Doris Matsui: “I just have to say that many of my colleagues have said, well, many of the Members, 400 Members, voted for this when it…”

“I just have to say that many of my colleagues have said, well, many of the Members, 400 Members, voted for this when it was up 2 years ago. One of the problems with pension legislation is it is extremely complex. I think we all know that. The gentleman from Maryland said that 90 percent of the bill, or more perhaps, is the same as our substitute. That is correct as well. We support the IRAs, we support the 401(k)s, we want to make sure we have an extension of the 415 multiemployer program to allow portability. All these things we support. That is in our substitute. But the real dangerous part of this piece of legislation, that is, the Portman-Cardin legislation, is the fine print. Many of us did not spend time understanding the fine print. It deals with the top-heavy rules. As the gentleman from Maryland said, it basically eliminates the penalty, because if you put it in a match, then you get credit for it. That basically means that top-management employees, who today could get 60 percent of the benefits and the workers only 40 percent of the benefits, that is under current law, they can get 70, 80, 90 percent and not pay a penalty as long as they paid the match.”