James Traficant: “I am not standing on the floor today saying the Republicans want to ship pension plan investment overseas, nor am I…”

“I am not standing on the floor today saying the Republicans want to ship pension plan investment overseas, nor am I standing on the floor today saying that the Republicans want to send jobs overseas. These previous amendments talked about specific activities, such as nothing in the bill shall be construed as prohibiting pension plans from investment in infrastructure improvements. The Traficant amendment does not in fact deal with a provision of the bill that would prohibit pension plan investment in housing. But I would like to have the attention of the other side of the aisle. My amendment deals with an advisory opinion on housing being given to someone who may invest or want to invest in the housing in the United States of America. Let me say this: We need 4 million rental units minimum just to meet demand. I am not talking simply about low income housing here. I am talking about affordable housing, first-time home buyers. And the Traficant amendment says nothing in this act shall be construed as prohibiting the Department of Labor from issuing advisory opinions. It does not say that investors have to invest in American housing or not. But it says nothing in the bill shall be construed as prohibiting the Department of Labor from interacting with a reasonable concern from some pension account who may want to invest in American housing. Now, look, that is a significant difference here.…”