II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1144 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for a corporate responsibility 

investment option under the Thrift Savings Plan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for a 

corporate responsibility investment option under the 

Thrift Savings Plan. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employees 

5 Sustainable Investment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Department of Labor has asserted that 

9 socially responsible investments meet the fiduciary 


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1 standards set in the Employee Retirement Income 

2 Security Act. 

3 (2) Eighty-four percent of mutual fund inves4 tors would be more likely to invest in a fund if one 

5 of its principles was to invest in companies that en6 gage in ethical business practices in terms of oper7 ations and reporting. 

8 (3) Seventy-one percent of investors agree that 

9 companies that operate with higher levels of integ10 rity carry less investment risk, and 67 percent of in11 vestors believe that these companies deliver better 

12 investment returns. 

13 (4) The United States National Research Coun14 cil has established that human activity is largely re15 sponsible for recent climate change and threatens 

16 significant harm to our Nation’s public health and 

17 welfare, security, agriculture and forestry, natural 

18 resources, infrastructure, and economy. 

19 (5) In 2012, $3,740,000,000,000 was invested 

20 in socially responsible funds in the United States. 

21 SEC. 3. CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY STOCK INDEX FUND. 

22 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 8438(a) of title 5, United 

23 States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

25 (10) as paragraphs (3) through (11), respectively; 


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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Corporate Responsibility Stock 

4 Index Fund’ means the fund established under sub5 section (b)(1)(G).’’; and 

6 (3) in paragraph (10), as redesignated by para7 graph (1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘paragraph 

8 (8)(D)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘para9 graph (9)(D)’’. 

10 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8438(b)(1) of title 

12 5, United States Code, is amended— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (F), by striking the 

16 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(G) a Corporate Responsibility Stock Index 

19 Fund as provided under paragraph (6).’’. 

20 (2) FUND REQUIREMENTS.—Section 8438(b) of 

21 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

22 at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(6)(A)(i) The Board shall select a minimum of one 

24 index which is a commonly recognized, passively managed 

25 index comprised of stocks (from the United States or 


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1 international equity markets) that have been analyzed and 

2 selected based on criteria consistent with the purposes of 

3 this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(ii) The criteria under clause (i) shall at a minimum 

5 include— 

6 ‘‘(I) corporate governance; 

7 ‘‘(II) environmental practices (including green8 house gas emissions and contribution to climate 

9 change); 

10 ‘‘(III) workplace relations and benefits; 

11 ‘‘(IV) product safety and impact; 

12 ‘‘(V) international operations and human 

13 rights; 

14 ‘‘(VI) involvement with repressive regimes; and 

15 ‘‘(VII) community relations. 

16 ‘‘(iii) The historical performance of each index se17 lected under this subparagraph shall be comparable to 

18 that of the other investment funds and options available 

19 under this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(B) The Corporate Responsibility Stock Index Fund 

21 shall be invested in a portfolio designed to replicate the 

22 performance of the index in subparagraph (A) (or, if more 

23 than one index is selected, the overall average perform24 ance). The portfolio shall be designed such that, to the 

25 extent practicable, the percentage of the Corporate ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 May 08, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1144.IS S1144

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1 sponsibility Stock Index Fund that is invested in each 

2 stock is the same as the percentage determined by dividing 

3 the aggregate market value of all shares of that stock by 

4 the aggregate market value of all shares of all stocks in5 cluded in such index (or indexes).’’. 

Æ 


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