Providing for Congressional Disapproval of the Rule Submitted By the Department of Labor Relating to ``Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights''--veto Message From the President of the United States (H. Doc. No.

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the House Republican majority's effort to override President Biden's veto of H.J. Res. 30.

This resolution sought to nullify a popular and sensible rule that enabled retirement plan managers to make fully informed investment decisions.

I commend the President for his veto. Workers should be able to invest their retirement savings in a way that reflects their values, such as combating climate change, without sacrificing investment returns.

That is why the Biden-Harris administration issued a rule to clarify that retirement plan managers may consider the economic effects of climate change and other environmental, social, and governance factors, or ESG factors, when they make investment decisions for participants in retirement plans.

Simply put, this rule is not an ESG mandate. It just allows participants to make those decisions.

Additionally, the rule does not change the fiduciary standard to which the professionals who make the investment decisions for retirement plans are bound. They must still prioritize the interests of retirement plan participants and cannot sacrifice investment returns to pursue ESG goals.

Today's debate is not a referendum on the administration's rule or even ESG in general. We had that debate last month.

The debate is about two things. First, it is about arithmetic.

As my colleagues know, overriding the President's veto requires support of two-thirds, or 290 Members of the House. H.J. Res. 30 passed the House with 216 votes, nearly all of which came from the Republican Caucus. Anyone who can count knows that the Republican majority will not have the votes to override the President's veto; and everyone should be asking why are we going through the motions.

Second, the debate is a window into the Republican majority's agenda. Unfortunately, they would rather spend precious time on the floor on a doomed effort instead of advancing legislation that would help put people over politics.

While we are considering the veto override, we could have been considering ensuring women received equal pay for equal work; ending workplace discrimination; strengthening a worker's ability to join a union and negotiate for better working conditions; help people balance work and family by providing paid sick leave and family and medical leave; or raising the minimum wage.

House Democrats and the Biden administration are focused on these priorities and remain committed to lowering costs for our constituents, creating better-paying jobs, and making our communities safer.

Res. 30. It says, in part: ``There is extensive evidence showing that environmental, social, and governance factors can have a material impact on markets, industries, and businesses. But the Republican-led resolution would force retirement managers to ignore these relevant risk factors, disregarding the principles of free markets and jeopardizing the life savings of working families and retirees.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time.

Today, we have heard a lot about ESG and other topics, but nobody made a convincing case that there are the votes to override the President's veto, and that is because a convincing case cannot be made.

The Republican majority may think this futile attempt to override the President's veto is an appropriate use of the House's time and resources, but we disagree.

The first quarter of this year is nearly over, and there is so much the Republican majority has failed do to improve the lives of Americans.

In contrast, under Democratic leadership during the last Congress, the House made significant progress to deliver for the American people. We took action to create millions of jobs, reduce unemployment to near- record lows, to save workers' pensions, to deliver historic funding for education, to improve child nutrition, and to bring the number of uninsured Americans down to the lowest level ever.

By that standard, this current majority has a long way to go. However, at the very least, we should agree that we can't afford to waste time on futile efforts that we know won't go anywhere.

I urge my colleagues to quickly join me in rejecting the veto override, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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