The beginning or history of ERISA is said to have begun in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy created the President's Committee on Corporate Pension Plans. Shortly afterwards, the movement for pension reform gained some momentum when the Studebaker Corporation, an automobile manufacturer, closed its plant in 1963; the pension plan was so poorly funded that former employees received only 15% of the pensions they had been promised. Consequently, in 1967, Senator Jacob Javits proposed legislation that would address the funding, vesting, reporting, and disclosure issues identified by the presidential committee. His bill was opposed by business groups and labor unions, both of whom sought to retain the flexibility they enjoyed under pre-ERISA law. A turning point in the history of ERISA came in 1970, when the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) broadcast Pensions: The Broken Promise, an hour-long television special that showed millions of Americans the consequences of poorly funded pension plans and onerous vesting requirements. In the following years, Congress held a series of public hearings on pension issues and public support for pension reform grew significantly due to public fears of retiring with little or no retirement money. Eventually, President Gerald Ford passed ERISA on September 2, 1974.
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