October 14,2003

Grassley on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's Solvency Problems

M E M O R A N D U M

To: Reporters and Editors
Re: PBGC solvency problems
Da: Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003

Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, today made the followingcomment on testimony on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's solvency.

"In testimony to the Senate Finance Committee, Mr. Kandarian called for a long-termsolution to the PBGC problem. As a first step, the administration later came out with the yield curveproposal. Solvency of the PBGC is a long-term problem that needs a long-term solution. The yieldcurve bill the Finance Committee marked up last month is the only permanent policy change on thetable. There are no two ways about it. This protects the millions of people in the PBGC plansbecause it provides for a more accurate, more conservative, statement of the pension plan liabilities.We're also protecting taxpayers because ultimately they're on the hook for the PBGC plans. Thetaxpayer is the insurer of last resort."