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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1001. Congressional findings and declaration of policy
(a) Benefit plans as affecting interstate commerce and the Federal
taxing power
The Congress finds that the growth in size, scope, and numbers of
employee benefit plans in recent years has been rapid and
substantial; that the operational scope and economic impact of such
plans is increasingly interstate; that the continued well-being and
security of millions of employees and their dependents are directly
affected by these plans; that they are affected with a national
public interest; that they have become an important factor
affecting the stability of employment and the successful
development of industrial relations; that they have become an
important factor in commerce because of the interstate character of
their activities, and of the activities of their participants, and
the employers, employee organizations, and other entities by which
they are established or maintained; that a large volume of the
activities of such plans are carried on by means of the mails and
instrumentalities of interstate commerce; that owing to the lack of
employee information and adequate safeguards concerning their
operation, it is desirable in the interests of employees and their
beneficiaries, and to provide for the general welfare and the free
flow of commerce, that disclosure be made and safeguards be
provided with respect to the establishment, operation, and
administration of such plans; that they substantially affect the
revenues of the United States because they are afforded
preferential Federal tax treatment; that despite the enormous
growth in such plans many employees with long years of employment
are losing anticipated retirement benefits owing to the lack of
vesting provisions in such plans; that owing to the inadequacy of
current minimum standards, the soundness and stability of plans
with respect to adequate funds to pay promised benefits may be
endangered; that owing to the termination of plans before requisite
funds have been accumulated, employees and their beneficiaries have
been deprived of anticipated benefits; and that it is therefore
desirable in the interests of employees and their beneficiaries,
for the protection of the revenue of the United States, and to
provide for the free flow of commerce, that minimum standards be
provided assuring the equitable character of such plans and their
financial soundness.
(b) Protection of interstate commerce and beneficiaries by
requiring disclosure and reporting, setting standards of conduct,
etc., for fiduciaries
It is hereby declared to be the policy of this chapter to protect
interstate commerce and the interests of participants in employee
benefit plans and their beneficiaries, by requiring the disclosure
and reporting to participants and beneficiaries of financial and
other information with respect thereto, by establishing standards
of conduct, responsibility, and obligation for fiduciaries of
employee benefit plans, and by providing for appropriate remedies,
sanctions, and ready access to the Federal courts.
(c) Protection of interstate commerce, the Federal taxing power,
and beneficiaries by vesting of accrued benefits, setting minimum
standards of funding, requiring termination insurance
It is hereby further declared to be the policy of this chapter to
protect interstate commerce, the Federal taxing power, and the
interests of participants in private pension plans and their
beneficiaries by improving the equitable character and the
soundness of such plans by requiring them to vest the accrued
benefits of employees with significant periods of service, to meet
minimum standards of funding, and by requiring plan termination
insurance.
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