[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11268-11269]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             PENSION REFORM

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, the retirement system in this country 
leaves a great deal to be desired. We have many people who do not have 
adequate income when they reach the age of retirement. We have some 
charts that make that case. These charts are based on the 1999 U.S. 
census current population survey. They make the case fairly strongly.
  This first chart is titled ``Private Workers Who Participate in an 
Employer Sponsored Plan,'' and breaks down the population by race and 
ethnicity. When we look at all workers as of 1999, there were 44 
percent of the private workers who participated in the employer-
sponsored plan, looking at the entire population. Among white, non-
Hispanic workers, there were 47 percent or nearly half of the 
population that had some sort of employer-sponsored plan. That means a 
little over half did not. This chart does not include the public-sector 
employees or the self-employed workers.

[[Page 11269]]

  For other minority groups the numbers are substantially less. For 
black, non-Hispanic, it is 41 percent; for Asian Pacific islanders and 
other non-Hispanic, 38 percent; for other minority non-Hispanic, 35 
percent; and among Hispanic workers, it is 27 percent. Therefore, 27 
percent, slightly more than one fourth of the private-sector Hispanic 
workers in the country, have an employer-sponsored plan.
  That is important in my State because we have a large Hispanic 
population. When you look around the country and ask, where is the 
problem the worst as far as inadequate retirement coverage, my State is 
No. 1 in the Nation for the number of private-sector workers that do 
not have coverage.
  The second chart demonstrates the percentage of private-sector 
workers who work at companies that provide after retirement or a 
pension plan. This chart talks of the companies employing these 
workers.
  Madam President, 58 percent of all employees work for employers that 
provide some kind of plan. But then the numbers decline. Among white 
non-Hispanic, it is higher, and 62 percent of those employees work for 
companies that provide some kind of retirement plan; among Hispanic 
workers, only 40 percent of Hispanic workers nationwide work for 
companies that provide some kind of retirement plan. So this is a 
significant concern and a significant part of the problem as well.
  The third chart illustrates the percentage of employees who 
participate in an employer-sponsored plan when the employer actually 
offers the plan. This is an assessment of how many people actually take 
advantage of this plan, in these different groups, once they have the 
opportunity. Among all workers, 75 percent nationwide will participate 
and have participated in an employer-sponsored plan if it is offered. 
Again, it is a little higher for white, non-Hispanic workers--up to 77 
percent. Among Hispanics, it is 68 percent.
  The interesting aspect about this is it is much less of a spread 
between the average, the ``all worker'' category, 75 percent, and the 
Hispanic, which is 68 percent, which makes the obvious case that 
Hispanic participation is not significantly different from that of the 
rest of the population when they are offered a plan.
  The final chart pulls all this data together, puts it all in one 
place so we can understand it.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has consumed 5 minutes.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. I appreciate the Chair's information.
  While it is not conclusive, it does indicate that if Hispanic workers 
do have jobs where the employers offer some type of plan, they tend to 
participate. Unfortunately, the data indicates that Hispanics tend to 
work for employers who do not offer retirement plans. What we need to 
do is get more employers to offer retirement plans, particularly small 
employers. That is what the legislation we are developing right now is 
intended to do. I will be proposing that later.
  I urge my colleagues to look at this issue seriously. I hope we can 
introduce a bill before the week is out.

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