285 
tend to the Office of Inspector General and the inde-
pendent legal counsel of such Office. 
‘‘(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
the Office of Inspector General and the legal counsel of 
such Office is independent of the management of the cor-
poration and the General Counsel of the corporation. 
‘‘(9) The board of directors may appoint and fix the 
compensation of employees as may be required to enable 
the board of directors to perform its duties. The board 
of directors shall determine the qualifications and duties 
of such employees and may appoint and fix the compensa-
tion of experts and consultants in accordance with the pro-
visions of section 3109 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 
(2) NUMBER
OF
MEETINGS; PUBLIC
AVAIL-
ABILITY.—Section 4002(e) of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1302(e)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘The board’’ and inserting 
‘‘(1) The board’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘the corporation.’’ and in-
serting ‘‘the corporation, but in no case less 
than 4 times a year with not less than 5 mem-
bers present. Not less than 1 meeting of the 
board of directors during each year shall be a 
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286 
joint meeting with the advisory committee 
under subsection (h).’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 
chairman of the board of directors shall make available 
to the public the minutes from each meeting of the board 
of directors. 
‘‘(B) The minutes of a meeting of the board of direc-
tors, or a portion thereof, shall not be subject to disclosure 
under subparagraph (A) if the chairman reasonably deter-
mines that such minutes, or portion thereof, contain con-
fidential information relating to financial activities or per-
sonnel decisions of the corporation. 
‘‘(C) The minutes of a meeting, or portion thereof, 
exempt from disclosure pursuant to subparagraph (B) 
shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) of 
title 5, United States Code. For purposes of such section 
552 of title 5, United States Code, this subparagraph shall 
be considered a statute described in subsection (b)(3) of 
such section 552.’’. 
(3) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 
(A) ISSUES
CONSIDERED
BY
THE
COM-
MITTEE.—Section 4002(h)(1) of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 
U.S.C. 1302(h)(1)) is amended— 
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287 
(i) by striking ‘‘, and (D)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘, (D)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘time to time.’’ and in-
serting ‘‘time to time, and (E) other issues 
as determined appropriate by the advisory 
committee.’’. 
(B) JOINT MEETING.—Section 4002(h)(3) 
of the Employee Retirement Income Security 
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1302(h)(3)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Not less 
than 1 meeting of the advisory committee dur-
ing each year shall be a joint meeting with the 
board of directors under subsection (e).’’. 
(b) AVOIDING CONFLICTS
OF INTEREST.—Section 
4002 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974 (29 U.S.C. 1302) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(j) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the cor-
poration and each member of the board of directors 
shall not participate in a decision of the corporation 
in which the Director or such member has a direct 
financial interest. The Director of the corporation 
shall not participate in any activities that would 
present a potential conflict of interest or appearance 
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288 
of a conflict of interest without approval of the 
board of directors. 
‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF POLICY.—The board 
of directors shall establish a policy that will inform 
the identification of potential conflicts of interests of 
the members of the board of directors and mitigate 
perceived conflicts of interest of such members and 
the Director of the corporation.’’. 
(c) RISK MITIGATION.—Section 4002 of the Em-
ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 
U.S.C. 1302), as amended by subsection (b), is further 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(k) RISK MANAGEMENT OFFICER.—The corpora-
tion shall have a risk management officer whose duties 
include evaluating and mitigating the risk that the cor-
poration might experience. The individual in such position 
shall coordinate the risk management efforts of the cor-
poration, explain risks and controls to senior management 
and the board of directors of the corporation, and make 
recommendations.’’. 
(d) DIRECTOR.—Section 4002(c) of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1302(c)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) The Director shall be accountable to the board 
of directors. The Director shall serve for a term of 5 years 
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289 
unless removed by the President or the board of directors 
before the expiration of such 5-year term.’’. 
(e) SENSES OF CONGRESS.— 
(1) FORMATION
OF
COMMITTEES.—It is the 
sense of Congress that the board of directors of the 
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation established 
under section 4002 of the Employee Retirement In-
come Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1302), as 
amended by this section, should form committees, 
including an audit committee and an investment 
committee, to enhance the overall effectiveness of the 
board of directors. 
(2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the advisory committee to the Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation established under sec-
tion 4002 of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
rity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1302), as amended by 
this section, should provide to the board of directors 
of such corporation policy recommendations regard-
ing changes to the law that would be beneficial to 
the corporation or the voluntary private pension sys-
tem. 
SEC. 364. PARTICIPANT AND PLAN SPONSOR ADVOCATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1301 et 
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290 
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 4003 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 4004. PARTICIPANT AND PLAN SPONSOR ADVOCATE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor, in con-
sultation with the Director of the corporation and pension 
participant and plan sponsor advocacy groups, shall select 
a Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate. Such selected 
individual shall have demonstrated experience in the area 
of pensions and pension participant assistance. 
‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Participant and Plan Sponsor 
Advocate shall— 
‘‘(1) act as a liaison between the corporation, 
sponsors of defined benefit pension plans insured by 
the corporation, and participants in pension plans 
trusteed by the corporation; 
‘‘(2) advocate for the full attainment of the 
rights of participants in plans trusteed by the cor-
poration; 
‘‘(3) assist pension plan sponsors and partici-
pants in resolving disputes with the corporation; 
‘‘(4) identify areas in which participants and 
plan sponsors have persistent problems in dealings 
with the corporation; 
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