Cite as: 516 U. S. 489 (1996)
Thomas, J., dissenting
Russell cannot be so easily dismissed. Our holding in that case was based not only on the text of § 409, but also on "the statutory provisions defining the duties of a fiduciary, and [on] the provisions defining the rights of a beneficiary." 473 U. S., at 140. The language of § 409 weighed heavily in our analysis, but it was ultimately "[a] fair contextual reading of the statute," id., at 142, that led to our conclusion that "Congress did not intend that section to authorize any relief except for the plan itself." Id., at 144. The majority is simply wrong when it states that the language "the Court found limiting" in Russell appears only in § 409. Ante, at 509. Since our holding in Russell relied on the language and structure of ERISA as a whole, and not solely on the text of §§ 409 and 502(a)(2), the Court cannot dismiss Russell on the ground that Russell provides no insight into the provisions at issue in this case.
Much of our reasoning in Russell forecloses the possibility of individual relief even under § 502(a)(3). For instance, in interpreting § 409 in Russell to afford relief solely on behalf of the plan, we found it significant that "the relevant fiduciary relationship characterized at the outset [of § 409 is] one 'with respect to a plan.' " 473 U. S., at 140. It must also be significant, then, that Congress employed the same or similar language virtually every time it referred to a fiduciary or a fiduciary obligation in ERISA. See, e. g., §§ 3(21)(A), 404, 405, 406, 409, 411, 29 U. S. C. §§ 1002(21)(A), 1104, 1105, 1106, 1109, 1111. Section 404, the very provision that respondents seek to enforce in this case, governs the manner in which "a fiduciary . . . discharge[s] his duties with respect to a plan." § 404(a)(1) (emphasis added). And the definition of a fiduciary under ERISA also places the focus on the responsibilities of a "fiduciary with respect to a plan." § 3(21)(A) (emphasis added). In light of the "basic canon of statutory construction that identical terms within an Act bear the same meaning," Estate of Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Co., 505 U. S. 469, 479 (1992) (citation omitted), we should
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