[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15628]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        HONORING JOSEPH M. GATT

 Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a 
distinguished citizen of Nevada, Joseph M. Gatt. Mr. Gatt's vision and 
innovation paved the way for millions of Americans to be able to secure 
a comfortable retirement. Nearly twenty-five years ago, he was 
instrumental in developing the prototype that was used for what 
ultimately became the 401(k) pension program.
  Mr. Gatt has been a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada for almost forty 
years and was a pioneer in the field of financial planning. He worked 
as the Las Vegas agent for the Hartford Insurance Company when he 
initiated the new pension program for the benefits of the employees of 
the then MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. The key to the program was the 
utilization of an existing IRA program on a joint funding basis; that 
is, with contributions from both the employer and the employees, which 
had never been done before. The incentive to the employee to contribute 
to the program was, of course, that the contribution was tax 
deductible. The Hartford program was so unique that it was necessary 
for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to approve it. On August 25, 
1976, the IRS gave final approval for the Hartford program, and it went 
into effect immediately. Features of this pension plan included 
portability, 100 percent vesting whether or not the employees remained 
at MGM Grand, and generous company contibutions. Indeed, Mr. Gatt and 
the MGM Grand were ahead of their time.
  The Las Vegas resorts of Caesar's Place and Circus Circus Hotels soon 
followed suit. Today, 401(k) plans are an almost standard part of 
benefit packages for employees. According to Cerrulli & Associaties, a 
marketing and research firm, there were 330,000 401(k) plans in the 
United States during the last quarter of 1999 in which $2.7 trillion 
were invested. The creation of this now universally accepted and 
acclaimed program is a considerable credit to the State of Nevada, the 
gaming industry for being the first employer participants, and Joe Gatt 
for his insight and vision. On behalf of the citizens of Nevada and all 
Americans, I congratulate Mr. Gatt on this achievement and wish him 
continued success.

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