Connie Morella: “I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1102, and I rise in strong support of it, because it addresses the retirement savings gap by…”

“I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1102, and I rise in strong support of it, because it addresses the retirement savings gap by expanding small business retirement plans, allowing workers to save more, addressing the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce through portability and other changes, making pensions more secure, cutting the red tape that has hamstrung employers who want to establish pension plans for their employees. Mr. Speaker, we all know that incentives are necessary to increase retirement savings for all Americans. Our savings rate is much too low to ensure the retirement security of American families. Statistics indicate that a typical household would need to triple its rate of asset accumulation in order to finance its retirement. Simply put, the current savings rate is not sufficient to fund retirement expenditures. Even more alarming is that the U.S. personal savings rates dropped 6.3 percent of GDP in 1960 through 1980, to 4.1 percent in 1991 through the first quarter of this year, 2000. We need to take action now. H.R. 1102 provides incentives for reversing this alarming trend.”