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The Honorable Hilda L. Solis RBErE = yi

Secretary Bx] 2 SS ©
U.S. Department of Labor as 2

200 Constitution Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20210

Dear Secretary Solis,

We write in regard to the draft rule proposed on October 22, 2010 by the Employee Benefits Security
Administration (EBSA) on the Definition of the Term “Fiduciary” with respect to the provision of
investment advice. While we support the re-examination of circumstances that would trigger fiduciary
status as a result of abuses and recognize the significant changes in the retirement plan and financial
industry over the past 36 years, we have concerns with the potential unintended consequences for

employees, investors, service providers, and Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) participant companies
we represent.

We strongly support protecting individuals from misleading investment advice or stock valuations and
commend DOL for extending the comment period on this rule and holding a public hearing. We
respectfully urge DOL to address stakeholders’ concerns and ensure employees’ and investors’ best
interests are protected and ethically acting employers and service providers are not unintentionally
harmed. We are under the impression DOL is willing to work to address such concerns and commend
your willingness to work with stakeholders and Members of Congress to that effect.

Specifically, we applaud the attempt to provide certainty to employees, investors, employers, and the
financial services industry by updating the tests for investment advice as they relate to fiduciary status.
We also believe that the more investment education and information available, the more likely and
easier it is for employees and investors to make informed decisions. Therefore we have concerns the
proposed rule could be understood to limit the opportunities for employers and service providers to

provide investment education and information, possibly even eliminating customer call-in services and
online or personal educational tools for example.

We are also concemed with the DOL’s seeming lack of clarity regarding the effects of the proposed rule
and would point to statements in the rule to highlight concerns about significantly increased costs, a lack
of understanding of the number of companies that would be affected, and a potential limitation of

product availability in the market. We urge DOL to coordinate with the other agencies to more fully
understand the marketplace and the rules potential effects.

Further, we ask DOL to explore the possibility of issuing a revised draft rule through an expedited
process so long as it would not unnecessarily delay the process of rule-finalization in order to
incorporate stakeholder comments, provide specific examples of circumstances giving rise to fiduciary
status, and provide clarity and certainty to stakeholders on this potentially major change to their
business, how employees and investors access and receive information, and ESOP valuations. We also

hope DOL will assure stakeholders that legitimate comments will be addressed to ensure employees and
investors are protected and the rule will be administrable and reasonable.

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We know that you share our desire to protect employees and investors from misleading and abusive
investment advice, or stock valuations in the case of ESOPs, and hope that the employers and service
providers who share this view are not unintentionally hurt by the proposed rule. Thank you for your time
and consideration of this matter and we look forward to working with you to ensure employees and
investors interests are protected.

Sincerely,
Pescfeslod Leonard °
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ave Loebsack Leonard Boswell
Member of Congress Member of Congress

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Bruce Braley
Member of Congress