[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 21417]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



KEEP AND MAINTAIN ERISA, THE EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY ACT OF 
                                  1974

  (Mr. KNOLLENBERG asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleagues of 
the many benefits of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974, better known as ERISA. After all, voluntary ERISA-based employer 
self-insured plans cover nearly 80 percent of the workers in this 
country.
  ERISA retains the State's authority over the business of insurance. 
It also ensures that plans would be subject to the same benefit laws 
across the States. ERISA provides flexibility by allowing employers and 
employees to agree to choose a benefit package which best suits their 
needs. This approach keeps costs down because it allows them to do so 
without the government regulation that drives the costs up.
  Make no mistake about it, the chief beneficiaries of preempting ERISA 
would be the trial lawyers. Consumers and employers will be left to 
pick up the bill for increased and often frivolous litigation.
  Mr. Speaker, this Congress must ensure the patient's right to care, 
not the lawyer's right to bill.

                          ____________________