House Committee on Education and Labor
U.S. House of Representatives

Republicans
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon
Ranking Member

Fiscally responsible reforms for students, workers and retirees.

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Labor Issues

Retirement Security

Worker retirement security is at the top of the Committee Republican agenda.  The continuing decline of the defined benefit pension system – a decline that is putting current and future retiree pension benefits at risk – as well as the ongoing fallout from the 2002 corporate collapses at employers such as Enron and WorldCom have made pension reform among the most important issues dealt with in the halls of Congress. 

In 2006, both parties in Congress and President Bush forged the first comprehensive overhaul of worker pension laws in more than a generation.  The pension laws on the books had been written for a 1970s economy with a 1970s workforce.  Times have changed, but these laws have not.  The bipartisan pension overhaul takes unprecedented steps to fix broken pension rules that no longer serve the interests of workers who count on their retirement savings being there for them when they need it.  It includes tough new funding requirements to ensure employers adequately and consistently fund their pension plans, provides workers with meaningful disclosure about the financial status of their benefits, and protects taxpayers from a possible multi-billion dollar bailout of the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).  In the 110th Congress, Committee Republicans will work with Democrat colleagues to build upon these historic reforms.

In addition to these efforts to strengthen retirement security for U.S. workers and retirees, Committee Republicans and Democrats also struck a bipartisan agreement in 2006 to improve programs and services under the Older Americans Act – the major federal law governing the organization and delivery of a wide array of social services for elderly Americans.  The agreement increases program accountability, strengthens efforts to prevent elder abuse, and enhances services that can improve the quality of life for aging Americans.

Press Releases

McKeon Selected as Education and Labor Committee’s Senior Republican for 111th Congress (December 10, 2008)

McKeon Statement on Retirement Security and the Financial Crisis (October 7, 2008)

New 401(k) Mandates May Drive Up Costs for Workers, Republicans Warn (April 16, 2008)

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Member Views

McKeon op-ed in Roll Call: Pension Protection Act Streamlines Retirements (February 11, 2008)

McKeon op-ed in Roll Call: Retirement Security Enters a New Era (February 12, 2007)

Committee Statements

McKeon Statement on “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Workers’ Retirement Security” (October 22, 2008)

Mckeon Statement: Markup of the “401(k) Fair Disclosure for Retirement Security Act of 2007” (April 16, 2008)

Kline Statement: Hearing on “Securing Retirement Coverage for Future Generations” (November 8, 2007)