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declaratory judgment actions brought by employees, was identical
to the language of S. 1179 as reported by the Senate Finance
Committee and described in S. Rept. 93-383. Accordingly, it is
appropriate to look to the Senate Finance Committee’s report on
S. 1179 for an authoritative explanation of section 601(a) of
H.R. 4200, as passed by the Senate.
On October 2, 1973, the House Committee on Education and
Labor reported H.R. 2, the Employee Benefit Security Act. H.R. 2
did not include provisions for declaratory judgments.
On February 5, 1974, the House Committee on Ways and Means
reported H.R. 12481, to provide pension reform. Section 1041(a)
of H.R. 12481 provided for declaratory judgments as to tax-
qualified status of employee plans. Proposed section 7476(b)(1)
was identical to what was enacted, except that the bill did not
provide that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation could be a
petitioner. In H. Rept. 93-779, to accompany H.R. 12481, the
House Ways and Means Committee stated as follows:
Since the special tax benefits provided by the tax law are
provided as an incentive to employers to adopt plans which
provide for broad coverage of employees and protection of
participants and beneficiaries, these individuals are to be
treated as interested parties (under regulations prescribed
by the Secretary or his delegate), and thus may petition the
Tax Court to declare that the plan as constituted does not
satisfy the requirements of the tax law designed to protect
the employees and their beneficiaries as intended by
Congress. For example, a participant under a plan would be
entitled to bring an action if he alleges that the vesting
provisions under the plan do not satisfy the minimum vesting
requirements of the tax law (sec. 411), and thus the plan is
not entitled to the tax benefits provided for qualified
plans unless the plan is amended to satisfy the minimum
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