Rob Andrews: “the tragedy that affected the Enron pensioners is a story about power and conflict of interest. People with a lot of…”

“the tragedy that affected the Enron pensioners is a story about power and conflict of interest. People with a lot of power and influence and a conflict of interest took advantage of people with very little power and influence, and those people lost just about everything they had. I wish that the legislation that my friend from Cincinnati described was on the floor today, but it is not. The legislation the majority is addressing on the floor today I think fails to solve the problems that exist in American pensions plans in three very important ways. First of all, our substitute would give employees real power to have a say in how pension plans, filled with their money, are managed. Our bill would call for these employees to have a seat, to have a say in how the plans are managed. The majority plan does not. Our bill would say that once money is in your account, it is your money. If the employer can put stock into your 401(k) plan and receive a deduction because it is treated as compensation paid to you, then it should be compensation. It should be yours to do with, whatever you please.”