Date:
September 11, 2000
From: <Your Name>
<Your Street Address>
<Your City, Your State ZIPCODE>
To:
The Honorable <Your Senator’s Full Name>
U.S. Senate
Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator <Your Senator’s Last Name:>
I vigorously oppose changes to the pension laws indirectly recognizing the legality of cash balance plans.
When the Senate Finance Committee unanimously passed the markup of HR 1102, they probably did not
realize they gave a green light to one of the biggest financial scandals in history.
At this time, Senator Harkins plans to introduce an amendment to eliminate the dangerous provisions of
the bill. Please take time to examine the issues raised Senator Harkins (included below), and support
Senator Harkins amendment(s) on this issue. Should such amendments fail, or the detrimental wording
not be removed then please vote against the whole bill. Please do not allow Congress to be stampeded
into passing legislation that will kill any chances for redress in the court system by employees who have
already been robbed of significant percentage of their earned pensions, courtesy of the ERISA Industry
Committee and other corporate financed lobbyists.
An extract of Senator Harkins' proposed amendment/press release follows:
"The Committee's bill also allows employers to violate a number of existing worker
protections. For example, it appears to eliminate important age discrimination
protections. In doing so, it seems to invalidate a number of age discrimination
lawsuits. It appears to undercut the current EEOC study of this issue. And it appears
to overturn the 11th Circuit ruling in Lyons v. Georgia-Pacific Corporation that
requires corporations to provide protections for lump sum determinations for
employees.
"It is my intention to offer an amendment on the Senate floor that offers meaningful
protection for workers rather than changing the law to eliminate their existing rights."
Congress needs to be extremely cautious about making arbitrary changes to the ERISA laws. Numerous
federal lawsuits are pending relative to cash balance conversions. National media focus and pending
lawsuits have effectively halted harmful corporate conversions for the time being. Congress should not
rush in with new regulations to constrain future conversions, which have the potential to adversely impact
current court cases. The courts should determine which ERISA and ADEA laws have been violated and
what the redress should be. Employees already victimized by cash balance conversions deserve their full
day in court!
The final version of the Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2000 should stick
to addressing IRA and 401(k) limits; save the 50+ supposedly minor ERISA reforms for separate
legislation at a later date.
That is all employees really want: The ability to understand what their employer has promised them, and
a way to enforce that promise.
Sincerely,
<your name here>