Executive Calendar
Floor Speech
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Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, I commend my friend and colleague from Maine who has been such an extraordinary leader on these issues. She is the chairwoman of our Aging Committee. We recently had a hearing on how we can do better on pricing for insulin diabetes products. She is tireless, and we are very grateful for her hard work. Pensions
Mr. President, over the next hour, we will hear from a group of Senators speaking in support of the hundreds of thousands of workers and retirees across the country at risk of losing their pensions. We are here, once again, calling on Congress to enact pension legislation before it is too late.
I thank Senator Baldwin for helping me organize this block of floor speeches, and I thank Senators Heitkamp, Manchin, Klobuchar, Casey, and Peters for their participation today and for their years of hard work in search of a solution. I also want to recognize my friend and colleague Senator Brown for his tireless leadership on this issue.
If we don't act soon, in my home State of Indiana, nearly 22,000 Teamsters and 2,700 mine workers could face significant pension cuts-- and they are not alone. There are nearly 150 multiemployer pension plans listed by the U.S. Department of Labor as in ``critical or endangered status.'' The failure of those plans would likely lead to the collapse of the Federal pension insurance program--the PBGC--the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
Over the last several years I, along with a number of my colleagues, have been calling on the Senate to take action. I helped introduce the Butch Lewis Act, which puts pension plans on solid footing through a new financing option. I also helped introduce the Miners Pension Protection Act, which would ensure the solvency of the United Mine Workers of America pension plan.
I met with Hoosier pension beneficiaries countless times to hear their stories, including hundreds of Teamsters at Local 135 in Indianapolis and dozens of mineworkers in Oakland City. Additionally, I have hosted bipartisan meetings and spoken with the current and previous administrations to push for action now.
Though I wish legislation had already been enacted, Congress did create a joint select committee earlier this year to hopefully craft a legislative solution by the end of the year. That is why I am here--to continue shining a light on this important issue and to push for a solution.
This issue has significant, real-life implications for the thousands of Hoosiers who are affected by it. Don't take my word for it; listen to the heartfelt words of my constituents.
Rex and Cristine in Fort Wayne, IN, wrote:
We both worked really hard for a combined number of 48 years . . . and now to be faced with the possibility of elimination or reduction of our pensions--through no fault of our own--would severely impact our peace of mind and quality of life. . . . A promise is a promise and we, as retirees, need these promises to be honored.
Randy, who is a retiree and Teamster since 1972 in Fort Wayne, IN, wrote:
My entire working career . . . I was promised what I would earn from my pension. . . . Now I am sixty-five years old and have health issues. . . . I need your help to pass the Butch Lewis Act of 2017 . . . that way we can all live the rest of our years with dignity and respect without becoming a burden on anyone.
Steven is a marine veteran from Columbia City, IN. He served from 1971 through 1974. He wrote:
Without my pension, Social Security is my only income. We are not asking for a hand out, only what most of us worked 30 years for. We earned our pension and as a member of Central States Pension fund, the government was already watching over our fund. What happened? Not many of us have anything else to live on. I am 66 years old and cannot replace a lost pension.
Elizabeth, from Fort Wayne, IN, wrote:
My husband and I are both drawing a pension from Central States. Together we worked 45 years without employer contribution to the pension fund. During this time we sacrificed a large amount in hourly wage so our company could contribute to our pension. Since retiring my husband suffered a heart attack and had two knee surgeries. It would be very difficult for him to find work that would replace the lost income if we no longer have our pensions.
Russel from Yoder, IN, wrote:
Without my pension, it will become much more difficult to buy groceries, pay for our medicine . . . my wife and I are both 81 years old. I paid into the pension fund for 41 years and I ask you to protect your constituents by urging the leadership to include the Butch Lewis Act in the agenda.
David, who is also from Fort Wayne, wrote:
We planned on having this pension for 30 years. All those years I worked hard, paid my dues . . . I thought I would be able to secure my family's ability to relax and enjoy retirement and not have to worry about pennies spent . . . this is not cheap and cuts into our Social Security. Our pension helps absorb these added costs for our household money and is not extra money.
Nelson, who is from Andrews, IN, wrote:
I started driving a truck in 1957 and since that time I've driven well over 3.2 million accident-free miles. . . . Now, my wife and I . . . rely on my pension for basic living expenses and to cover medical expenses. If my pension is cut, we'll be unable to make ends meet. We urgently need your help to protect my pension.
Rex and Cristine, Randy, Steven, Elizabeth, Russell, David and Nelson all earned their pensions, and they are just a small representation of the thousands of working families--and everyone has their own story-- who are depending on us to do our job and act. They don't want a handout. That is not the American way. That is not the Hoosier way. They did their part. Now it is time for us to help make good on what they were promised.
They don't care about politics. They don't want anything to do with partisanship. They just want us to fix this. That is part of why we were sent here--to solve problems--and it is time to solve this problem now.
Let's reach a solution that allows American workers to retire with the financial security they expected and the financial security they earned.
Thank you.
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Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from Wisconsin for those heartfelt and inspiring remarks. It illustrates the problem--the problem I was talking about with my friend Randy, from Fort Wayne, who said: ``My entire career I was promised what I would earn from my pension.''
