Karen Thurman: “let me give accolades to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman), because I…”

“let me give accolades to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman), because I do not believe that this bill would have come to the floor with such bipartisanship if they had not allowed Members to add in and talk about issues which were important. I think this is a very good bill. I think we could do better with the Democratic substitute, which we will talk about later. But what I would like to discuss is how this bill will help working women. Mr. Speaker, we talk about families, but women in this bill are going to be helped because the bill contains several provisions to help women, especially those who return to the workforce after their children are grown. Let me give you some ideas. The catch-up provision would allow women who have taken time out to raise a family to make additional contributions of up to $5,000 per year. In addition, the provision that accelerates vesting of employer-matching contributions will disproportionately help women. In IRA language, H.R. 10 accelerates the deductible contribution to $5,000 in 2002, and increases the contribution by $5,000 beginning in 2005 for people over the age of 50. This bill includes comparable language for 401(k) and other deferred compensation plans.”