I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4055 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and title 
11, United State Code, to provide necessary reforms for employee pension 
benefit plans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 7, 2005 
Mr. VISCLOSKY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 and title 11, United State Code, to provide 
necessary reforms for employee pension benefit plans. 
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 ‘‘Employees’ Pension 
Security Act of 2005’’.
TITLE I—TRUSTEESHIP OF 
SINGLE-EMPLOYER PLANS 
SEC. 101 REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO TRUSTEESHIP OF 
SINGLE-EMPLOYER PLANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403(a) of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1103(a)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 
(2) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2)(A) The assets of a pension plan which is a sin-
gle-employer plan shall be held in trust by a joint board 
of trustees, which shall consist of two or more trustees 
representing on an equal basis the interests of the em-
ployer or employers maintaining the plan and the interests 
of the participants and their beneficiaries. 
‘‘(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), in any case 
in which the plan is maintained pursuant to one or more 
collective bargaining agreements between one or more em-
ployee organizations and one or more employers, the trust-
ees representing the interests of the participants and their 
beneficiaries pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be des-
ignated by such employee organizations.
‘‘(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply with respect to a plan 
described in such clause if the employee organization (or 
all employee organizations, if more than one) referred to 
in such clause file with the Secretary, in such form and 
manner as shall be prescribed in regulations of the Sec-
retary, a written waiver of their rights under clause (i). 
‘‘(iii) In any case in which clause (i) does not apply 
with respect to a pension plan which is a single-employer 
plan because the plan is not described in clause (i) or be-
cause of a waiver filed pursuant to clause (ii), the trustee 
or trustees representing the interests of the participants 
and their beneficiaries shall consist of one or more partici-
pants under the plan elected to serve as such in accord-
ance with this clause. The Secretary shall provide by regu-
lation for a secret ballot of the participants under the plan 
for purposes of such election, and for certification of the 
results thereof to the participants (and any employee orga-
nization referred to in clause (ii)) and to the employer.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 403(a)(1) 
of such Act (as redesignated under subsection (a)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Such trustee or trustees’’ and 
inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2), such 
trustee or trustees’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘fiduciary, and upon accept-
ance’’ and inserting ‘‘fiduciary. Upon acceptance’’; 
and 
(3) in subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated), 
by striking ‘‘the plan’’ the first place it appears and 
inserting ‘‘in the case of a plan other than a pension 
plan which is a single-employer plan, the plan’’. 
SEC. 102. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this title shall apply with 
respect to plan years beginning after 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Labor 
shall prescribe the initial regulations necessary to carry 
out the provisions of such amendments not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
TITLE II—DISCLOSURE OF 
PENSION PLAN FISCAL HEALTH 
SEC. 201. PENSION BENEFIT INFORMATION. 
(a) PENSION BENEFIT STATEMENTS REQUIRED ON 
PERIODIC BASIS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 
105 of the Employee Retirement Income Security 
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1025) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘shall furnish to any plan 
participant or beneficiary who so requests in 
writing,’’ and inserting ‘‘shall furnish at least
once every 3 years, in the case of a participant 
in a defined benefit plan who has attained age 
35, and annually, in the case of an individual 
account plan, to each plan participant, and 
shall furnish to any plan participant or bene-
ficiary who so requests,’’, and 
(B) by adding at the end the following 
flush sentence: 
‘‘Information furnished under the preceding sentence to 
a participant in a defined benefit plan (other than at the 
request of the participant) may be based on reasonable 
estimates determined under regulations prescribed by the 
Secretary.’’. 
(2) MODEL STATEMENT.—Section 105 of such 
Act (29 U.S.C. 1025) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) The Secretary of Labor shall develop a model 
benefit statement which shall be used by plan administra-
tors in complying with the requirements of subsection (a). 
