[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 131 (Monday, September 27, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S7516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 649--SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF ``NATIONAL 
 SAVE FOR RETIREMENT WEEK'', INCLUDING RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE 
   VARIOUS TAX-PREFERRED RETIREMENT VEHICLES AND INCREASING PERSONAL 
                           FINANCIAL LITERACY

  Mr. CONRAD (for himself, Mr. Enzi, and Mr. Cardin) submitted the 
following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 649

       Whereas people in the United States are living longer, and 
     the cost of retirement is increasing significantly;
       Whereas Social Security remains the bedrock of retirement 
     income for the great majority of the people of the United 
     States but was never intended by Congress to be the sole 
     source of retirement income for families;
       Whereas recent data from the Employee Benefit Research 
     Institute indicates that, in the United States, less than \2/
     3\ of workers or their spouses are currently saving for 
     retirement and that the actual amount of retirement savings 
     of workers lags far behind the amount that will be needed to 
     adequately fund their retirement years;
       Whereas financial literacy is an important factor in United 
     States workers' understanding of the true need to save for 
     retirement;
       Whereas saving for one's retirement is a key component to 
     overall financial health and security during retirement 
     years, and the importance of financial literacy in planning 
     one's retirement must be advocated;
       Whereas many workers may not be aware of their options for 
     saving for retirement or may not have focused on the 
     importance of, and need for, saving for their own retirement;
       Whereas many employees have available to them, through 
     their employers, access to defined benefit and defined 
     contribution plans to assist them in preparing for 
     retirement, yet many of those employees may not be taking 
     advantage of those plans at all or to the full extent allowed 
     by those plans as prescribed by Federal law;
       Whereas the need to save for retirement is important, even 
     during economic downturns or market declines, making 
     continued contributions all the more important;
       Whereas all workers, including public- and private-sector 
     employees, employees of tax-exempt organizations, and self-
     employed individuals, can benefit from increased awareness of 
     the need to develop personal budgets and financial plans that 
     include retirement savings strategies and to take advantage 
     of the availability of tax-preferred savings vehicles to 
     assist them in saving for retirement; and
       Whereas October 17 through October 23, 2010, has been 
     designated as ``National Save for Retirement Week'': Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports the goals and ideals of ``National Save for 
     Retirement Week'', including raising public awareness of the 
     various tax-preferred retirement vehicles as important tools 
     for personal savings and retirement financial security;
       (2) supports the need to raise public awareness of the 
     availability of a variety of ways to save for retirement 
     which are favored under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 
     are utilized by many Americans, but which should be utilized 
     by more;
       (3) supports the need to raise public awareness of the 
     importance of saving adequately for retirement and the 
     continued existence of tax preferred employer-sponsored 
     retirement savings vehicles; and
       (4) calls on the States, localities, schools, universities, 
     nonprofit organizations, businesses, other entities, and the 
     people of the United States to observe National Save for 
     Retirement Week with appropriate programs and activities, 
     with the goal of increasing retirement savings for all the 
     people of the United States.

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