[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 16680-16681]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RESEARCH INSTITUTE

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I rise to congratulate the Employee 
Benefit Research Institute on its 35th anniversary this year.
  As chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions, I know how important it is for policymakers to have access to 
quality data on our health and retirement systems. And for 35 years, 
EBRI has been providing just that kind of information. For instance, 
EBRI is a major source of information on how health plan coverage has 
evolved over the years and how employers have responded to market 
changes. EBRI is also a unique resource on both 401(k) and IRA 
ownership, and during the Enron crisis of several years ago, EBRI was 
one of the only sources of data on what was happening with company 
stock in 401(k) plans. Because of their expertise and reliability, we 
in Congress frequently ask EBRI's experts to testify at our hearings, 
since we know we can trust what they have to say.
  Health and retirement coverage for American families is critically 
important to our Nation's future. We are fortunate to have such a 
respected and reliable source as EBRI to tell us what is happening with 
employee benefits, and I commend them on their anniversary.

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