Such statement shall include— 
‘‘(1) the amount of nonforfeitable accrued bene-
fits as of the statement date which is payable at nor-
mal retirement age under the plan,
‘‘(2) the amount of accrued benefits which are 
forfeitable but which may become nonforfeitable 
under the terms of the plan, 
‘‘(3) the amount or percentage of any reduction 
due to integration of the benefit with the partici-
pant’s Social Security benefits or similar govern-
mental benefits, 
‘‘(4) the percentage of the net return on invest-
ment of plan assets for the preceding plan year (or, 
with respect to investments directed by the partici-
pant, the net return on investment of plan assets for 
such year so directed), and, stated separately, the 
administrative and transaction fees incurred in con-
nection with such investment, 
‘‘(5) in the case of an individual account plan, 
the percentage of assets in the individual account 
that consists of employer securities and employer 
real property (as defined in paragraphs (1) and (2), 
respectively, of section 407(d)), as determined as of 
the most recent valuation date of the plan, 
‘‘(6) information on how to contact the Social 
Security Administration to obtain a participant’s 
personal earnings and benefit estimate statement, 
‘‘(7) information on early retirement benefit 
and joint and survivor annuity reductions, and
‘‘(8) a notice advising participants and bene-
ficiaries of the importance of diversifying the invest-
ment of the assets in their accounts.’’. 
(3) RULE FOR MULTIEMPLOYER PLANS.—Sub-
section (d) of section 105 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
1025) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) Each administrator of a plan to which more than 
1 unaffiliated employer is required to contribute shall fur-
nish a statement described in subsection (a) to any plan 
participant or beneficiary who so requests in writing.’’. 
(b) DISCLOSURE OF BENEFIT CALCULATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 105 of such Act (as 
amended by subsection (a)) is amended further— 
(A) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), 
(d), and (e) as subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), 
respectively; and 
(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(b)(1) In the case of a participant or beneficiary who 
is entitled to a distribution of a benefit under an employee 
pension benefit plan, the administrator of such plan shall 
provide to the participant or beneficiary the information 
described in paragraph (2) upon the written request of 
the participant or beneficiary.
‘‘(2) The information described in this paragraph in-
cludes— 
‘‘(A) a worksheet explaining how the amount of 
the distribution was calculated and stating the as-
sumptions used for such calculation, 
‘‘(B) upon written request of the participant or 
beneficiary, any documents relating to the calcula-
tion (if available), and 
‘‘(C) such other information as the Secretary 
may prescribe. 
Any information provided under this paragraph shall be 
in a form calculated to be understood by the average plan 
participant.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) Section 101(a)(2) of such Act (29 
U.S.C. 1021(a)(2)) is amended by striking 
‘‘105(a) and (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘105(a), (b), 
and (d)’’. 
(B) Section 105(c) of such Act (as redesig-
nated by paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection) is 
amended by inserting ‘‘or (b)’’ after ‘‘subsection 
(a)’’. 
(C) Section 106(b) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
1026(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘sections
105(a) and 105(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections 
(a), (b), and (d) of section 105’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to requests for state-
ments received on or after January 1, 2006. 
SEC. 
202. 
PROVISION 
TO 
PARTICIPANTS 
AND 
BENE-
FICIARIES OF MATERIAL INVESTMENT IN-
FORMATION IN ACCURATE FORM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(c) of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1104(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) The plan sponsor and plan administrator of a 
pension plan described in paragraph (1) shall have a fidu-
ciary duty to ensure that each participant and beneficiary 
under the plan, in connection with the investment by the 
participant or beneficiary of plan assets in the exercise of 
his or her control over assets in his account, is provided 
with all material investment information regarding invest-
ment of such assets to the extent that the provision of 
such information is generally required to be disclosed by 
the plan sponsor to investors in connection with such an 
investment under applicable securities laws. The provision 
by the plan sponsor or plan administrator of any mis-
leading investment information shall be treated as a viola-
tion of this paragraph.’’. 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 502(c) of such Act 
(29 U.S.C. 1132(c)) is amended— 
(A) by redesignating paragraph (8) as 
paragraph (9); and 
(B) by inserting after paragraph (7) the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(8) The Secretary may assess a civil penalty against 
any person of up to $1,000 a day from the date of the 
person’s failure or refusal to comply with the requirements 
of section 404(c)(4) until such failure or refusal is cor-
rected.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
502(a)(6) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(6)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘(6), or (7)’’ and inserting 
‘‘(6), (7), or (8)’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to investments made 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
TITLE III—STRENGTHENED PRO-
TECTIONS 
AGAINST 
ABUSE 
OF THE BANKRUPTCY AND 
TERMINATION PROCESS 
SEC. 301. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR TERMINATION. 
