[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 10, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Harkin, and Mr. 
        Akaka):
  S. 991. A bill to amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 to limit the availability of benefits under an 
employer's nonqualified deferred compensation plans in the event that 
any of the employer's defined benefit pension plans are subjected to a 
distress or PBGC termination in connection with bankruptcy 
reorganization or a conversion to a cash balance plan, to provide 
appropriate funding restrictions in connection with the maintenance of 
nonqualified deferred compensation plans, and to provide for 
appropriate disclosure with respect to nonqualified deferred 
compensation plans; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the Pension Fairness and Full Disclosure 
Act we are introducing today is urgently needed to end the nightmare 
that the current pension system is becoming for millions of families 
across the Nation.
  Thousands of flight attendants and machinists from United Airlines 
have suffered heavily in pay and job security in recent years, and now 
they're losing their pensions, too. Yet corporate CEO's are still 
receiving bonuses worth millions of dollars a year.
  This nightmare is happening to workers all across America. Companies 
are cutting employees' pensions by switching to cash balance plans, or 
even going into bankruptcy. But executive retirement is still going 
through the roof. A recent report found over 20 percent of America's 
top 500 largest companies have promised pensions worth more than $1 
million a year for their CEOs.
  President Bush has said that what is good for the top floor is good 
for the shop floor. It's wrong for it to be business as usual on the 
top floor when so much pain is spreading on the shop floor.
  Polaroid in Massachusetts filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and terminated 
its pension plan in 2002. Its pension plan was underfunded by over $300 
million dollars. Thousands of retirees had their benefits cut when the 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation took over. Yet the principal 
executives of the company received millions of dollars in bonuses. Last 
week, the company was sold again, and the chairman and CEO received 
golden parachutes of nearly $10 million each.
  The bill we are introducing will end that injustice. It prohibits 
companies from lining executives' pockets and ignoring commitments to 
rank-and-file workers. It will require companies to inform employees 
about executive compensation.
  These changes are long overdue. It's an issue of basic fairness, and 
only Congress can solve this.
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