Kendra S. Horn: “every Member of this House knows that although we have a Federal budget surplus now, we still face a very low national…”

“every Member of this House knows that although we have a Federal budget surplus now, we still face a very low national savings rate. That is because individuals simply do not or cannot save a significant portion of their income. That suggests to me that we must do more to encourage savings, particularly among younger Americans who need to begin building the savings that will help them have a secure retirement. The difficulties of many younger people were illustrated to me recently by a 38-year-old constituent. He outlined a personal and a generational dilemma. He mentioned, ``When I graduated from school and entered the workforce, I had too many student loans and too little income to put away $2,000 a year in an IRA. Now I make enough to contribute to an IRA, but I am not allowed to make up for the past 10 years of tax deductible contributions. Why not change the law to let me make up those lost contributions and maximize my IRA?'' Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question, and today I am introducing legislation and will try to give an answer to a good question. This legislation is called the Second Chance IRA Act of Year 2000, H.R. 3620, and I am pleased that 23 Representatives are joining with me as original cosponsors. Our bill simply says that if you were eligible to make an IRA contribution in the past and did not make one, you can make the contribution in the current year and take the tax deduction up to a maximum $2,000.”