Mr. Speaker, I have greatly enjoyed working with my good friend from Ohio, Representative Rob Portman, on pension legislation for almost a decade.  We have gotten good, bipartisan – even nonpartisan – legislation passed into law that has helped, and will continue to help, all Americans save for a better future. 

I am very happy with the President’s choice to promote (or at least move) Rob to U.S. Trade Representative, where I know he will provide an intelligent, thoughtful voice on trade.  I look forward to working with him in his new capacity to provide a level playing field for U.S. workers and a freer trade market for U.S. goods. 

The bills we introduce today include a refundable, permanent savers' credit to give lower-income and younger workers more money to work with in saving for their future.  We include incentives for employers to provide automatic enrollment in retirement plans to make saving easier for younger workers.  We include incentives for choosing lifetime annuitant retirement, to ensure that retirement savings last a lifetime.  This legislation makes permanent all of the pension improvements we made in 2001, including the availability of catch-up contributions, increased contribution limits, and increased portability of retirement savings.

The major difference between the two bills filed today is that the legislation that I have authored does not include increases to the income caps for Roth IRAs. 

Once the Joint Tax Committee has scored this legislation, I intend to work with my colleagues to offer revenue offsets to mitigate any effect the enactment of this legislation could have on our budget deficit.

I want to thank my friend, Rob, for being such a good, steadfast partner in helping Americans to plan for their futures.  His commitment, intelligence, and willingness to put aside politics to create the best policy have been a credit to him and have made a difference in the lives of countless Americans.