Tina Smith: “I appreciate my colleagues' remarks today. You know, the issue that we are debating is whether or not retirement plans…”

“I appreciate my colleagues' remarks today. You know, the issue that we are debating is whether or not retirement plans should be allowed to consider a company's environmental, social, and governance goals when they make investments. That is ESG, and it is pretty simple. My colleagues and I say that people who make investments for retirement accounts and pensions plans may--they don't have to; they may--consider ESG in their decisions about what stocks to buy so long, of course, as they adhere to their principal fiduciary responsibility, which is to put the financial best interests of their clients first. Now, on the other hand, our Republican colleagues are saying: No, retirement plans can't consider ESG goals. They are somehow claiming that this rule will undermine free and fair markets--undermine the free market and promote ``woke'' capitalism. And, if you can tell me what that means, then I will look forward to your explanation. So let's figure out what this is really about. People invest their life savings for a safe, secure retirement, and a lot of people want those investments in companies that reflect their values, companies that protect the safety of their workers, that have excellent ethics rules in place, guarding against conflicts of interest; companies that are committed to protecting the environment and managing the risks of climate change.…”