IIA
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1594
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 14 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 5), 1995
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human
Resources
AN ACT
To place restrictions on the promotion by the Department
of Labor and other Federal agencies and instrumental-
ities of economically targeted investments in connection
with employee benefit plans.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
HR 1594 RFS
SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that it is inappropriate
for the Department of Labor, as the principal enforcer of
fiduciary standards in connection with employee pension
benefit plans and employee welfare benefit plans (as de-
fined in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 3 of the Em-
ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29
U.S.C. 1002(1), (2))), to take any action to promote or
otherwise encourage economically targeted investments.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS ON DEPARTMENT OF LABOR RE-
GARDING 
ECONOMICALLY 
TARGETED 
IN-
VESTMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Interpretive Bulletin 94–1, issued
by the Secretary of Labor on June 23, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg.
32606; 29 C.F.R. 2509.94–1), is null and void and shall
have no force or effect. The provisions of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001
et seq.) shall be interpreted and enforced without regard
to such Interpretive Bulletin.
(b) RESTRICTIONS ON DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REG-
ULATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor may not issue any
rule, regulation, or interpretive bulletin which promotes or
otherwise encourages economically targeted investments as
a specified class of investments.
(c) RESTRICTIONS ON ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPART-
MENT OF LABOR.—No officer or employee of the Depart-
HR 1594 RFS
ment of Labor may travel, lecture, or otherwise expend
resources available to such Department for the purpose
of promoting, directly or indirectly, economically targeted
investments.
(d) ECONOMICALLY TARGETED INVESTMENT DE-
FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘economi-
cally targeted investment’’ has the meaning given such
term in Interpretive Bulletin 94–1, as issued by the Sec-
retary of Labor on June 23, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 32606;
29 C.F.R. 2509.94–1).
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL AGENCIES AGAINST ES-
TABLISHING OR MAINTAINING ANY CLEAR-
INGHOUSE OR OTHER DATABASE RELATING
TO 
ECONOMICALLY 
TARGETED 
INVEST-
MENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part 5 of subtitle B of title I of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(29 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
‘‘PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL AGENCIES AGAINST ESTAB-
LISHING OR MAINTAINING ANY CLEARINGHOUSE OR
OTHER
DATABASE
RELATING
TO
ECONOMICALLY
TARGETED INVESTMENTS
‘‘SEC. 516. (a) IN GENERAL.—No agency or instru-
mentality of the Federal Government may establish or
maintain, or contract with (or otherwise provide assistance
HR 1594 RFS
to) any other party to establish or maintain, any clearing-
house, database, or other listing—
‘‘(1) for the purpose of making available to em-
ployee benefit plans information on economically tar-
geted investments,
‘‘(2) for the purpose of encouraging, or provid-
ing assistance to, employee benefit plans or any
other party related to an employee benefit plan to
undertake or evaluate economically targeted invest-
ments, or
‘‘(3) for the purpose of identifying economically
targeted investments with respect to which such
agency or instrumentality will withhold from under-
taking enforcement actions relating to employee ben-
efit plans under any otherwise applicable authority
of such agency or instrumentality.
‘‘(b) ECONOMICALLY TARGETED INVESTMENT DE-
FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘economi-
cally targeted investment’ has the meaning given such
term in Interpretive Bulletin 94–1, as issued by the Sec-
retary on June 23, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 32606; 29 C.F.R.
2509.94–1).’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents
in section 1 of such Act is amended by inserting at the
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end of the items relating to part 5 of subtitle B of title
I the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 516. Prohibition on Federal agencies against establishing or maintaining
any clearinghouse or other database relating to economically
targeted investments.’’.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS.
The head of each agency and instrumentality of the
Government of the United States shall immediately take
such actions as are necessary and appropriate to terminate
any contract or other arrangement entered into by such
agency or instrumentality which is in violation of the re-
quirements of the provisions of this Act or the amend-
ments made thereby.
SEC. 5. AUTHORITY OF DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Nothing in this Act is intended to affect the ability
of the Department of Labor to issue advisory opinions,
information letters, technical releases, prohibited trans-
actions, exemptions, or other pronouncements interpreting
and applying ERISA’s fiduciary responsibility rules to
particular factual situations, or exempting specific trans-
actions from the prohibited transaction provisions of the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (pur-
suant to 29 U.S.C. 1106, 1108).
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SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The preceding provisions of this Act (and the amend-
ments made thereby) shall take effect on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
Passed the House of Representatives September 12,
1995.
Attest:
ROBIN H. CARLE,
Clerk.