(Bloomberg) --
Two senators are pushing a bill that would block a U.S. government retirement fund from investing in some Chinese companies after the fund’s board approved plans to transition to a different emerging market index.
The Federal Thrift Retirement Investment Board, which oversees retirement investments of federal employees, including the military, said last week that an outside consultant said the move would be in the best interests of the plan participants.
Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, asked the Homeland Security Committee to consider their bill -- the Taxpayers and Savers Protection Act -- and send it to the Senate floor for a vote.
“While the FRTIB may not see itself as a policy making institution, Congress most certainly is,” Rubio and Shaheen wrote. “Taking up the TSP Act will allow lawmakers to protect federal employees from investing their hard-earned retirement savings in AVIC’s AviChina Industry & Technology, Hikvision, ZTE and other Chinese companies that are engaged in activities counter to American interests.”
The Homeland Security Committee and FTRIB did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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