More than 30 House Democrats sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis on Monday that not only thanked her for Phyllis Borzi's decision to withdraw the DOL's proposed rule redefining the term fiduciary, but also set out specific areas the new rule should address when it's reproposed in early 2012.

The letter, which was also signed by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, argued that if the previous rule had been finalized, "millions of Americans would have been left without the ability to receive adequate investment education and assistance in planning for retirement. Furthermore, the proposal would have been harmful for the many small businesses that need help in providing retirement benefits for their employees."

The letter writing effort was led by Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., who addressed members of the Financial Services Institute (FSI) at FSI's  Advocacy Summit in Washington in late October.

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Melanie Waddell

Melanie is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of ThinkAdvisor. Her ThinkAdvisor coverage zeros in on how politics, policy, legislation and regulations affect the investment advisory space. Melanie’s coverage has been cited in various lawmakers’ reports, letters and bills, and in the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule in 2023. In 2019, Melanie received an Honorable Mention, Range of Work by a Single Author award from @Folio. Melanie joined Investment Advisor magazine as New York bureau chief in 2000. She has been a columnist since 2002. She started her career in Washington in 1994, covering financial issues at American Banker. Since 1997, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, holding senior editorial positions at American Banker publications in both Washington and New York. Briefly, she was content chief for Internet Capital Group’s EFinancialWorld in New York and wrote freelance articles for Institutional Investor. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. She interned at The Baltimore Sun and its suburban edition.