Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Women's Pension Protection Act of 2015.

Out in Washington State, I recently heard from a woman named Cathy. A few years ago, Cathy said she got a taste of what it is like to have serious doubts about her future in retirement. Her husband was unemployed. On one income, they were trying to pay the bills, pay for health insurance, and pay for college tuition for their younger son. Every month, Cathy said they had to dip further and further into their retirement savings. She said she would stay awake at night, worrying how they were going to make it all work.

When I hear stories like Cathy's, it reaffirms for me what we should be working on in Congress. We need to grow our economy from the middle out, not the top down. Our country should work for all families, not just the wealthiest few. That is especially true for seniors--who, after a lifetime of hard work, deserve to live healthy, full, and financially secure lives.

I believe a secure retirement is one of the surest hallmarks of a strong middle class. But seniors today are facing some daunting challenges, just like Cathy.

Many Americans simply don't have enough savings. They are relying on thin Social Security checks that barely last until the end of the month. Sometimes, they are forced to choose between paying for groceries or paying for a prescription.

Too often, it is women who struggle the most with financial hardship in retirement, more so than men. Why is this? Well, for one, women live longer than men. So, they are more likely to outlive their retirement savings.

But there are also some systemic challenges we need to address to make sure women are better able to have a secure retirement. During their working years, women earn less than men. Today, women make just 78 cents for every dollar a man makes. That is just patently unfair. Women are more likely than men to work low-wage jobs. In fact, women comprise two-thirds of all minimum-wage workers. It is plain and simple math: Lower wages make it hard to support a family, let alone save enough for retirement. Women are also much more likely to work part-time, sometimes so they can take on caregiving responsibilities.

This earnings gap leads to a retirement gap later in life. Don't forget, workers in low wage and part-time jobs, often don't have access to a retirement savings plan at work. A new GAO report shows that workers in low-wage and part-time jobs are among the least likely to participate in a workplace retirement plan. It is mainly because these plans are not offered or because they are not eligible. Keep in mind this is particularly problematic for women, because they make up the majority of low-wage and part-time workers.

It is not that these workers don't want to save for their future. This same GAO report found that when given the opportunity, a majority of part-time workers and workers in low-wage jobs do participate in retirement plans. For a long time, people assumed that these workers would not take advantage of a workplace retirement account or that they couldn't afford to save. This report busts that myth. Instead, it is the lack of access to retirement plans that prevent many workers from saving.

But, as if all that wasn't enough, 401k plans today lack basic consumer protections. I have heard from advocates who work with women whose husbands cashed out their 401k during a separation or right before a divorce. Right now, there is nothing in the law that prevents that from happening. That is just not right.

Without consumer protections, both husbands and wives are at risk of having the rug pulled out from under them because their spouse made a financial decision without their knowledge.

These challenges--from inequality in the workplace to gaps in consumer protections--won't just go away. In fact, they will only get worse until we resolve to do something about it for seniors today, for those who want to retire in the next few years, and for future generations.

Thankfully, we can do something about it. We need to address the inequalities that women face during their working years. It is time to finally ensure women get equal pay for equal work. The Paycheck Fairness Act would tackle pay discrimination head-on. I hope we can all agree that in the 21st century, workers should be paid fairly for the work they do, regardless of their gender.

We should raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020. It will put more money in workers' pockets so they can spend it in their local communities and put more away for retirement. My bill will provide a strong floor--a Federal bare minimum--that workers and cities can build off of and go even higher where it makes sense--like in Seattle in my home State of Washington.

It is time to make more progress on paid sick leave, so women aren't penalized for taking care of their families. I have introduced a bill called the Healthy Families Act to allow workers to earn paid sick days. Those solutions to empower women in today's workplace will pay off for their golden years to come.

Today, I am proud to introduce a bill with a number of my Democratic women colleagues. It is called the Women's Pension Protection Act, and it would take three major steps to protect women's retirement security.

First, my bill would expand spousal protections to cover defined contribution plans, like 401(k)s. These protections already exist for defined benefit plans, and it is just common sense to extend these protections to defined contribution plans as well. It would help improve access to retirement savings plans for part-time workers. This bill would improve women's financial literacy. With fewer traditional pensions, people will need to make some difficult financial decisions in retirement. So, increasing financial literacy will be very important in the years ahead.

Ensuring women are able to access a secure retirement is part of my ongoing work to help our economy grow in the way we know is strongest: from the middle out, not the top down.

Eighty years ago, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. At the time, he called it ``a cornerstone in a structure, which is being built, but it is, by no means, complete.'' We added on to that original cornerstone with Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act. Those programs laid the foundation for seniors to have solid footing in America's middle class.

Now, it is time to build on that foundation. Because like FDR foresaw 80 years ago, the structure of retirement security is still incomplete. We need to start the next phase to address the pressing challenges that seniors face today. I am going to be fighting to make sure more workers, more seniors and more families have access to a healthy, independent, and financially secure retirement. I am going to keep fighting to build an ever-stronger foundation for families in my home State of Washington State, and across the Nation, for generations to come.

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