(a) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
DISTRESS 
TERMINATION.—Section 4041(c)(2)(B) of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1341(c)(2)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iv) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 
Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this section, unless the corporation or the 
court, in the case of a distress termination 
pursuant to clause (ii), has determined 
that reasonable efforts to consider avail-
able alternatives to termination (including, 
but not limited to, alternatives described in 
section 4042(c)(4)) have been undertaken 
by such person (and, in the case of a plan 
maintained pursuant to a collective bar-
gaining agreement, have been undertaken 
by the bargaining parties in good faith 
bargaining), the plan may not be termi-
nated. A participant or beneficiary of the
plan or an employee organization rep-
resenting such participants or beneficiaries 
may bring an action in the appropriate 
court to challenge such determination by 
the corporation and seek equitable relief or 
must be afforded an opportunity to be 
heard by the appropriate court if a court 
is making such determination.’’. 
(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR COURT DE-
CREES.—Section 4042(c) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1342(c)) 
is amended— 
(1) by inserting after the first sentence the fol-
lowing new sentences: ‘‘The court may not enter 
such a decree unless that court has found that rea-
sonable efforts to consider available alternatives to 
termination (including, but not limited to, alter-
natives described in paragraph (4) have been under-
taken by the plan sponsor (and, in the case of a plan 
maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining 
agreement, have been undertaken by the bargaining 
parties in good faith bargaining). There is a pre-
sumption that a plan need not be terminated if the 
plan sponsor can continue in business outside a case 
under title 11, United States Code (or under any 
similar law of a State or a political subdivision of a
State), in which reorganization is sought without 
terminating the plan.’’; and 
(2) in the sentence following the sentences in-
serted by paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the preceding 
sentence’’ and inserting ‘‘the first sentence of this 
subsection,’’. 
(c) RIGHT TO INTERVENE TO CHALLENGE COURT 
DECREE.—Section 4042(c) of such Act (as amended by 
subsection (b)) is further amended by inserting after the 
fourth sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘If any party 
consisting of the plan sponsor, a plan participant, or (in 
the case of a plan maintained pursuant to a collective bar-
gaining agreement) the employee organization rep-
resenting plan participants for purposes of collective bar-
gaining disagrees with any such determination by the cor-
poration, such party may intervene in the proceeding to 
challenge the determinations of the corporation.’’. 
(d) CONSIDERATION
OF ALTERNATIVES
BY COR-
PORATION AND PLAN SPONSOR.—Section 4042(c) of such 
Act (as amended by the preceding provisions of this sec-
tion) is further amended by adding after the seventh sen-
tence the following: ‘‘The corporation and the plan admin-
istrator may proceed with such an agreement only if they 
have made reasonable efforts to consider available alter-
natives to termination (including, but not limited to, alter-
natives described in paragraph (4) of this subsection) and 
the plan participants and beneficiaries have been provided 
with at least 60 days notice before such agreement is given 
effect. During such 60-day period, a participant or bene-
ficiary of the plan or an employee organization rep-
resenting such participants or beneficiaries may bring an 
action in the appropriate court to seek appropriate equi-
table relief if such reasonable efforts have not been 
made.’’. 
