Rob Andrews: “there are some severe problems with America's pension system as we meet here tonight. There are employees of private…”

“there are some severe problems with America's pension system as we meet here tonight. There are employees of private companies and pensioners of private companies who are legitimately worried that they may not have a pension someday because of the failure of many American businesses and the extent to which the Private Pension Guarantee Benefit Corporation is thinly capitalized. There is a very real risk if we do not do something about that problem that many Americans may not have the pension check on which they depended. There are Americans who used to work for governments or school districts or who work for government or school districts today who are legitimately worried about their pensions because it has become the practice of some governments at the State and local level around America to borrow from that pension fund or not put enough in in order to meet short-term budgetary or political objectives. That is a real problem that deserves our attention. Tonight as we consider this legislation, however, neither of those problems receives any attention, and instead I rather think that we are looking at a bill that in good faith presents a solution in search of a problem by talking about economically targeted investments.”