mr. speaker , i thank the subcommittee chairman , mr. camp , and my colleagues for working so hard on this bill , along with our chairman and chairman of the education and the workforce committee . 
without their urging , this bill would not be on the floor today , and this bill is so extremely important , especially to constituents in my district . 
over the last year , i have met with employees , union members , covered by both multi-employer and single-employer plans , also with the employers to discuss their concerns regarding pensions . 
pension protection continues to be their top issue . 
many of my constituents have faced challenges to their pensions with companies like u.s. airways filing for bankruptcy or others turning their plans over to the pension benefit guaranty corporation . 
this bill would establish sensible funding rules , requiring employers to fund 100 percent of their pension liabilities . 
in this bill , fair consideration is given to those plans which need to catch up , but funding shortfalls must be made up within 7 years . 
also , employers are urged to increase their pension contributions during profitable years , which they can not currently do freely under the present rules . 
in addition , the bill encourages greater transparency so that employees know the status and financial health of their own company 's pension plan . 
ultimately , this is their own retirement financing . 
they have a right to know . 
these requirements will create more stability and certainty in these pension plans . 
this bill also prohibits employers from funding golden parachute executive compensation plans if the pension plans of the rank and file are underfunded . 
u.s. airways executives walked away with $ 35 million in executive compensation after running the company nearly into the ground and dragging concessions out of their employees , including reductions in pension benefits for pilots and leaving other employees in the dark about the funding of their pension plans . 
this is unfair to the hardworking employees of these companies , and this bill would prevent such a travesty in the future . 
finally , this bill encourages additional retirement savings by extending and improving incentives to save . 
the bill makes permanent provisions passed in 2001 to increase annual contributions to iras and qualified pension plans and `` catch-up '' contributions for individuals over 50 . 
i hope my colleagues will support this legislation because it finally gives employees what they need : stability in their retirement . 
