To treat certain arrangements maintained by the YMCA Retirement Fund as church plans for the purposes of certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5365) to treat certain arrangements maintained by the YMCA Retirement Fund as church plans for the purposes of certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 5365, legislation that I had the privilege to introduce along with the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy). The gentleman from North Dakota and I have been working together for a number of years to make this important clarification, and I appreciate his dedication and leadership on this issue. I also want to thank the gentleman from California (Chairman Thomas) and the Committee on Ways and Means for their invaluable assistance in bringing this bill to the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is designed to ensure that thousands of pension plan participants and retirees from the YMCA can continue to count on their benefits. It addresses a concern about the technical status of the YMCA pension plan as a church plan, a type of pension plan offered by churches or associations of churches which brings with it a special set of rules and regulations under the Tax Code. While the Y pension plan was founded as and historically has been treated as a church plan, the IRS has on occasion puckishly called its status into question. This bill ensures that its status remains a church plan and that the plan may continue to operate as has been for over 80 years with clear congressional intent.

The YMCA pension plan is a significant and important component of the compensation package offered all YMCA employees, most of whom are paid modestly. Every full-time employee of local YMCAs is required to participate to help ensure better retirement security for all of these employees. The YMCA pension plan is important to the YMCA employees and retirees in my district in Pennsylvania, as it is to those plan participants in most likely each and every congressional district across the country.

This legislation has a vital impact on more than 3,000 families in Pennsylvania and over 80,000 participants nationwide because it offers them financial and retirement security for their long service on behalf of our Nation's YMCAs, one of our most important organizations operating within communities throughout this country. I am pleased that we are moving forward with this bill today to preserve the status quo, and I encourage all of my colleagues to actively support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I will submit the exchange of letters between the gentleman from California (Chairman Thomas) and the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Boehner) relating to the jurisdiction of this bill for the Record.

Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of

Representatives,

Washington, DC, November 19, 2004.

Hon. William M. Thomas,

Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Thomas: I am writing to confirm our mutual

understanding with respect to consideration of H.R. 5365, to

treat certain arrangements maintained by the

YMCA Retirement Fund as church plans for the purposes of

certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and in

addition the Committee on Education and the Workforce. The

bill would impact the Employee Retirement Income Security Act

(ERISA) as it applies to certain pension plans within the

jurisdiction of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

I do not intend to delay consideration of H.R. 5365, nor

will I object to the scheduling of this bill for

consideration in the House of Representatives. However, I do

so only with the understanding that this procedural route

should not be construed to prejudice the Committee on

Education and the Workforce's jurisdictional interest and

prerogatives on these provisions or any other similar

legislation and will not be considered as precedent for

consideration of matters of jurisdictional interest to my

Committee in the future. Furthermore, should these or similar

provisions be considered in a conference with the Senate, I

would expect Members of the Committee on Education and the

Workforce be appointed to the conference committee on those

provisions.

Finally, I would ask that you include a copy of our

exchange of letters in the Congressional Record on this bill.

If you have questions regarding this matter, please do not

hesitate to call me. I thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

John A. Boehner,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I also want to salute the gentleman from North Dakota, who is a valuable ally particularly in dealing with an issue like this that is in a sense relatively straightforward, but deals with the technicalities of the tax law. He has been a great resource to us and to the committee, and it is a privilege for me to be co-sponsoring this legislation with him.

Mr. Speaker, I think that if we look at the history of the YMCA in America, we see the premier faith-based organization that has been providing services to people throughout our communities and providing services that have had an enormous cumulative social impact on America.

One of the essential components to the YMCA and how it operates is its ability to offer this pension program to its employees. The YMCA does not operate on a broad profit margin. So to be able to offer this program with its tax status is critical to the Y's ability to attract the kind of people who are willing to dedicate themselves to the community. And this I believe is a very important piece of legislation to maintain the status quo, to allow the Y to continue to offer not only an excellent pension to its participants and to all of its hard- working employees but also to continue to be able to offer the quality of services in communities throughout America.

