THANK YOU, CHAIRMAN THOMAS



THANK YOU, CHAIRMAN THOMAS

December 2, 2005

The undersigned organizations and companies wish to express our gratitude to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas for including a provision in the Chairman’s mark of HR 2830, the Pension Protection Act of 2005, that will make the important pension and IRA improvements in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) permanent. We also thank the Ways and Means members who supported this provision and Representative Ben Cardin and former Representative Rob Portman for previously introducing legislation that included the EGTRRA permanency provision approved in HR 2830.

The EGTRRA pension provisions, which will expire at the end of 2010 or earlier unless Congress acts, permit Americans to save more in employer plans and IRAs; ease portability among various plans; and provide significant administrative relief to employers who sponsor plans. In addition, the provisions include targeted measures such as the Saver’s Credit, which benefits low-income savers, and catch-up contributions that permit older workers to save more under the plans. These changes are the most recent product of an enormously successful partnership among employers, financial institutions, and government that has resulted in a system that permits rank and file workers to share in America’s prosperity while building critical retirement income security.

Permanency, as opposed to repeated short term extensions of the EGTRRA pension provisions, is critically important to the continued growth of the employer provided and individual retirement account programs. Hundreds of millions of dollars are invested in systems that administer these successful programs. A stop-start cycle of extenders will divert some of participants’ total savings to retooling these systems in anticipation of expiring provisions. Plan sponsors will have to confront uncertainty about legal compliance and the future design of their retirement plans. The communications requirements that would result from intermittent extenders will confuse savers and possibly drain more dollars from their accounts. Workers will be more reluctant to join savings programs when faced with confusing plan terms and uncertain contribution limits.

We greatly appreciate Chairman Thomas’ leadership on this issue. We also urge the Senate to join in this effort by ensuring that a final pension reform bill retains this important provision. The time to act is now. Any delay will increase the cost of enacting EGTRRA permanency.

AMERICAN BENEFITS COUNCIL

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LIFE INSURERS

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PENSION PROFESSIONALS & ACTUARIES

BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE

COMMITTEE ON INVESTMENT OF EMPLOYEE BENEFIT ASSETS (CIEBA)

EMPLOYEE-OWNED S CORPORATIONS OF AMERICA (ESCA)

EMPLOYERS COUNCIL ON FLEXIBLE COMPENSATION

THE ERISA INDUSTRY COMMITTEE

THE ESOP ASSOCIATION

FINANCIAL EXECUTIVES INTERNATIONAL

FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE

HR POLICY ASSOCIATION

INVESTMENT COMPANY INSTITUTE

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENT DEFINED CONTRIBUTION ADMINISTRATORS

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE RETIREMENT ADMINISTRATORS

NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON TEACHER RETIREMENT

NATIONAL RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION

PROFIT SHARING / 401k COUNCIL OF AMERICA

SECURITIES INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

U. S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

UNIVERSITY PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR HUMAN RESOURCES (CUPA-HR)

AdBenCo

ADP Retirement Services

American Century Investments

Ameriprise

Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.

AMI Benefit Plan Administrators, Inc.

Associated Pension Consultants

AT&T, Inc.

Atico International, USA

Avaya Inc.

Ball Horticultural Company

Buchheit, Inc.

Burkhart Dental Supply Company

California Corporate Benefits

Centier Bank

Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska

Chicago Mold Engineering Co., Inc.

Citigroup

Cole Taylor Bank

Continental Materials Corporation

Crookham Company

CUNA Mutual Group

Delaware Valley Soda Systems, Inc.

Delphi Corporation

Edlund Company, Inc.

ELS, Inc. – an employee-owned company

Emerson Electric Co.

FedEx Corporation

Fidelity Investments

Financial Architects Partners Retirement Plan Consulting Group

First Annapolis Consulting, Inc.

Flint Ink Corporation

Fortune Financial Advisors LLC

FPL Group

Franklin Templeton Investments

Hackler Associates, Inc.

Herod Mattis Group, Inc.

Hewitt Associates

Hileman Associates

HMA Financial Services, Inc.

Holmes Murphy Financial Services, Inc.

Home I.V. Care

Homewood Benefits

Hubbell Consulting, LLC

ICMA-RC

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Innovative Pension Strategy & Design

Intel Corporation

Kayser-Roth Corporation

Lincoln Financial Group

MAHLE Industries, Incorporated

Marian, Inc.

Marriott International, Inc.

Martin Tractor Company, Inc.

MassMutual Financial Group

MB Financial Bank N.A.

McDonald Investments, Inc.

Mellon Financial Corporation

Menke & Associates, Inc.

Mercer Human Resources Consulting, Inc.

MFS Investment Management

MII, Inc.

Nationwide

Nebraska Furniture Mart, Inc.

Nestle USA, Inc.

OppenheimerFunds, Inc.

Pacific Life

Panduit Corp.

The Pension Group, Inc.

Pietzsch, Bonnett & Womack

Portman Equipment Company

The Procter & Gamble Company

Qwest Communications Inc.

Regis Corporation

Republic Mortgage Insurance Company

The Retirement Analyst

Retirement Plan Strategies, Inc.

Roberts Home Medical, Inc.

Roberts Oxygen Company, Inc.

The Segal Company

Strategic Retirement Solutions, L.C.

Summit Financial Corporation

Supervalu Inc.

Teledyne Isco, Inc.

Trinity Health

United Companies, Inc. and subsidiaries

Vanguard

Wachovia

Wells Concrete Products Company

Wm. W. Meyer & Sons, Inc.

Yoder & Langford, P.C.

Zachry Construction Corporation

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