Roll Back Esg to Increase Retirement Earnings Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASTEN. Madam Speaker, let me pose a question to everybody in here. Why do pension fund managers, why do State treasurers, why do individual investors invest in ESG funds? Well, I will give you a hint. It is the same reason that they invest in high-yield bonds or mid-cap international equities or real estate investment trusts or anything else that is a part of a diversified portfolio. It is because they believe that it will make them more money; not ``know.'' None of us know, but they believe.

Maybe my colleagues across the aisle don't believe that companies that attract and retain diverse talent create more long-term value. Maybe my colleagues across the aisle don't believe that climate change is real and don't believe that companies who are repositioning their assets for a world with higher sea levels, with more frequent forest fires, and with rapidly moving consumer demand in favor of cheaper, cleaner energy are better positioned to win the future.

That is your right. Nobody is telling you that you have to wake up and stop investing in sleepy companies that are missing out on what is happening in the future.

Yet, here we are. Having defended your right to invest however you want, you are now saying that fiduciaries with opinions different from your own should not be free to invest as they see fit. That is not pro- market.

Let me tell you that if you have fallen in love with State-directed capitalism, I would encourage you to talk to, I don't know, maybe some Chinese or Soviet economic leaders who can tell you how that plays out.

Yet, we find ourselves here with the Republican Party introducing legislation that not only rips off the policies of Lenin and Mao, but also unsurprisingly rips off Project 2025 because what all those have in common is you would like to use the power of the State to protect your political allies against the vicissitudes of a competitive market.

Let's be really clear, though. This is not just about politics. Real Americans in red States, I would point out, are losing money today because of these policies. In Texas, anti-ESG laws like the one you are proposing are costing the State nearly $700 million in lost economic activity and more than 3,000 jobs.

In Kansas, the State budget office has estimated that anti-ESG laws there would cost retirees $3.6 billion in lost returns over 10 years. That is what you are imposing on the rest of the world if you accomplished this.

Madam Speaker, I get it, competition is hard. It is scary. Climate change is real, and no matter how nightmarish certain White folks of low character might find the realization of Martin Luther King's dream, it is the only way that we move forward as a society. In the name of free markets and a brighter tomorrow, I would urge a ``no'' vote.

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Mr. CASTEN. On what basis?

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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I reiterate, as I hope was clear from the plain text of my remarks, they were not directed at anybody in the Chamber.

Mr. Speaker, I close by saying, in the name of free markets and a brighter, more tolerant tomorrow, I urge a ``no'' vote on this bill.

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