mr. speaker , i particularly want to commend the chairs of the ways and means and education and the workforce committees for putting together a bill which could finally fix the antiquated laws that govern pension plans and protect , at the same time , the interests of workers , retirees , and taxpayers . 
what comprehensive pension reform must do and what this bill does for the first time in a generation is to significantly shore up pension funds through tough funding rules , but without pushing employers into termination , bankruptcy , and a multibillion dollar taxpayer bail-out of the pbgc . 
but this bill goes beyond reforming pension laws . 
it also embraces new tax policies to encourage savings for retirement . 
first , the bill provides for automatic enrollment into 401 ( k ) plans . 
while defined contribution plans such as 401 ( k ) s have seen increases in participation since their inception , our national savings rate now is well below 1 percent . 
a study by the vanguard group projected that enacting the automatic enrollment provisions in this bill would boost participation to create 5.5 million new participants in 401 ( k ) plans . 
the bill also provides for split tax refunds , where taxpayers may direct all or part of their tax refund to be deposited into an ira . 
recently , we became aware of a pilot project that gave a sampling of tax filers the opportunity to split their refunds between a savings account and a refund check . 
participants deposited $ 583 , on average , 47 percent , of their refunds into savings accounts . 
most significantly , 75 percent of these individuals had no prior savings . 
these results speak for themselves . 
as cochairman of the savings and ownership caucus , i believe that reaching out and empowering working families is essential to increasing the country 's savings rate and ultimately to improve on our trade balance , strengthening our economy and providing a growth path for the american future . 
i urge a `` yes '' vote on this pro-worker , pro-retiree , pro-savings legislation . 
