[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2794 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2794

 To ensure the equitable provision of pension and medical benefits to 
               Department of Energy contractor employees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2006

   Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Reid, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. 
Harkin, Ms. Mikulski, and Ms. Cantwell) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To ensure the equitable provision of pension and medical benefits to 
               Department of Energy contractor employees.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Energy Contractor 
Employee Equitable Treatment Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) employment-based pension and medical benefits are 
        critical elements to the retirement security and state of 
        health of working Americans;
            (2) the Department of Energy, through the guidance of the 
        Department of Energy relating to contractor employee pension 
        and medical benefits policy (Notice DOE N 351.1 (April 27, 
        2006)) (referred to in this Act as ``Notice DOE N 351.1''), 
        indicated the intent of the Department to cease funding for 
        future defined benefit pension benefits and to reduce the 
        medical benefits for contractor employees;
            (3) those policies attack the retirement security and 
        medical benefits of energy workers and workers employed in the 
        defense of the United States, including in the manufacturing 
        and testing of nuclear weapons;
            (4) those policies also undermine the ability of employers 
        to provide appropriate and adequate retirement and medical 
        benefits;
            (5) defined benefit pension plans have a demonstrated 
        ability to provide secure retirement benefits that furnish 
        steady lifetime retiree income with protection for surviving 
        spouses;
            (6) market-based medical benefit plans encourage employers 
        to shift rising health care costs onto employees, particularly 
        less healthy employees, lowering employee compensation and 
        leading to poorer health outcomes without addressing the 
        underlying problem of skyrocketing health care costs; and
            (7) the Federal Government should foster employment 
        policies that provide adequate retirement, health, and other 
        employment benefits to the Federal and contractor workforce.

SEC. 3. GUIDANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RELATING TO CONTRACTOR 
              EMPLOYEE PENSION AND MEDICAL BENEFITS POLICY.

    (a) In General.--No funds made available before, on, or after the 
date of enactment of this Act shall be expended to implement, 
administer, or enforce the guidance of the Department of Energy 
relating to contractor employee pension and medical benefits policy 
(Notice DOE N 351.1 (April 27, 2006)) (and any successor guidance), or 
any of the practices described in the guidance.
    (b) Withdrawal.--Not later than 1 day after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall withdraw the guidance 
described in subsection (a).
    (c) Reinstatement of Eligibility for Benefits or Benefit 
Reimbursement.--If the Secretary has carried out Notice DOE N 351.1 
(and any successor guidance) before the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall reinstate eligibility for benefits or reinstate 
reimbursement for benefits, as appropriate, in effect as of January 1, 
2006, as if Notice DOE N. 351.1 (and any successor guidance) had not 
been promulgated or carried out.
                                 <all>