Political Quotes

“I rise today in opposition to Republican efforts to nullify the Department of Labor's rule that protects retirees and affirms decades of precedent. This rule allows those investing retirees' savings the freedom to direct those funds where the retirees want them to go. It lets them protect those funds from costly risks posed by worsening environmental disasters or unsafe and unfair working conditions and seek out promising, sustainable, long-term investment opportunities. Republicans' latest front in their wholly made up culture war is an attack on ``woke capitalism,'' and American retirees are apparently their targets. In particular, Republicans have set their sights on retirees who choose to invest their money with environmental, social, and governance--ESG--factors in mind. Now, investors have actually been doing this for decades. The Department of Labor has repeatedly said that under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, known as ERISA, retirement plan managers may consider all--all--relevant economic factors when making investment decisions if it is in the best interest of the plan's participants. That includes ESG factors, like how a company treats its workers or whether the company is sufficiently protected from climate risks and whether the company respects human rights. It turns out, investors really want to know these things.…”