Washington, D.C.— Today, U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) participated in a bill signing ceremony held by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to officially sign Congressman Barr’s bill blocking the U.S. Department of Labor rule greenlighting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Congressman Barr invited Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball and Sixth District residents Charlie Masters and Adam Hinton, both of Fleming County, to the event. You can watch the full press conference here.
“We must maximize financial returns for Americans investing their hard-earned money to save for retirement,” said Congressman Barr. “This bipartisan, bicameral, commonsense legislation ensures that we are putting Americans’ financial security ahead of politics. I want to thank Speaker McCarthy and Leader Scalise for bringing this legislation up for a vote in the beginning of this new Congress. I also want to thank Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball for her leadership on this issue and for participating in today’s signing ceremony.”
“I want to thank Andy for spearheading this bipartisan resolution to block President Biden’s woke investment regulation,” said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). “Andy has become one of our conference’s leading voices in defense of everyday American workers who do not want their retirement savings or children’s college funds to pay for a far-left political agenda. I was happy to sign his bill and send it to the President’s Desk. This is a great example of how House Republicans are keeping our promises to the American people and making a difference in Washington D.C. on their behalf.”
“The Biden Administration should not be encouraging financial managers to make decisions that put left-wing environmental and social issues ahead of retirees’ financial security. Congressman Barr’s legislation overturns the Biden Department of Labor’s woke ESG agenda to ensure financial advisors are working to maximize returns for retirees. The House passed it; the Senate passed it; but President Biden says it won’t get past his desk. By vowing to veto this important legislation, President Biden shows he prioritizes far-left, Green New Deal ideology over the 152 million Americans who are depending on their retirement accounts,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
"Retirement investment decisions used to be about good returns and making sure people could retire,” said Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball (R-KY), who has led at the state level against the ESG movement. “We must return to that mentality and stop the recent progressive ideological approach to investments by those in the ESG movement. As Kentucky State Treasurer, I’ve been working at the state level to make investments about investments, and I applaud Congressman Barr and the Republican House Majority for this major step in the right direction at the federal level."