[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 22, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTRODUCTION OF WOMEN'S PENSION EQUITY ACT

                                 ______


                          HON. ELIZABETH FURSE

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 22, 1996

  Ms. FURSE. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing legislation today entitled 
the Women's Pension Equity Act. Sixty percent of seniors are women, but 
make up 75 percent of the elderly poor. Women are far more likely than 
men to live out their elderly life in poverty, making their older years 
anything but golden. According to the Department of Labor, only 37 
percent of the women in Oregon and the west coast participate in a 
pension plan--one one the worst rates in the Nation. We need to take 
steps to ensure our senior women have the economic security they 
deserve.
  It is clear that elderly women in America need our help. Women live 
longer than men, and there are 5 times as many widows as widowers over 
the age 40. In the last 20 years, the number of women over the age of 
45 who are divorced has risen dramatically. Twenty percent of older 
women have no other source of income than Social Security. I would like 
to point out to my colleagues a striking fact: elderly women are twice 
as likely as men to be poor.
  The need for these pension reforms is clear. Twenty-four million 
working women, nearly two out of three working women, do not have 
pensions plans. According to AARP, only 23 percent of divorced women 
over age 62 had pension plan coverage of any sort. Nearly 50 percent of 
married private pension recipients have a plan which will not continue 
to pay benefits in the event of their spouse's death. These cracks in 
our safety net have wreaked economic havoc upon our Nation's elderly 
women, often forcing them into poverty.
  The legislation I am introducing to the House today will correct 
these inequities and ensure economic security for elderly women. My 
legislation is modeled on a bill introduced by Senator Carol Mosely-
Braun, and will reform pension law in America to help protect senior 
women. First, it will make much-needed improvements in private pension 
law to help protect women in divorce proceedings and simplify spousal 
consent rules for survivor annuities. It will make important changes to 
improve pension coverage for widows or divorced widows under the 
Federal Civil Service Retirement System as well as the Military 
Retirement System. Last, this legislation would improve coverage for 
divorced women under the Railroad Retirement Board.
  Mr. Speaker, we must reverse the status quo which dictates that if 
you are old and a woman, you are poor. This legislation is about 
reforming the pension system to protect the economic security of our 
elderly women. Women who have worked hard their entire life serving 
their families, careers, and communities deserve no less.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation and work for its 
swift passage in the House.

                          ____________________