II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2849

To create an independent office in the Department of Labor to advocate

on behalf of pension participants, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 11, 2000

Mr. HARKIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To create an independent office in the Department of Labor

to advocate on behalf of pension participants, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. OFFICE OF PENSION PARTICIPANT ADVOCACY.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Employee Retire5 ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 3001 et

6 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘Subtitle D—Office of Pension

8 Participant Advocacy

9 ‘‘SEC. 3051. OFFICE OF PENSION PARTICIPANT ADVOCACY.

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the

2 Department of Labor an office to be known as the

3 ‘Office of Pension Participant Advocacy’.

4 ‘‘(2) PENSION PARTICIPANT ADVOCATE.—The

5 Office of Pension Participant Advocacy shall be

6 under the supervision and direction of an official to

7 be known as the ‘Pension Participant Advocate’ who

8 shall—

9 ‘‘(A) have demonstrated experience in the

10 area of pension participant assistance, and

11 ‘‘(B) be selected by the Secretary after

12 consultation with pension participant advocacy

13 organizations.

14 The Pension Participant Advocate shall report di15 rectly to the Secretary and shall be entitled to com16 pensation at the same rate as the highest rate of

17 basic pay established for the Senior Executive Serv18 ice under section 5382 of title 5, United States

19 Code.

20 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS OF OFFICE.—It shall be the func21 tion of the Office of Pension Participant Advocacy to—

22 ‘‘(1) evaluate the efforts of the Federal Govern23 ment, business, and financial, professional, retiree,

24 labor, women’s, and other appropriate organizations
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1 in assisting and protecting pension plan participants,

2 including—

3 ‘‘(A) serving as a focal point for, and ac4 tively seeking out, the receipt of information

5 with respect to the policies and activities of the

6 Federal Government, business, and such organi7 zations which affect such participants,

8 ‘‘(B) identifying significant problems for

9 pension plan participants and the capabilities of

10 the Federal Government, business, and such or11 ganizations to address such problems, and

12 ‘‘(C) developing proposals for changes in

13 such policies and activities to correct such prob14 lems, and communicating such changes to the

15 appropriate officials,

16 ‘‘(2) promote the expansion of pension plan cov17 erage and the receipt of promised benefits by in18 creasing the awareness of the general public of the

19 value of pension plans and by protecting the rights

20 of pension plan participants, including—

21 ‘‘(A) enlisting the cooperation of the public

22 and private sectors in disseminating informa23 tion, and
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1 ‘‘(B) forming private-public partnerships

2 and other efforts to assist pension plan partici3 pants in receiving their benefits,

4 ‘‘(3) advocate for the full attainment of the

5 rights of pension plan participants, including by

6 making pension plan sponsors and fiduciaries aware

7 of their responsibilities,

8 ‘‘(4) give priority to the special needs of low

9 and moderate income participants, and

10 ‘‘(5) develop needed information with respect to

11 pension plans, including information on the types of

12 existing pension plans, levels of employer and em13 ployee contributions, vesting status, accumulated

14 benefits, benefits received, and forms of benefits.

15 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.—

16 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than Decem17 ber 31 of each calendar year, the Pension Partici18 pant Advocate shall report to the Committees on

19 Education and the Workforce and Ways and Means

20 of the House of Representatives and the Committees

21 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Fi22 nance of the Senate on its activities during the fiscal

23 year ending in the calendar year. Such report

24 shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) identify significant problems the Ad2 vocate has identified,

3 ‘‘(B) include specific legislative and regu4 latory changes to address the problems, and

5 ‘‘(C) identify any actions taken to correct

6 problems identified in any previous report.

7 The Advocate shall submit a copy of such report to

8 the Secretary and any other appropriate official at

9 the same time it is submitted to the committees of

10 Congress.

11 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC REPORTS.—The Pension Partici12 pant Advocate shall report to the Secretary or any

13 other appropriate official any time the Advocate

14 identifies a problem which may be corrected by the

15 Secretary or such official.

16 ‘‘(3) REPORTS TO BE SUBMITTED DIRECTLY.—

17 The report required under paragraph (1) shall be

18 provided directly to the committees of Congress

19 without any prior review or comment than the Sec20 retary or any other Federal officer or employee.

21 ‘‘(d) SPECIFIC POWERS.—

22 ‘‘(1) RECEIPT OF INFORMATION.—Subject to

23 such confidentiality requirements as may be appro24 priate, the Secretary and other Federal officials

25 shall, upon request, provide such information (in-
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1 cluding plan documents) as may be necessary to en2 able the Pension Participant Advocate to carry out

3 the Advocate’s responsibilities under this section.

4 ‘‘(2) APPEARANCES.—The Pension Participant

5 Advocate may represent the views and interests of

6 pension plan participants before any Federal agency,

7 including, upon request of a participant, in any pro8 ceeding involving the participant.

9 ‘‘(3) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.—In carrying

10 out responsibilities under subsection (b)(5), the Pen11 sion Participant Advocate may, in addition to any

12 other authority provided by law—

13 ‘‘(A) contract with any person to acquire

14 statistical information with respect to pension

15 plan participants, and

16 ‘‘(B) conduct direct surveys of pension

17 plan participants.’’

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con19 tents for title III of such Act is amended by adding at

20 the end the following:

‘‘Subtitle C—Office of Pension Participant Advocacy

‘‘3051. Office of Pension Participant Advocacy.’’.

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

22 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2001.

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