WASHINGTON, DC ? On the floor of the U.S. Senate today, Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) called for pension reform to move forward, saying it is one of the most important issues facing the legislature. Last week, Senators Mikulski and Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) released their hold on pending legislation in the Senate.

�gThroughout my career, I have been fighting for the little guy. This is no different,�h said Senator Mikulski. �gIt is our grave responsibility to protect workers�f pensions because pensions serve as one of three legs of an increasingly wobbly stool supporting older Americans in retirement.�h

The Senator�fs floor statement, as prepared, is below:

�gPension reform is one of the most important issues facing Congress. Reform is needed to protect pensions, protect good guy businesses and protect the American taxpayer. The bill before us today is generally a very good bill, yet I have some yellow flashing lights about two provisions of the bill regarding the use of credit rating and so-called �esmoothing.�f

�gThat is why Senator DeWine and I had wanted to offer an amendment to avoid unintended consequences that would push companies to drop their pension plans and leave workers in the cold.

�gIn recent days, we have made progress. Senator DeWine and I had constructive conversations with Senator Grassley, Senator Baucus, Senator Enzi and Senator Kennedy. We have a commitment to work together in conference to address our concerns. We also have two bills in the House that address our concerns. That means three of four relevant congressional committees have reported legislation that included the changes I have been fighting for.

�gSenator DeWine and I do not want the perfect to be the enemy of the good. We have released our hold. We want to move forward on pension reform. We are hopeful that we�fll be able to fix this in conference.

�gThroughout my career, I have been fighting for the little guy. This is no different. It is our grave responsibility to protect workers�f pensions because pensions serve as one of three legs of an increasingly wobbly stool supporting older Americans in retirement.

�gSenator DeWine and I held hearings in the Retirement Security Subcommittee that helped me identify some principals for pension reform: do no harm, make sure that workers do not lose their pensions, protect taxpayers from a bailout of the PBGC and protect �egood guy�f businesses who are doing everything they can to adequately fund their pension plans.

�gWe must make sure that government rules do not make companies�f economic problems worse, jeopardizing jobs and pensions.

�gThe HELP Committee passed a bill that was not perfect but was a great first step. When the HELP bill was merged with the Finance bill, a number of improvements were made to the legislation but several provisions remained that I strongly opposed because they could have tragic unintended consequences for workers.

�gI was very alarmed that the bill used a company�fs credit rating as an indicator of its pension plan�fs health, requiring companies with bad credit ratings to put in extra payments even if they have generally well-funded plans. Credit rating is a blunt instrument and many companies with low credit ratings never go bankrupt. This means the provision would bring about exactly what it is designed to protect against ? it could push many companies to terminate their plans or enter bankruptcy, to dump their costs on American taxpayers. Auto manufacturers and tech companies could be among the hardest hit by this provision. We should encourage viable businesses to make contributions to their plans, not push them into bankruptcy.

�gThe second issue that alarmed me was limitations on smoothing, the process of averaging out fluctuations in contributions from year to year. It improves predictability and makes it easier for companies to plan their budgets around pension contributions. Under current law, companies can smooth over four or five years. The bill only allows one year, which experts say isn�ft enough. Senator DeWine and I have been fighting for a more moderate smoothing period of three years.

�gStill, it is imperative that we pass comprehensive pension reform. There are too many other good provisions in this bill. I commend the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the two committees for putting together a bill that is a good bill to help workers and retirees.

�gWe must remember to do no harm, it is workers�f livelihoods we're talking about.

�gSo today Senator DeWine and I won�ft insist on offering an amendment addressing our concerns, but I won�ft stop fighting to make these changes. I look forward to working closely with the Senate conferees to improve the bill and make sure that we do this right.�h

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