Ben Cardin: “let me thank Mr. Miller for yielding this time. Mr. Speaker, we do need pension legislation. We need pension legislation…”

“let me thank Mr. Miller for yielding this time. Mr. Speaker, we do need pension legislation. We need pension legislation that will protect the worker, that will reform the PBGC, the guaranty fund, and will encourage companies to maintain and strengthen their pension plans. The Miller motion to instruct encourages us to be able to accomplish those goals. Mr. Miller has already talked about the provisions related to the airline industry that is very, very important. He mentioned the fact that we have to help younger workers and lower-wage workers by the refundability, by the savers credit, making permanent, and by dealing with split refunds of taxes. Let me deal with one provision that Mr. Miller covered very quickly, which I think is important, that is, encouraging companies to continue their defined benefit pension plans. If we put more and more burdens on companies that are well funded, that are in no danger of going into bankruptcy, these companies are going to freeze their plans, they are going to terminate their plans. Why would they stay around in the defined benefit world if we put more and more restrictions and more onerous funding rules that are unnecessary? The Miller motion is commonsense and asking us to be very careful on new requirements that we place on plans that are properly funded, plans that present no danger to the guaranteed fund.…”