[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 23, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E154-E155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    EFFORTS TO MODERNIZE AND STRENGTHEN MULTIEMPLOYER PENSION PLANS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. RICHARD E. NEAL

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 23, 2021

  Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, too many workers in this nation reach 
retirement age without the savings they need. The retirement crisis in 
America is real and will only worsen unless we make saving easier and 
do more to encourage workers to begin planning for retirement earlier. 
And that's why I've committed as the

[[Page E155]]

Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee to addressing this crisis.
  For example, about 50 percent of American workers work for an 
employer that does not offer a retirement plan at work. To make a 
significant dent in this coverage gap, it's critical that we enact 
legislation that requires employers that don't currently offer a 
retirement plan to at a minimum provide their employees with an auto 
IRA option.
  I'm also pleased that the American Rescue Plan Act includes the Butch 
Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021, which would create a 
special financial assistance program under which cash payments would be 
made by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to financially 
troubled multiemployer pension plans to ensure that such plans can 
continue paying retirees' benefits for the next 30 years.
  What we have here is a national emergency that we need to address 
immediately. If Congress doesn't act, the multiemployer pension system 
could collapse entirely, leaving retirees in poverty, businesses in 
bankruptcy, and communities in crisis.
  Reform for both the multiemployer and single employer retirement plan 
system is a priority for the Ways and Means committee and we plan on 
addressing these issues this year.
  I commit to working with Ms. Davids on this as we move forward.

                          ____________________