Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5339, the Protecting Americans' Investments from Woke Policies Act, legislation introduced by Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12) to safeguard the retirement savings of America's workers, retirees, and families.
"By empowering financial advisors to invest retirement savings in risky, climate-related ESG funds, the Biden-Harris Administration is hijacking Americans' hard-earned money in favor of their widely unpopular rush-to-green agenda. While families continue to struggle to afford the basics under this Administration's costly policies, the last thing they need is for their retirement savings to be depleted due to politically motivated mismanagement. That is why I introduced today's legislation to ensure workers, retirees, and families have confidence that their retirement security is protected, not jeopardized for political purposes. I am hopeful that House-passage of H.R. 5339 will serve as a wake-up call for this Administration to keep their radical agenda out of Americans' retirement accounts," said Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12).
"It is common sense that financial institutions should only base investment decisions on economic factors, not irrelevant considerations, such as DEI. Hardworking Americans deserve to know their well-earned retirement benefits are not being squandered for political purposes, and this week the House voted to ensure Americans' investments won’t be subject to useless politicization. I commend Rep. Allen for passing H.R. 5339 which is an important solution to this problem. We must protect the financial well-being of all Americans not just those deemed worthy by the Left," said Speaker Mike Johnson.
“The only ‘ESG’ advisors should be considering is 'earnings, savings, and goals' of those who are trusting them with their hard earned money, and I’m proud that the members of our Committee led the way with commonsense legislation, like Rep. Allen’s RETIRE Act,” said Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx.
BACKGROUND: In 2022, President Biden’s Department of Labor finalized a flawed rule that allows financial advisors to invest Americans’ retirement savings into ESG funds, which are proven to carry higher risk and charge steeper fees. Despite bipartisan and bicameral disapproval in the form of a Congressional Review Act resolution that was able to pass both the House and Senate, President Biden doubled down on this radical rulemaking by vetoing the resolution.
H.R. 5339 is a package of bills that was sponsored by Rep. Rick Allen. H.R. 5339 includes Rep. Allen’s Roll back ESG To Increase Retirement Earnings (RETIRE) Act to codify that Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) retirement plan sponsors should prioritize financial returns over ESG factors when making investment decisions on behalf of their clients, Rep. Houchin’s Retirement Proxy Protection Act, Rep. Good’s No Discrimination in My Benefits Act, and Rep. Banks’ Providing Complete Information to Retirement Investors Act.
To watch Congressman Allen's remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 5339, CLICK HERE.
