Rich Neal: “The gentleman really gave away his argument in the opening sentence, when he said: You know the drill on the MTR. Yes…”

“The gentleman really gave away his argument in the opening sentence, when he said: You know the drill on the MTR. Yes, we know the drill on MTRs, how they are being used to heap scorn on complicated arguments, the demagogue arguments that should be taken up in a separate space. But you know what else this is about? For those of us who came through the wards and precincts of American politics, there is a difference in politics between being cute and being clever. This is cute. This is not clever. So let me just bring to your attention the following: We have before us today the most important and substantive advance in retirement savings in the last 15 years in America. Understanding today that the average Social Security benefit in America--``average,'' meaning that half the American people who receive the benefit are below $16,000. We have a chance to augment retirement savings and open up more opportunities for people to save for a retirement that we all know comes pretty quickly. {time} 1115 This has been well met in a bipartisan manner. It was marked up in the committee. And one Member said at the Rules Committee the other night: There is one sentence here, Mr. Chairman, over which we disagree. Have we gotten to this point, in this institution, where now one sentence stops us from advancing good legislation? I certainly hope not.…”