[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8765]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 THE GENERATING RETIREMENT OWNERSHIP THROUGH LONG-TERM HOLDING ACT OF 
                                  2005

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. PAUL RYAN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 2005

  Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I, along with Congressman William 
Jefferson, introduced today the Generating Retirement Ownership Through 
Long-Term Holding (``GROWTH'') Act of 2005. We introduced this 
important legislation in an effort to address one of the issues making 
it difficult for today's working investors to save for retirement. Most 
of our Nation's mutual fund shareholders report that retirement is the 
primary purpose for which they are saving. Almost 50 percent of U.S. 
households now own mutual funds, and 72 percent of fund investors say 
that their primary goal is to save for retirement.
  Mutual fund investors are overwhelmingly middle-income Americans 
investing for the long term. For many of these investors, mutual funds 
are the low-cost, professionally managed, diversified way in which they 
are saving on their own for retirement. Currently, investors who buy 
shares in a mutual fund and hold for the long term nevertheless find 
themselves taxed as they go--even though no fund shares were sold and 
no income was received. This legislation, which I'm proud to introduce 
along with my distinguished colleague, Congressman Jefferson of 
Louisiana, allows mutual fund shareholders to keep more of their own 
money to work for them longer by deferring--not avoiding--capital gains 
taxes until they actually sell their investment. The ``GROWTH'' Act 
makes it easier for these individuals to meet their goals and enjoy a 
secure retirement.
  Those investors who opt in advance to leave capital gains generated 
by the fund manager reinvested in the fund are doing what so many 
policymakers want to see--they are holding for the long term, 
contributing to national savings, and building up their own retirement 
nest egg. Tax treatment that annually shrinks the amount saved--rather 
than taxing the sale of fund shares when the investor taps the 
savings--only frustrates the behavior that so many other provisions in 
the tax code try to encourage.
  The GROWTH Act will encourage Americans to save more and to save for 
the long term to better prepare for a secure retirement. I urge my 
colleagues to join us in this effort and cosponsor this legislation.

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