These are people who every day got up in the dark, worked all day, and went home in the dark so they could take care of their families, so they could meet their obligations.
All of the businesses to which many of these teamster drivers delivered counted on those drivers to be there every day, on time in order to keep their business going, and they always kept their word.
The coal miners from my State were promised by Harry Truman that this pension was a sacred obligation that would be kept, and they counted on President Truman's word and the word of everybody else after that.
They kept the lights on in our country. They helped to make sure that we were able to win wars. They stood up every single day to fight for the red, white, and blue. All they ever asked is for us to keep our word. That is what we need to do.
I am honored to have with us here today my colleague from North Dakota, who fights every single day for the people of her State. We are so blessed to have her with us right now.
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Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, I want to thank my friend and colleague from North Dakota, who works nonstop for the people of her State.
We often talk about making sure the things we do in the Senate reward hard work, that they stand up for hard work, that they are focused on making sure there is a fair deal for those, as I mentioned before, who go to work in the dark, who work all day and all evening, and who come home in the dark, and on making sure we keep our word in regard to pensions related to them--to the people who have worked 30, 40 years.
My colleague from Michigan, Senator Peters, has always been at the forefront of making sure we keep our word, that we do what is right, and that we stand up for the working men and women of Michigan and our country.
I yield to the Senator from Michigan.
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Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Michigan, who has so many teamster members who travel back and forth across our respective borders every day, who ride some of the most difficult and dangerous roads in the world, who, on a constant basis, are helping families who may be in trouble on the road, who are helping others whom they see along the way. They are not only professional drivers and other Teamster members; they are people who keep a sharp eye out for others in order to help them if they are in trouble. They keep an eye on every family who is out there on the road and on their fellow drivers. They make America go.
So many auto parts from the Senator's State of Michigan come down to my State of Indiana. So many parts go from my State to his State of Michigan to create jobs, to make America go. We want to tell all of those workers: This is your capital. This is your government. We are the hired help. We work for you. It is our obligation to fix this because promises were made.
President Harry Truman promised our mine workers that their pensions would be protected and that their healthcare would be protected. Those mine workers went down underground and powered our economy and powered our war efforts in World War II, in Korea, in Vietnam. They were there to ensure that when our men and women were overseas, they would have what they needed. Promises were made. It is our obligation to keep them for the Central States Pension Fund and for other pension programs.
As I mentioned before, these are the people who go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, who drive our economy and who make our country the envy of the world. They don't come up with excuses. They make sure all of the other workers in our Nation have all of the goods they need to put cars together, to build planes--to drive our Nation forward, to continue to increase our productivity. That is what these men and women have done for 30, 40 years, and they have contributed to their pension plans. All they are asking is for a fair deal. It is our job--it is up to us--to make sure we keep that sacred bond, and that is what we will fight to do.
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Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, we are blessed to have with us my friend and colleague from West Virginia, Senator Manchin. No one fights harder for the working folks than Senator Manchin. No one fought harder to make sure we were able to protect the healthcare benefits of our retired mine workers. We worked together on that nonstop to make sure that promise was kept, and Senator Manchin has continued to work nonstop to protect the pensions of these mine workers and of so many others, like of the Central States. Senator Manchin has been kind enough to join us this afternoon, and we look forward to his remarks.
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Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, we are so fortunate to have such a fighter for the people of West Virginia in Senator Manchin. We are grateful for his hard work.
We have another amazing fighter for the people of the State of Minnesota, Senator Klobuchar. Senator Klobuchar has fought nonstop on this issue as well.
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Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from Minnesota. She has been a nonstop advocate for folks across her State and across the country. Another nonstop advocate has been my friend and colleague from Pennsylvania, Senator Casey, who works tirelessly not only on behalf of the Keystone State but on behalf of working families all across America.
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Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues from Pennsylvania and Minnesota, who are still in the Chamber with us right now. Their focus has always been on honoring hard work, on making sure that we keep our word to the truckdriver who has paid in every day, who is riding down the Pennsylvania Turnpike or the Schuylkill Expressway or heading up I-35 in Minnesota and that we keep the promise that was made to them after 30, 35 years of hard work, of driving, of trying to keep people safe, of making a difference, of delivering the food people have to eat, the parts people have to put together at work to make sure our country can continue to move forward. Those are the folks we are talking about.
If either of my colleagues would like to say anything else in regard to the amazing, hard work of the miners in Pennsylvania or the teamsters in Minnesota--those are the folks, the Central States Pension Fund and so many other pension funds, as well, that we fight for every single day to try to get this done because, as the Senator from Pennsylvania said, this is a job that is half done right now. We were able to make sure we protected the healthcare benefits that were promised.
There was a miner and his wife with whom I spent time in Oakland City, IN, down in Gibson County where we have so many coal mines. When I saw him, he said: This is one of the greatest days for me when we were able to keep healthcare benefits.
He said: ``It's not for me. It's because my wife, who is ill''--and they are both in their eighties--``can now get her medicine again next week.'' That is what his concern was. It wasn't about himself. It was about his wife and making sure, with the pain she was struggling with and the healthcare problems that she had, that he was able to make sure she would be OK.
That is our job; it is to back up the word that was given to him because he spent his life working nonstop to keep our country moving forward, and all he asked in return is that we keep our word.
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