I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5664
To amend title 11 of the United States Code to provide fair treatment
of employee benefits.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 16, 2002
Mr. FORD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 11 of the United States Code to provide
fair treatment of employee benefits.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Employee Retirement
Preservation Act’’.
SEC. 2. FAIR TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS.
(a) DEFINITION OF CLAIM.—Section 101(5) of title
11, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at
the end;
(2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or’’
after the semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(C) right or interest in equity securities
of the debtor, or an affiliate of the debtor, held
in a pension plan (within the meaning of sec-
tion 3(2) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(2))) for
the benefit of an individual who is not an offi-
cer or director of the debtor, if such securities
were attributable to—
‘‘(i) employer contributions by the
debtor or an affiliate of the debtor other
than elective deferrals (within the meaning
of section 402(g) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986), and any earnings thereon;
and
‘‘(ii) elective deferrals (and any earn-
ings thereon) that are required to be in-
vested in such securities under the terms
of the plan or at the direction of a person
other than the individual or any bene-
ficiary,
except that this subparagraph shall not apply to
any such securities during any period during
which the individual or any beneficiary has the
right to direct the plan to divest such securities
and to reinvest an equivalent amount in other
investment options of the plan;’’.
(b) PRIORITIES.—Section 507(a)(4) of title 11,
United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (B), by indenting the left
margin of clauses (i) and (ii) 2 ems to the right and
redesignating such clauses as subclauses (I) and
(II), respectively;
(2) by indenting the left margin of subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) 2 ems to the right and redesig-
nating such subparagraphs as clauses (i) and (ii),
respectively;
(3) in the matter preceding clause (i), as so re-
designated, by striking ‘‘Fourth’’ and all that follows
through ‘‘plan—’’ and inserting the following:
‘‘Fourth—
‘‘(A) allowed unsecured claims for con-
tributions to an employee benefit plan—’’;
(4) by striking the period at the end and insert-
ing the following: ‘‘or’’; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(B) allowed unsecured claims with respect
to rights or interests in equity securities of the
debtor, or an affiliate of the debtor, that are
held in a pension plan (within the meaning of
section 3(2) of the Employee Retirement In-
come Security Act of 1974), without regard to
when services were rendered or limitation in
amount, and measured by the market value of
the stock at the time the stock was contributed
to, or purchased by, the plan.’’.
SEC. 3. WAGE PRIORITY AND EMPLOYEE BENEFIT CAP.
Section 507(a) of title 11, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘$4,000’’ and
inserting ‘‘$13,500’’; and
(2) 
in 
paragraph 
(4)(B)(i), 
by 
striking
‘‘$4,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$13,500’’.
SEC. 4. SUBORDINATION.
Section 510(b) of title 11, United States Code, is
amended by inserting ‘‘, other than a claim described in
section 105(5)(C).’’ after ‘‘claim’’ the 1st place it appears.
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