Judd Gregg: “I rise to express opposition to a provision in the bill that syphons off critically needed enforcement funds in order to…”

“I rise to express opposition to a provision in the bill that syphons off critically needed enforcement funds in order to create an unnecessary bureaucracy. The bill instructs the Secretary of Labor to create an Office of Pension Participant Advocacy. Committee language indicates that this office is to serve as a career ombudsman in the Department to advise Congress and the administration on necessary changes in policies to address problems affecting pension participants. It would also be charged with coordinating public and private efforts to assist participants and provide meaningful information. At this time of heightened concern for pension plan stability, it makes no sense to curtail the enforcement budget of the Pension & Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA). President Bush had requested an additional $3 million for enforcement and compliance activities. This bill takes that $3 million and puts it instead in the separate Management account to create a new, unnecessary office. With every new corporate scandal, pension plan stability is put in doubt, and the PWBA is called into action. There is every reason to believe that Fiscal Year 2003 will be one of the agency's busiest ever. Yet the money needed for enforcement has been diverted to create a new bureaucracy that duplicates current functions. Since the collapse of Enron, more Americans than ever have learned of the important and effective work of the PWBA.”