Matt Salmon: “Today we will be voting on the future of $3 rac{1}{2} trillion in private pension money that will finance the retirement…”

“Today we will be voting on the future of $3 rac{1}{2} trillion in private pension money that will finance the retirement of millions of working Americans. Pension funds have been protected from politics and pet projects since 1974 when fund managers were bound by law to look only at the economic return on their clients' investments. However, Secretary Reich and the Clinton administration now have other plans for this money. The Clinton administration believes that it has found a way to divert a chunk of pension money into social projects that the American people would not support or fund with taxpayer dollars. They are doing this by allowing and encouraging fund managers to put their investor dollars into economically targeted investments--investments that are targeted solely for their social agenda. Aside from being liberal social engineering, this scheme might sound reasonable, right? Well, what Secretary Reich is not telling the American people who depend on pensions, is that these ETI's are far riskier than traditional investments, and that the administration policy is a clear violation of the spirit of the laws set up to protect America's private pension system. Pork-barrel spending on liberal social projects is bad enough in today's tough budgetary times. But, to do it behind the backs of the American people, with the money they have saved for their own future is just plain wrong.”