Democrats value the financial well-being of our parents and grandparents, and believe that all Americans deserve to retire with dignity. We know the most secure retirement belongs to retirees who can count on a pension or 401(k) in addition to Social Security and personal savings. But the total value of 401(k) plans dropped last year, and pension plans nationwide are under funded by $320 billion. We can do better.

Democrats believe that everyone should have the opportunity to save for a secure retirement. That's why the Democratic plan aims to strengthen worker pensions and levels the playing field. It will:

Protect older employees' pensions. Under the Democratic plan, companies that want to change their pension systems would be required to provide older workers with the same amount of benefits they would have received under the existing pension plan. This provision would overrule the proposal by the Bush Administration, which would give big companies the ability to make deep cuts in pension benefits for older workers. Democrats in the House recently passed an amendment that would prohibit funding for the implementation of this misguided Administration policy.

Eliminate special treatment for executive pension plans. Enron showered its executives with special executive-deferred compensation benefits, while rank-and-file employees are still standing in line with all other creditors with little hope of recovering any of the billions in pension benefits that were lost. Democrats will work to stop this special treatment.

Provide all Americans the ability to save. The Democratic Plan will make permanent the saver's tax credit, a measure that helps low-income families save for the future.

Defend workers' pensions. The Democratic plan toughens current law and criminal penalties for trust managers who violate workers' pension rights.

Increase executive accountability. The Democratic plan requires plan participants to be notified of any significant sales (sales of over $100,000) of employer stock by executives or plan managers.

Give employees control over their retirement savings. The Democratic plan gives employees the right to diversify company-matched stock soon after plan participation. Enron employees, for example, were prevented from selling hundreds of millions of dollars in company-matched stock while executives were dumping their company stock.