Today, the House will vote on H.J. Res. 30, a Congressional Review Act resolution to nullify the Biden administration’s rule encouraging retirement plan fiduciaries to consider or choose investments based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.
On the House Floor, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), delivered the following remarks (as prepared for delivery):
“I rise in support of H.J. Res. 30, a Congressional Review Act resolution nullifying the Biden administration’s attempt to politicize the retirement savings of Americans.
“ESG investing puts the future of millions of Americans in jeopardy. Due to Biden’s reckless economic policies, too many Americans are worried about rising costs of living. Diverting retirement savings to fund social justice causes will make this problem even worse. And for current retirees the situation is especially salient.
“Last year, the Biden Department of Labor published a rule allowing retirement plan fiduciaries to consider ESG factors when making investment decisions and exercising shareholder rights.
“The rule removed common-sense protections for retirement savers established by the Trump administration, which ensured that retirement plan fiduciaries evaluate investments and exercise shareholder rights based only on the financial benefits to participants and beneficiaries. That is what retirement savers expect.
“Now, thanks to Democrats, workers can be placed into ESG investment vehicles by default. And if a fiduciary finds that two investments are equal, the fiduciary is allowed to use collateral ESG factors to break the tie without justifying or documenting that decision.
“And while my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have argued that the Biden rule is ‘neutral,’ they have done a poor job of hiding the administration’s true intentions.
“The Department issued the rule in response to two executive orders on climate change, and the explanation of the rule is littered with Democrats’ preferred political projects, such as labor relations, climate change, and workforce and corporate board diversity.
“Further, DOL officials have repeatedly stated that they will pursue additional actions concerning ESG in retirement plans.
“The Left is using ESG investment criteria as a political tool to cudgel companies into accepting leftist policies. This is how the Left always operates. This is just the first step. If we let this continue, the Left will use ESG investing to push non-compliant companies out of the marketplace. This is pernicious. And it is hypocritical.
“It is unacceptable to encourage fiduciaries to sacrifice the savings of Americans to the orthodoxy of the woke Left. In fact, this is prohibited under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) as affirmed by the Supreme Court.
“Yet the Biden administration’s rule permitting and encouraging retirement plan fiduciaries to consider ESG when investing workers’ savings flips ERISA on its head. By paving the way for ESG investing in employer-sponsored retirement plans, President Biden is threatening the retirement savings of Americans.
“Such a fundamental change to ERISA should be debated and considered in Congress, not enacted through executive fiat.
“Americans invest to secure their future, not to fund the Green New Deal or Leftist pet projects. Fiduciaries governed by ERISA should not be allowed to make investments they know will not pay off. A fiduciary’s most important responsibility is to make investments that are in the financial interests of workers and retirees.
“It is time to stop this madness. That is why I support the resolution to nullify the Biden administration’s destructive retirement plan rule. I urge my colleagues to put workers and retirees above politics and vote for this resolution.”
