I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2553 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for certain index fund 

investments from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2019 

Mr. LYNCH (for himself and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

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

index fund investments from the Postal Service Retiree 

Health Benefits Fund, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Postal Service Finan5 cial Improvement Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INVESTMENT OF THE POSTAL SERVICE RETIREE 

7 HEALTH BENEFITS FUND. 

8 Section 8909a(c) of title 5, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(c) The Secretary’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘(c)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Sec3 retary’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary of the Treasury shall imme6 diately invest a specified percentage of the Fund, using 

7 one or more qualified professional asset managers, in 

8 index funds modeled after those established under sub9 paragraphs (B), (C), (D), and (E) of section 8438(b)(1). 

10 The Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum extent prac11 ticable, that the investment replicates the performance of 

12 the longest-term target date asset allocation investment 

13 fund established by the Federal Retirement Thrift Invest14 ment Board. 

15 ‘‘(B) In exercising authority under subparagraph (A), 

16 including in the selection of specific qualified professional 

17 asset managers and in the development of specific invest18 ment guidelines to meet the requirement of such subpara19 graph, the Secretary shall consult with the Postal Service 

20 Retiree Health Benefits Fund Investment Committee. 

21 ‘‘(C)(i) There is established a Postal Service Retiree 

22 Health Benefits Fund Investment Committee that shall 

23 consist of— 

24 ‘‘(I) the Secretary; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the Chair of the Board of Governors of 

2 the United States Postal Service; 

3 ‘‘(III) the Chairman of the Federal Retirement 

4 Thrift Investment Board; and 

5 ‘‘(IV) 2 members to represent the interests of 

6 Postal Service employees and annuitants who— 

7 ‘‘(aa) are appointed by the President; 

8 ‘‘(bb) have experience and expertise in the 

9 management of financial investments and Post10 al Service employee benefits; and 

11 ‘‘(cc) shall serve for a term of 3 years. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits 

13 Fund Investment Committee and each member of such 

14 Committee shall be subject to the requirements of sub15 sections (b)(1) and (c)(2) of section 8477, in the same 

16 manner as applied to a fiduciary with respect to the Thrift 

17 Savings Fund under such subsections. 

18 ‘‘(D)(i) The Secretary shall annually engage an inde19 pendent qualified public accountant to audit the financial 

20 statements of the investments made pursuant to subpara21 graph (A). 

22 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall submit an annual manage23 ment report to the Congress not later than 180 days after 

24 the end of each fiscal year that includes— 

25 ‘‘(I) a statement of financial position; 


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1 ‘‘(II) a statement of operations; 

2 ‘‘(III) a statement of cash flows; 

3 ‘‘(IV) a statement on internal accounting and 

4 administrative control systems; 

5 ‘‘(V) the report resulting from an audit of the 

6 financial statements of the investments conducted 

7 under clause (i); and 

8 ‘‘(VI) any other comments and information nec9 essary to inform the Congress about the operations 

10 and financial condition of the investments. 

11 ‘‘(E) In this paragraph— 

12 ‘‘(i) ‘specified percentage’ means 25 percent of 

13 the currently available portions of the Fund as are 

14 not immediately required for payments from the 

15 Fund, except that the Postal Service Retiree Health 

16 Benefits Fund Investment Committee may specify a 

17 higher percentage, not to exceed 30 percent, not ear18 lier than 5 years after the date of enactment of the 

19 Postal Service Financial Improvement Act of 2019, 

20 and as appropriate thereafter; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) ‘qualified professional asset manager’ has 

22 the meaning given that term in section 8438(a).’’. 

Æ 


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