Judd Gregg

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I rise to address several important provisions in the tax relief legislation that has been reported out of the Senate Finance Committee. In the last few years, I have taken an especial interest in reforming our federal entitlement programs and our tax policies so as to recognize and to prepare for the retirement of the Baby Boom generation that will begin in 2008. During the last Congress, I was appointed by Majority Leader Trent Lott to chair a Senate Republican Task Force on Retirement Security, on which Chairman Roth served, and provided the benefit of his experience and his enduring commitment to promoting retirement saving. Our task force produced a bill, numbered S. 883 in the last Congress, several provisions of which were included in the 1997 reconciliation bill. I am pleased to see that several more have been included in this year's reconciliation bill. I would like to review several of these provisions and to discuss their significance. Chairman Roth has devoted several years of his career to promoting increased personal saving through individual retirement accounts. His IRA legislation, the Roth-Breaux bill, was included in its entirety as the first title of our comprehensive bill. The Chairman succeeded in passing some of the provisions of this legislation during reconciliation last time around, including the back-loaded IRA that has become known as the ``Roth IRA.'' This time, the Finance Committee mark moves the ball still further forward on expanding the saving in individual retirement accounts. It increases the contributions that can be made to these accounts, as well as expanding the number of individuals who can participate in them. Now more than ever, with the Baby boomers poised on the brink of retirement, ready to move from being earners and investors to being consumers, ``all saving is good saving.'' It is a very propitious time to propose that individual saving be promoted and encouraged. I stress that we score these provisions, for our own accounting purposes, as ``revenue losers,'' but this is misleading. This is not saving that is ``lost"--it is only ``lost'' to the federal government. This saving and investment will result in much-needed contributions to capital formation and to economic growth. This is a far superior use of this money than collecting it to fuel current government consumption. I was pleased to join in cosponsoring Senator Roth's legislation to expand IRAs, and am further pleased that this reconciliation bill incorporates a portion of that expansion. Senator Roth's IRA legislation was drafted before the task force began work on S. 883 in the last Congress. But there were several provisions that were original to the task force of which I remain very proud, and I am pleased to see that they have received positive attention from the Finance Committee this year. First of these is the ``SAFE'' plan for small businesses. This is a new type of defined benefit plan that we worked to devise in concert with others who also perceived the need to make such pension plans more attractive to small business owners. Right now, it is too often the case that it is not in the interest of a small employer to offer such a pension plan. The nondiscrimination rules are too complex, and the small employer may not feel that they can afford the fiscal commitment of such a size, uncertainty, and duration. The ``SAFE'' plan neatly balances the need of employers to have a simplified pension structure, with the desire to give employees fair treatment and a pension benefit that they can count on. The rules of the ``SAFE'' plan are very simple. Fair treatment is ensured by simply requiring that the employer fund a benefit that is the same percentage of pay for each eligible employee in the shop. If one year's contributions produce a pension benefit equal to 2 percent of pay for the boss, then it's also 2 percent of pay for the employee--extremely simple. ``SAFE'' is a fully portable, fully funded pension plan that will work. It's portable because the contributions are made specifically on behalf of each employee, so it is easy to track how much of a nest egg each has accrued. If that employee moves on, that balance can move on with them with a minimum of difficulty. It's also fully funded--simple rules dictate how much money the employer puts in for each employee in each year. It has to be enough to fund the promised defined benefit. Each year the accumulation in that account is tracked, and if it falls behind the amount that is assumed to be needed using some flexible and reasonable interest rate assumptions, then the employer will have to make additional contributions to make the employee's pension fund ``whole'' again. The employer meets his obligations in a simple and easily understood way, and has no mounting financing problem at the end of the game. I also note that the ``SAFE'' plan also is an important benefit for long-time employees who have not been covered to date, because it does allow for ``catch-up'' contributions covering an employee's previous 10 years of service. This is a helpful feature because of the assistance it will give to employees who have less time to prepare for retirement. The Finance Committee proposal also includes several provisions to increase the amount of contributions that can be made to SIMPLE plans or to other pension plans. I am pleased to note that it also includes several provisions championed by our task force that would benefit small businesses and the self-employed in particular. For one, it would equalize the treatment of self-employed and larger businesses with respect to loans taken from pension plans. Right now, the self- employed, subchapter S owners, partners, sole proprietors, cannot take loans from their pension plan as can larger businesses, and this puts them at a competitive disadvantage. Our proposal to correct this inequity is included in the Finance Committee bill. We also included a proposal that would remove a disincentive for the self-employed to make matching contributions to their pension plans, and no longer counting such matching contributions towards the annual 401(k) contribution limit. I am pleased that a version of this proposal is also included in the Finance Committee package. I am also pleased to see the number of provisions included in this legislation aimed at addressing the problem of inadequate retirement income for women, who make up the vast majority of our impoverished elderly population. Our task force considered our women's equity provisions to be so important that we introduced them separately in the last Congress as the WISE, Women's Investment and Savings Equity bill. Some of the provisions of WISE were included in last year's reconciliation package, including the liberalization of rules governing contributions by homemakers to IRAs. We also included another provision aimed at giving stay-at-home spouses a chance to ``catch-up'' on pension contributions if staying at home to care for a child interrupted their past contributions. We offered a provision allowing ``catch-up'' opportunities for individuals who had taken maternity or paternity leave. The Finance Committee bill also includes a ``catch-up'' provision. Though not specific to the case of families caring for children, the provision providing for larger IRA and pension contributions once the individual reaches the age of 50 is intended to serve the same purpose--to recognize that individuals often do not have as much money to put aside in saving until their children are out of the nest. Giving parents a chance to ``catch up'' for these lost opportunities is a family-friendly reform. I continue to believe that allowing ``catch-up'' contributions for individuals who missed out on pension contribution opportunities specifically because of child-rearing is an important idea, which I may still wish to pursue. But I am pleased to see the provision in this legislation and to recognize the chairman's effort to serve the same end. Finally, a number of other reforms that I and the rest of the task force have sponsored in the past also appear in this bill--including important portability provisions that would allow individuals in public sector employment plans to take their pension benefits with them when they join a private employer. The current situation is an artifact of the undue complexity of our pension law, and the incompatibility of public and private pension regulations that has interfered with such portability until now. Public employees are often afraid to leave public positions because they do not know whether their pension benefits will travel with them, especially once it has accumulated to a significant amount that is critical to their retirement plans. Everyone's interest will be served by allowing these accumulations to roll over into other types of plans. I simply close by again thanking the chairman for the level of attention that he has given to retirement saving in the Finance Committee mark. As the chair of the Republican Task Force on Retirement Security, I find it gratifying to see that the chairman placed such a high priority for these needs among the competing objectives that Senators brought to crafting this tax bill. I hope that indeed ``the time has come'' for many of these provisions on which we have worked so hard in the past, and I hope that they will be supported throughout this reconciliation process. I thank my colleagues, and I yield the floor.