(e) EFFORTS BY THE CORPORATION AT CONSULTA-
TION WITH PARTIES.—Section 4042(c) of such Act is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(4)(A) Prior to making any determination referred 
to in the preceding provisions of this subsection, the cor-
poration shall consult with the plan participants and (in 
the case of a plan maintained pursuant to a collective bar-
gaining agreement) the employee organization rep-
resenting plan participants for purposes of collective bar-
gaining to determine whether there are any reasonable 
available alternatives to termination (including, but not 
limited to, alternatives described subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) The reasonable alternatives to termination re-
ferred to in subparagraph (A) consist of measures which
are in the best interest of plan participants and which in-
clude (but are not limited to) the following:— 
‘‘(i) Financing or loans sought by any member 
of the plan sponsor’s controlled group, with or with-
out assistance from the corporation, in order to ob-
tain plan financing, including back-up guarantees to 
any such financing which the corporation is hereby 
authorized to provide for such purpose. 
‘‘(ii) New plan structures agreed to by the par-
ties, such as transfer of plan liabilities to multiem-
ployer plans, new benefit formulas for new hires or 
non-vested participants, or other plan restructuring 
alternatives agreed to by the parties. 
‘‘(iii) Reinsurance which the corporation is 
hereby authorized to obtain for the plan. 
‘‘(iv) An agreement by the parties authorizing 
alternative funding schedules, approved by the cor-
poration, which would modify plan funding, subject 
to the minimum funding requirements for the plan 
under part 3 of subtitle B of title I. 
‘‘(v) Purchase by the plan sponsor of an annu-
ity contract to cover liabilities of the plan, which the 
corporation is hereby authorized to guarantee as 
necessary to secure such a contract.’’.
(f) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO CHALLENGE DETERMINA-
TIONS RELATING TO PLAN TERMINATION.— 
(1) 
PROCEDURE
FOR
STANDARD
TERMI-
NATIONS.—Section 4041(a)(2)(B) of such Act (29 
U.S.C. 1341(a)(2)(B)) is amended in clause (i) by 
striking ‘‘and’’ at the end, in clause (ii)(V) by strik-
ing ‘‘require.’’ and inserting ‘‘require, and’’, and by 
inserting after clause (ii) the following new clause: 
‘‘(iii) the right of participants and 
beneficiaries to challenge determinations 
under this section.’’. 
(2) TERMINATION PROCEEDINGS FOR DISTRESS 
TERMINATIONS AND TERMINATIONS COMMENCED BY 
THE PBGC.—Section 4042(a) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
1342(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new sentence: ‘‘Prior to commencing pro-
ceedings under this section with respect to any plan, 
the corporation shall provide notice to plan partici-
pants and beneficiaries of the right to challenge de-
terminations under this section, written in a manner 
likely to be understood by the participant or bene-
ficiary.’’. 
SEC. 302. EFFECTIVE DATE OF TITLE. 
The amendments made by this title shall apply with 
respect to any plans undergoing termination proceedings
pursuant to section 4041 or 4042 of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 which are pending on 
or after June 29, 2005. 
TITLE IV—RECOVERY OF BEN-
EFIT LIABILITIES WHICH ARE 
NOT GUARANTEED 
SEC. 401. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 11 OF THE UNITED 
STATES CODE. 
Section 507(a)(1) of title 11, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) Subject to subparagraphs (A), (B), 
and (C), allowed unsecured claims for benefit li-
abilities to participants and beneficiaries under 
a single-employer plan (as defined in section 
4001(a)(15) of the Employee Retirement In-
come Security Act of 1974) in connection with 
the termination of the plan, in excess of the 
benefits payable to the participants and bene-
ficiaries by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Cor-
poration under section 4022 of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 in 
connection with such termination.’’. 
SEC. 402. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT. 
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub-
section (b), section 401 and the amendment made by such
section shall take effect on October 18, 2005, or the date 
of the enactment of this Act, whichever date is later. 
(b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.—The amendment 
made by section 401 shall not apply with respect to cases 
commenced under title 11 of the United States Code be-
fore the effective date of this section. 
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