WASHINGTON – Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today celebrated the U.S. House of Representatives’ move to protect Americans’ retirements from “woke” standards that jeopardize their goals.
With a tally of 217 to 206, the House voted to advance H.R. 5339, the Protecting Americans’ Investments from Woke Policies Act, which seeks to ensure financial institutions are focused on providing retirement income rather than woke impact. The package is a direct response to the Biden-Harris administration’s rule that seeks to advance a radical political agenda at the expense of retirement savers.
Speaking on the House Floor, Foxx urged her colleagues to reject the “riskiness,” “radicalness,” and “racism inherent in ESG investing.” They should instead “return to the neutral fiduciary standard [and] quit playing ideological games that have a real impact on workers’ livelihoods,” she argued. “The Protecting Americans’ Investments from Woke Policies Act would safeguard our financial system from politically driven agendas, ensuring that capital is allocated based on merit and performance, not ideology,”Foxx concluded.
Four bills, each sponsored by a member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, are included in H.R. 5339:
Rep. Rick Allen’s (R-GA) Roll back ESG To Increase Retirement Earnings (RETIRE) Act clarifies that financial institutions must base decisions on an investment solely on economic factors;
Rep. Erin Houchin’s (R-IN) Retirement Proxy Protection Act states that the decision to exercise a shareholder right is subject to the prudence and loyalty duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and states that proxies held by ERISA plans must be voted in the economic interest of the plan, not used to advance radical policies;
Rep. Bob Good’s (R-VA) No Discrimination in My Benefits Act declares that race, color, religion, sex, or national origin may not be taken into consideration when selecting a fiduciary, counsel, employee, or service provider of an ERISA plan; and
Rep. Jim Banks’ (R-IN) Providing Complete Information to Retirement Investors Act implements a notice requirement on defined contribution plans explaining the difference between choosing from investments selected by ERISA fiduciaries and choosing from investments through a brokerage window.