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. Why is this so important?

Mr. GREGG. Will this consolidation save money and manpower?

Mr. GREGG. Are there other advantages to consolidating DoJ first responder training at CDP?

Mr. GREGG. What is the relative experience of the OSLDPS key staff?

Mr. GREGG. I am pleased to support the measure to repeal Section 110 of the 1996 Immigration bill. I too believe strongly that the border policy we currently enjoy with the country of Canada should not be disturbed. I will continue to work in Conference to see that this matter is finally put to rest.

Mr. GREGG. I would like to say to my good friend from Alabama that I agree with his views on training consolidation at the Center for Domestic Preparedness, and I appreciate his time and attention to this important issue. I look forward to working with him to fully explore this issue with Justice Department officials in the coming months. I would hope they will move aggressively to implement a National Training Strategy.

Mr. GREGG. How much City Training will remain once the programs transfers to DoJ?

Mr. GREGG. What would be the advantage of this consolidation?

Mr. GREGG. Is Consolidation of training in one organization really necessary?

Mr. GREGG. I want to assure the Senator from Maine that I understand the importance of the work of the Maine Community Alliance to End Violence Against Children and its potential significance as a model for rural areas across the nation.

Mr. GREGG. I thank the Senator from Maine for her efforts to address this problem. Data from urban areas have shown that a rapid response to trauma in children does reduce the development of anti-social behavior in the long term. However, there are no data from rural communities. The demonstration project that the Alliance proposes can be a model for service delivery in other rural areas and appears to be an excellent candidate for Department of Justice funds.

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. Mr. president, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem be permitted to meet on July 22, 1999 at 9:30 a.m. for the purpose of conducting a hearing.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 22, 1999 at 2:00 p.m. to hold a closed hearing on intelligence matters.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet for a hearing re Cybersquatting and Consumer Protection: Ensuring Domain Name Integrity, during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 22, 1999, at 2:00 p.m., in SD-628.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. president, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet for an executive business meeting, during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 22, 1999, following the first vote this, in S-216 of the U.S. Capitol Building.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 22, 1999 at 10:00 a.m. to hold a hearing.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Forests & Public Land Management of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be granted permission to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 22, for purposes of conducting a subcommittee hearing which is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony from the U.S. General Accounting Office on a recent GAO report, 99-166, regarding Forest Service land management priorities. Within this context, GAO will also provide an evaluation of Title I and Title II of S. 1320, a bill to provide the Federal land management agencies the authority and capability to manage effectively the Federal lands, and for other purposes.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 22, 1999 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a hearing.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, the Finance Committee requests unanimous consent to conduct a hearing on Thursday, July 22, 1999 beginning at 2:00 p.m. in room 106 Dirksen.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full Committee on Environment and Public Works be granted permission to conduct a hearing Thursday, July 22, 9:30 a.m., Hearing Room (SD-406), on legislation relating to habitat restoration/coastal protection issues.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee on Energy and Natural Resources be granted permission to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 22, for purposes of conducting a full committee hearing which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. The purpose of this hearing is to consider the nominations of Curt Herbert to be a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Earl E. Devaney to be Inspector General of the Department of the Interior.

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet for an executive business meeting, during the session of the Senate on Thursday, July 22, 1999, at 10:00 a.m., in SD-628.

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. GREGG

Mr. GREGG. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.