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege for me to urge my colleagues to gather together on a bipartisan basis to approve this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I am very pleased to join the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English) in the sponsoring of this bill. I want to also express my gratitude to the gentleman from California (Chairman Thomas) for allowing the bill to come forward and to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), ranking member, for his interest and support of this legislation.

The YMCA puts Christian principles into the communities by programs that advance healthy minds and strong bodies. They serve 18 million Americans every year and operate throughout its 90-year existence a pension plan for the modestly paid individuals that make these facilities what they are to those enjoying their services.

The YMCA retirement plan requires each and every employee to participate, provides retirees with annuities that guarantee monthly income for life. In fact, 98 percent of retirees choose a lifetime income over that lump sum payment option.

As we look at this whole retirement savings, retirement income conundrum, and we are certainly going to be deeply involved in that this coming congressional session, I hope we can agree that we are going to try to keep in the marketplace what works. And certainly when it comes to the YMCAs pension program, this is a plan that works.

It has been placed in some question because of the IRS's evaluating whether or not it appropriately qualifies under the church-sponsored plan, as was mentioned by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English). It is important to legislatively take that, shed that cloud off of this pension program. I appreciate the IRS for forbearing while Congress has been allowed through this legislation to straighten out and clarify that we do not want any changes to the YMCA pension plan. This is a plan that is working and serving its people well. We want it to continue as it has done, and that is the effect of this legislation.

In North Dakota we have 820 YMCA employees and retirees whose fate is linked in some respect to this legislation. Nationally 88,000 have a stake in this legislation.

I hope that as we pass this legislation today, we can take this as a precedent. These pension issues deserve bipartisan approach, like the bill before us, and we need to build on the concept, keep what works, move to address the other areas as these solutions present themselves.

So I am very pleased to advance H.R. 5365 and urge its adoption.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds.

I believe each and every one of us in this Chamber appreciates the work of the YMCA and recognizes that the YMCA is more than wonderful facilities. It is the people there. It is the people there that make these such a special part of our communities. If we want to do something that shows our appreciation to these dear people in the YMCA, let us move this legislation. This removes any shadow of a doubt that their pension plan can continue to function as it has functioned for virtually the entire life of the YMCA associations. This is a good thing to do.

I am pleased to work with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English), my friend, in moving this legislation forward. Let this be a place where the true spirit of bipartisanship can break out on a worthy goal. Let us support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the YMCA Retirement Fund Act, a bill sponsored by Mr. English. Strengthening employee pension plans has been a longstanding priority of mine, and I'm pleased to support this common sense reform that will strengthen pension benefits provided through the YMCA Retirement Fund.

This bill will ensure the Young Men's Christian Association's pension plans are treated as church plans under the Internal Revenue Code, and its employees are provided many of the important protections under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (``ERISA'').

The YMCA Retirement Fund has been in existence for more than eighty years, and provides meaningful pension benefits to more than 80,000 participants across the nation. Employees of local YMCA's participate in these pension plans and enjoy a vesting period of either two or three years. These employees obtain a non-forfeitable right to their pension benefits faster than employees under traditional qualified plans.

I'm pleased today to support this bill to ensure the YMCA Retirement Fund may continue providing these important pension benefits to its employees, many of whom will now also benefit from the important protections provided under ERISA.

Under the bill, the pension plans in the Fund may commingle assets for investment purposes. While there may be certain restrictions on this practice under the Internal Revenue Code, it is important to note that it is not a per se violation to commingle assets under ERISA, provided that the plan and its fiduciaries maintain appropriate records. Therefore, the language should not suggest that other qualified pension plans under ERISA cannot engage in this widely accepted practice.

If the YMCA Retirement Fund's status as a church plan under the Internal Revenue Code is not clarified for this narrow purpose, the Fund may not have the ability to continue to provide the same generous pension benefits to its participants, most of whom are modestly paid.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would note that while this legislation will solve a problem for the more than 80,000 Americans involved with the YMCA pension plan, the laws that govern all American worker pensions will remain outdated and in desperate need of reform and repair. The failure to update these laws has resulted in a very real threat that taxpayers will be forced to pay for a multi-billion bailout of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which protects workers' retirement benefits when their companies fail. It's absolutely critical that we act in a bipartisan manner in the weeks and months ahead to enact comprehensive, broad-based reforms that will modernize our nation's pension laws and restore security for workers and taxpayers. This is a top priority for me and the members of our committee, and I know it is for Chairman Thomas and the members of the Ways and Means Committee as well.

