Bill Delahunt: “What this bill does is bad enough, but what it fails to do is even worse. The sponsors have named it the Pension…”

“What this bill does is bad enough, but what it fails to do is even worse. The sponsors have named it the Pension Security Act, but it does nothing to protect workers and retirees from the corporate abuses that have put their hard-earned savings at risk. If this is the Republican's pension security plan, one shudders to think what they would do with Social Security. At company after company, top executives have awarded themselves millions in bonuses, stock options, severance packages, driving their companies into bankruptcy and leaving their workers holding the bag. What does the Pension Security Act do for them? Not a thing. Airline executives lose billions, lay off thousands of workers, but then go and set up secret trusts to protect their own retirement assets and put it out of the reach of creditors. What does this bill do for them? Not a thing. Polaroid executives in my home State of Massachusetts cancelled retirees' health insurance and terminated workers on long-term disability, all the while awarding themselves millions in bonuses and severance packages. Once the company was sold, the new CEO terminated the pension plan as well. What does the Pension Security Act do for them? Not a thing. We are in the midst of an unprecedented wave of business failures, rising unemployment and growing numbers of Americans who cannot afford health insurance premiums, let alone a 401(k) plan.”