A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a bill this week that would ban the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) from investing assets in countries of concern, including China and Russia.
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement and investment plan for federal employees and members of the military. This bill, the Taxpayers and Savers Protection (TSP) Act, would prohibit the TSP from investing in companies listed on the exchanges of a country of concern, headquartered in a country of concern, or substantially controlled by a country of concern.
The bill identifies countries of concern based on the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s annual threat assessment. Those countries are China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
“The People’s Republic of China should not be profiting from the retirement accounts of U.S. government employees and service members,” U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), one of the bill’s sponsors, said. “It’s dangerous to prop up companies that threaten the interests of the U.S. and our allies, and it would be particularly egregious to do so with the hard-earned savings of federal workers, including our military and civilian workforce. I am proud to again join Senator Rubio on this bicameral, bipartisan legislation to ensure that this does not continue, and I’m glad our legislation now expands this ban to adversaries like Russia, Iran and North Korea to send a clear message about how the U.S. characterizes Xi’s behavior and the actors he aligns with.”
Along with Shaheen, the bill was introduced by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Josh Hawley (R-MO).
“Americans work hard to save for retirement. The United States cannot expose federal employees’ retirement assets to go to companies in countries that do not have their best interests at heart, like Communist China and Russia,” Scott said. “I am proud to stand with Senator Rubio to reintroduce our Taxpayers and Savers Protection Act to ban such investments so hard working Americans can feel confident that their nest eggs will be safe and sound when they are ready to retire.”