I want to thank Chairman Thomas and the bill's sponsor, Mr. English, for their cooperation in bringing this bill to the House floor today. I'm hopeful that we can build on this important legislation, and continue our efforts to craft a solution that will protect the retirement security of all our nation's workers in the same serious and thoughtful manner that produced the bill we're considering today.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. President, I support H.R. 5365, a bill designed to ensure that the thousands of pension plan participants and retirees for the YMCA continue to be able to count on their benefits, ensuring the pension plan may continue to operate as it has for over 80 years. The Senate passed my bill, S. 2589, by unanimous consent on July 14 of this year, and I am pleased that the House has recently passed H.R. 5365, which closely follows the direction of the Senate legislation. I worked together with fellow Senators, including Senator Graham of Florida, to move this process toward today's hopeful conclusion. I want to stress that this effort has been a very bipartisan effort, in both the House and Senate, to produce a consensus solution and legislation.

I also thank Finance Committee Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Baucus for their assistance in bringing this bill to the floor today.

This is a bill about protecting the retirement security for thousands of YMCA employees and retirees. I have heard from Kentucky YMCA leaders and employees--leaders such as R. Stephen Tarver of YMCA of Greater Louisville, Dean Ehrenheim of the Owensboro YMCA, and Kenneth Barnes, who runs the Chestnut Street YMCA in Louisville, and countless YMCA employees--about the importance of protecting retirement security. This legislation addresses a concern about the technical status of the YMCA pension plan as a church plan, a type of pension plan offered by churches or associations of churches. This legislation will ensures that the YMCA pension plan will be able to provide a secure retirement to the more than 80,000 plan participants.

I also thank the Treasury Department and IRS for their patience while the Congress worked through finding a solution to ensure the YMCA pension plan could continue to offer the benefits to its participants and retirees.

As I have stated, the YMCA pension plan is a very significant part of each YMCA employee's compensation package, most of whom are modestly paid. I have heard from many of the Kentucky YMCAs, and their employees, about the importance of this pension plan to their future. In Kentucky alone, there are 19 YMCAs with over 485,000 members, and 918 pension plan participants, retirees or past employees who have vested benefits. Today's legislation is vitally important to the each and every plan participant in Kentucky and their families, and more than 80,000 participants and retirees in the YMCA pension plan, offering them financial and retirement security for their long service on behalf of our Nation's YMCA.

In closing, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I am pleased that we are moving forward with this legislation today and look forward to its enactment soon.

Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5365, a bill that will ensure the continuation of YMCA pension plan that has provided participants retirement security for more than 80 years. The Senate passed a bill, S. 2589, that Senator Bunning and I worked to move earlier this year. The House of Representatives has now sent over a bill introduced by Representatives English and Pomeroy that closely follows the intent of the Senate bill. I am pleased that this effort has been a bipartisan one in both bodies of Congress. I hope this legislation will be enacted promptly.

I also thank Finance Committee Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Baucus for their assistance in bringing this bill to the floor today. The YMCA pension plan is an excellent example of how retirement security can be provided through employer-sponsored plans.

This is a bill about protecting the retirement security for thousands of YMCA employees and retirees. There are 27 YMCA's in Florida, over 977,843 members and over 4,400 plan participants and retirees. The retirement security provided by the YMCA pension plan is critical to these people and their families, as well as over 80,000 plan participants across the country.

This country could learn much from the retirement security provided by the YMCA pension plan. As I have stated, the YMCA pension plan is a very significant part of each YMCA employee's compensation package, most of who are modestly paid. The YMCA pension plan exemplifies how our Nation should think about providing solid, substantial retirement security.

I also want to extend my thanks to the Treasury Department and IRS, for their patience while the Congress worked through finding a solution to ensure the YMCA pension plan could continue to offer the benefits to its participants and retirees.

In closing, I encourage all of my colleagues in the Senate to support this bill, and I am pleased that we are moving forward with this legislation today and look forward to its enactment soon.