[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1594 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 1594


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 14 (legislative day, September 5), 1995

 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To place restrictions on the promotion by the Department of Labor and 
 other Federal agencies and instrumentalities of economically targeted 
         investments in connection with employee benefit plans.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that it is inappropriate for the 
Department of Labor, as the principal enforcer of fiduciary standards 
in connection with employee pension benefit plans and employee welfare 
benefit plans (as defined in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3 of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(1), 
(2))), to take any action to promote or otherwise encourage 
economically targeted investments.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS ON DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REGARDING ECONOMICALLY 
              TARGETED INVESTMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Interpretive Bulletin 94-1, issued by the 
Secretary of Labor on June 23, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 32606; 29 C.F.R. 
2509.94-1), is null and void and shall have no force or effect. The 
provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 
U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) shall be interpreted and enforced without regard 
to such Interpretive Bulletin.
    (b) Restrictions on Department of Labor Regulations.--The Secretary 
of Labor may not issue any rule, regulation, or interpretive bulletin 
which promotes or otherwise encourages economically targeted 
investments as a specified class of investments.
    (c) Restrictions on Activities of the Department of Labor.--No 
officer or employee of the Department of Labor may travel, lecture, or 
otherwise expend resources available to such Department for the purpose 
of promoting, directly or indirectly, economically targeted 
investments.
    (d) Economically Targeted Investment Defined.--For purposes of this 
section, the term ``economically targeted investment'' has the meaning 
given such term in Interpretive Bulletin 94-1, as issued by the 
Secretary of Labor on June 23, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 32606; 29 C.F.R. 
2509.94-1).

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL AGENCIES AGAINST ESTABLISHING OR 
              MAINTAINING ANY CLEARINGHOUSE OR OTHER DATABASE RELATING 
              TO ECONOMICALLY TARGETED INVESTMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Part 5 of subtitle B of title I of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

 ``prohibition on federal agencies against establishing or maintaining 
 any clearinghouse or other database relating to economically targeted 
                              investments

    ``Sec. 516. (a) In General.--No agency or instrumentality of the 
Federal Government may establish or maintain, or contract with (or 
otherwise provide assistance to) any other party to establish or 
maintain, any clearinghouse, database, or other listing--
            ``(1) for the purpose of making available to employee 
        benefit plans information on economically targeted investments,
            ``(2) for the purpose of encouraging, or providing 
        assistance to, employee benefit plans or any other party 
        related to an employee benefit plan to undertake or evaluate 
        economically targeted investments, or
            ``(3) for the purpose of identifying economically targeted 
        investments with respect to which such agency or 
        instrumentality will withhold from undertaking enforcement 
        actions relating to employee benefit plans under any otherwise 
        applicable authority of such agency or instrumentality.
    ``(b) Economically Targeted Investment Defined.--For purposes of 
this section, the term `economically targeted investment' has the 
meaning given such term in Interpretive Bulletin 94-1, as issued by the 
Secretary on June 23, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 32606; 29 C.F.R. 2509.94-
1).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1 of such 
Act is amended by inserting at the end of the items relating to part 5 
of subtitle B of title I the following new item:

``Sec. 516. Prohibition on Federal agencies against establishing or 
                            maintaining any clearinghouse or other 
                            database relating to economically targeted 
                            investments.''.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS.

    The head of each agency and instrumentality of the Government of 
the United States shall immediately take such actions as are necessary 
and appropriate to terminate any contract or other arrangement entered 
into by such agency or instrumentality which is in violation of the 
requirements of the provisions of this Act or the amendments made 
thereby.

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY OF DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

    Nothing in this Act is intended to affect the ability of the 
Department of Labor to issue advisory opinions, information letters, 
technical releases, prohibited transactions, exemptions, or other 
pronouncements interpreting and applying ERISA's fiduciary 
responsibility rules to particular factual situations, or exempting 
specific transactions from the prohibited transaction provisions of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (pursuant to 29 U.S.C. 
1106, 1108).

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The preceding provisions of this Act (and the amendments made 
thereby) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
            Passed the House of Representatives September 12, 1995.

            Attest:

                                                ROBIN H. CARLE,

                                                                 Clerk.