Washington,
D.C.—Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray pushed Joshua Gotbaum, Director of the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, to make sure that the agency continued to
have the ability to pay the benefits earned by more than forty-four million
American workers participating in more than 27,000 private sector pension
plans. While these pensions are not paid for or backed by taxpayers,
Congress plays a key role in ensuring that the agency is operating in a manner
that guarantees that nearly $7 billion in benefits are paid yearly.
“At
a time when families and workers in my home state of Washington and across the
country are struggling, we need to make sure that the pensions they are
counting on are stable and secure,” said Senator Patty Murray. “I
am going to keep pushing to make sure that workers don’t have to worry that the
pensions they have been working for their whole lives won’t be there for them
when they are ready to retire.”
Senator
Murray pushed Mr. Gotbaum on the agency’s use of contractors in carrying out
its core functions, as well as about the ability of the agency to appropriately
manage its workforce of contractors and federal employees:
“I
understand that the PBGC receives no funds from general tax revenues and its
obligations are not backed by the U.S. government. But, I feel obligated to
ensure stewardship and accountability of contract workers who comprise about
two-thirds of PBGC’s workforce when a number of government contractors are
under investigation and the government is discussing wage freezes for
government employees.
“I
feel strongly that the PBGC needs to make sure to address the issue GAO found
in their 2008 report, that the PBGC’s workforce management lacked a strategic
approach to determining the mix of contract and federal workers.”
Senator
Murray is the Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace
Safety, a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions.
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