[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 22967]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              EMPLOYER-OWNED LIFE INSURANCE LIMITATION ACT

  (Mr. GUTIERREZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Today I told my staff, I have good news and bad news. 
The bad news is that I had to cancel their health insurance policy. It 
was just too expensive. But here's the good news. I'm taking out a huge 
life insurance policy on all of my employees. So if you get sick and 
die, I told them, Don't worry. I've got you covered.
  Now, I didn't tell them that I made the insurance policies payable to 
me--Luis Gutierrez. I didn't tell them that I'll use the benefits for 
myself and I'm just going to line my pockets.
  Sound ridiculous? Sound wrong? Sound unfair? You're right. It is.
  So today I'm introducing the Employer-Owned Life Insurance Limitation 
Act. All across America, companies take out life insurance policies on 
their employees. They spend $8 billion a year on these premiums, but 
the benefits go to the employers--big companies like Winn-Dixie, Wal-
Mart, Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble, and even Disney--and the 
employees don't even know about it.
  In a Nation where millions of full-time workers have no health 
insurance, corporate America is finding a way to line their pockets 
with life insurance, profiting from their deaths. Maybe if we prevent 
companies from betting on the death of their employees, they will 
invest in the health of their employees.

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