Rich Neal: “Even though the differences are not large, they remain for low-income and moderate-income workers substantial. If we let…”

“Even though the differences are not large, they remain for low-income and moderate-income workers substantial. If we let this get away from us in its current form, if the President were to sign this legislation, which I suggest that he will not, we would find ourselves quickly coming back to an issue in succeeding sessions of the Congress on how to deal with what is the most prickly part of the problem, and that is how do we get low-income wage earners into a pension system? How do we provide the necessary incentives for employers to do precisely that? How do we speak to moderate-income workers who find themselves perhaps in mid-life without the benefits of a pension plan as well? The amendment today that we offer in the nature of a substitute would accomplish this goal by encouraging individuals, all workers, to save better for retirement through adding retirement savings accounts as proposed by the President and the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Summers. This proposal would provide a refundable credit to low- and middle-income workers who participate in an employer-sponsored pension plan or an individual retirement account.”