Maurice Hinchey: “this amendment is necessary. It is necessary, particularly in light of some of the omissions in the pension bill that…”

“this amendment is necessary. It is necessary, particularly in light of some of the omissions in the pension bill that passed the House yesterday. Among those omissions was the failure to deal with the increasing propensity of many major corporations across America to move from defined benefit pension plans to cash balance pension plans, and thereby, as a result of that move, reducing pension benefits for the more senior employees in the organization. So this amendment is absolutely necessary. It draws attention to that omission, and, in fact, it draws attention of the IRS to the fact that its responsibilities with regard to pensions has to be observed, particularly, those responsibilities with regard to protecting older employees in their retirement. This amendment is necessary. It should be passed.”