[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 47 (Monday, November 24, 1997)]
[Pages 1873-1874]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Savings Are Vital to Everyone's Retirement Act 
of 1997

November 20, 1997

    I am pleased to have signed into law H.R. 1377, the ``Savings Are 
Vital to Everyone's Retirement Act of 1997,'' (SAVER Act). This Act will 
address the important issue of retirement savings through a public-
private sector partnership. It is an important step, taken in a 
bipartisan manner, to increase awareness of the need for pension and 
individual savings so American workers may enjoy a secure and 
comfortable retirement. I want to thank all the members of both parties 
who worked with us to produce strong bipartisan legislation.
    Under the SAVER Act, I will convene the first national summit on 
retirement income savings in 1998 to foster increased awareness of the 
importance of saving for retirement. Currently, only two-thirds of 
workers with the opportunity to participate in a 401(k) plan do so. 
Although this represents an increase from less than 40 percent in 1983, 
two-thirds is simply not good enough. We have to do better, particularly 
because more and more Americans are relying on these

[[Page 1874]]

types of plans for retirement savings. Subsequent summits on savings 
will take place in 2001 and 2005.
    My Administration will work to make sure that the summits help 
educate employers about the types of plans that are available, including 
traditional defined benefit pension plans, as well as a relatively new 
defined contribution plan that is especially designed for small 
businesses. The summits will also identify problems workers have setting 
aside money for retirement, and that employers have in assisting their 
workers to do so. Recommendations will be produced by the summits as to 
what the private and public sectors can do to promote pension and 
individual savings. I am particularly concerned about the savings of 
women, minority, and low- and moderate-income workers, for whom putting 
away money for retirement is often particularly difficult.
    The SAVER Act calls for the public and private sectors to work 
together in planning and conducting the national summits on retirement 
income savings, which I will co-host with the congressional leadership 
of both parties. The Act also affirms the ongoing efforts of my 
Administration to promote retirement savings through public outreach by 
directing the Secretary of Labor to maintain and expand the Department's 
program of retirement savings education.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
November 20, 1997.

Note: H.R. 1377, approved November 19, was assigned Public Law No. 105-
92.