[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4793]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-156. A resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives of the State of Michigan memorializing the 
     United States Congress to enact the Retail Investor Act and 
     also to enact legislation that prohibits the United States 
     Department of Labor from amending fiduciary duty regulations 
     to define retirement savings brokers and agents as 
     fiduciaries, including those previously not deemed 
     fiduciaries; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
     and Pensions.

                        House Resolution No. 223

       Whereas, With over 10,000 people retiring every day, each 
     year for the next 17 years, it is imperative that future 
     retirees plan, save, and have choices about who they consult 
     for retirement guidance. Financial professionals provide 
     guidance to consumers about their investments, including 
     investments in IRAs, 401(k) accounts, and other assets 
     invested to produce retirement income; and
       Whereas, Financial professionals are generally compensated 
     through one of two business models. A majority of 
     transactions fall into the broker-dealer model, in which 
     compensation is paid by the product provider to the broker-
     dealer and registered representatives, and not by the 
     consumer. In other transactions, the buyer is more 
     financially sophisticated and has significant assets and may 
     prefer to engage an advisor under a fee-based arrangement, 
     paying the advisor directly; and
       Whereas, For many, especially those with small- to medium-
     size accounts, consulting with a trusted professional using 
     the broker-dealer model is more cost efficient, more 
     accessible, and preferable to a fee-based arrangement; and
       Whereas, The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed 
     regulations that would define certain professionals operating 
     under the broker-dealer model to be fiduciaries. And if 
     receiving third-party compensation is a violation of the 
     fiduciary standard, the effect will be to force retirement 
     account savers to use a fee-based model or not receive 
     advice; and
       Whereas, The Retail Investor Protection Act (H.R. 1090) 
     would prohibit the U.S. Department of Labor from prescribing 
     any regulation pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income 
     Security Act of 1974 that defines the circumstances under 
     which an individual is considered a fiduciary until 60 days 
     after the Securities and Exchange Commission issues a final 
     rule governing standards of conduct for brokers and dealers 
     under specified law. Similar legislation passed the U.S. 
     House on a bipartisan vote in the previous Congress; Now; 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, By the House of Representatives, That we oppose 
     efforts by the United States Department of Labor to place 
     onerous regulatory rules on the broker-dealer community that 
     will adversely affect low- and middle-income investors' 
     ability to have access to affordable, reliable, retirement 
     advice; and be it further
       Resolved, That we memorialize the Congress of the United 
     States to enact the Retail Investor Protection Act and also 
     to enact legislation that prohibits the United States 
     Department of Labor from amending fiduciary duty regulations 
     to define retirement savings brokers and agents as 
     fiduciaries, including those previously not deemed 
     fiduciaries; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     United States House of Representatives, the members of the 
     Michigan congressional delegation, and the United States 
     Secretary of Labor.

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