuals and their families with new savings opportunities, improve and expand employer-sponsored retirement plans, and provide new protections for workers participating in retirement plans. It’s time to make retirement savings and security a national priority and this legislation will accomplish that goal.

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