[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 3, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H7808-H7809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AMENDING THE SECURITIES LAWS TO PERMIT CHURCH PENSION PLANS TO BE
INVESTED IN COLLECTIVE TRUSTS
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1533) to amend the securities laws to permit church pension
plans to be invested in collective trusts, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 1533
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS FOR CHURCH PLAN
PARTICIPATION IN COLLECTIVE FUNDS.
(a) Amendment to the Investment Company Act of 1940.--
Section 3(c)(11) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15
U.S.C. 80a-3(c)(11)) is amended by striking ``such trusts or
government plans, or both'' and inserting ``one or more of
such trusts, government plans, or church plans, companies or
accounts that are excluded from the definition of an
investment company under paragraph (14) of this subsection''.
(b) Amendments to the Securities Act of 1933.--Section
3(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77c(a)(2))
is amended--
(1) by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (B); and
(2) by inserting before ``other than any plan described in
clause (A)'' the following: ``or (D) a church plan, company,
or account that is excluded from the definition of an
investment company under section 3(c)(14) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940,''.
(c) Amendments to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.--
(1) Section 3(a)(12)(C) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(12)(C)) is amended--
(A) by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (ii); and
(B) by inserting before ``other than any plan described in
clause (i)'' the following: ``or (iv) a church plan, company,
or account that is excluded from the definition of an
investment company under section 3(c)(14) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940,''.
(2) Section 12(g)(2)(H) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l(g)(2)(H)) is amended--
(A) by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (i); and
(B) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``, or (iii) a church plan, company, or account
that is excluded from the definition of an investment company
under section 3(c)(14) of the Investment Company Act of
1940''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
Frank) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).
General Leave
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 1533.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
Frank), the ranking member of the Committee on Financial Services for
managing the bill and his support. I would also like to thank my
colleague, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ford), for his support and
cosponsorship of this bill. I understand he would have been here but
his plane has been diverted.
H.R. 1533, the Church Pension Fairness Act, will give the clergy and
laypeople who work for churches the same investment opportunities that
other workers have in America. Right now our securities laws prohibit
church pension plans from participating in what we call collective
trusts. As a result, church pension plans cannot pool their assets and
reap the benefits of collective buying power. H.R. 1533 will correct
this inequity.
One thing most working Americans understand is the importance of
saving money to ensure financial security after they retire. Just as
important, they understand that investing in an employer-sponsored
pension plan is a great way to help achieve this goal.
America's clergy are no less interested in their retirement. In fact,
for thousands of dedicated men and women of our clergy, pension plans
are just as important, if not more so, as they are to members of the
laity. Yet for far too long, Congress has failed to update church
pension laws, making it more difficult for clergy and other church
employees to maximize their retirement savings.
One arcane yet important provision of our security law allows
corporate and other secular pension plans to band together into what
are called collective trusts. These trusts allow pension plans to pool
their assets for investment purposes in various stock and nonstock
options.
They represent a way for pension plans to diversify their investments
and to share the risks and transaction costs with other pension plans.
Collective trusts are not the problem. The problem is that current law
prohibits thousands of church pension plans across the country from
participating in collective trusts. As a result, church pension plans
cannot pool their assets and reap the benefits of collective buying
power. H.R. 1533 will change this.
Mr. Speaker, I should add that collective trusts will continue to
have sole management and control over the assets that are invested as
required by the SEC. Nothing in this legislation is intended to alter
the traditional SEC interpretation that the financial institution is
responsible for exercising hands-on control over the collective trust.
H.R. 1533 allows church plan assets to be included in collective trust
funds that also include assets of private employee and governmental
plans. But this measure does not in any way affect Tax Code provisions
governing the treatment of pension plans, including the requirement
that a church plan must be maintained by a church or eligible church-
affiliated organization.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill. Our clergy
deserve no less than the millions of other working men and women of
America.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as
I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs.
Biggert) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ford) who, as the
gentlewoman mentioned, is literally held up. His plane is probably
trying to land, and he deserves a great deal of credit for this
initiative.
This a perfectly common sense piece of legislation. It corrects what
must have been an oversight in the legislation. There was never any
reason to restrict churches. We are taking an action that expresses our
confidence in the management of these institutions. It allows them to
make rational choices about how best to maximize their funds.
I think this is particularly important because as we know, the
clergy, that is one of the professions in this country that is, in my
judgment, that is undercompensated. People who choose to go into the
clergy are generally selfless people who care a great deal about
others, as well as about their theology. They work very hard. They work
on days that the rest of us, by definition, think of as days of rest,
and they are not sufficiently compensated. We often hear of people who
gave their lives not just to the clergy but to support roles, to the
secretaries, to the support people, to the youth workers, and the
notion that in their retirement years they would not be fully protected
and given the maximum amount is a very troubling one.
This small step today is a very important one because it does as much
as we can do within this context to take some steps towards enhancing
the retirement security of some very decent hardworking people who, as
I said, were somewhat undercompensated. I appreciate the initiative. I
was pleased that our committee unanimously reported this out.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
[[Page H7809]]
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Committee on Financial Services, the
gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Oxley) and the ranking member, the
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for their support for this
legislation which was reported out of committee unanimously, and I
thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ford) for his strong support as
well as the chairman of the Subcommittee for Capital Markets, Insurance
and Government Sponsored Enterprises, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr.
Baker), and the ranking member, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Kanjorski).
There is no sound reason in our securities laws to exclude the church
plan participation and specifically tailored pension plan investments;
and I think the gentleman from Massachusetts is right, this has been an
oversight as we have changed the securities laws in the past that the
church pension plans were not included. So the Church Pension Plan
Fairness Act is a reasonable, measured, and fair response to many of
the concerns raised by the clergy and other church employees around the
country. Having no further requests for time, I urge my colleagues to
support the legislation.
Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to offer my strong support for
H.R. 1533, a bill to equalize the treatment of church and governmental
pension plans. I want to commend a great member of the Financial
Services Committee, Mrs. Biggert, for drafting excellent, bipartisan
legislation and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Baker), Chairman of
the Capital Markets subcommittee, for his leadership in bringing this
measure to the Floor today.
The purpose of this bill is straightforward: it provides parallel
securities law treatment of church plan assets with those of
governmental plans.
Under current law, there is a basic inequity with respect to church
plans. This disparate treatment has real consequences. The inability of
church plans to participate with other pension plans in collective
trusts unnecessarily increases the costs for these investments and
makes it more difficult for church plans to diversify their
investments.
Mr. Speaker, there is no rational basis for treating church plans
differently. Mrs. Biggert's legislation imposes fairness by eliminating
this unnecessary burden on church pension plans. I urge all of my
colleagues to support the bill.
Mr. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1533, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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