H. Res. 1463 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
July 20, 2010. 
Whereas the rail industry established the first formal indus-
trial pension plan in North America on the Grand Trunk 
Railway in 1874; 
Whereas by the late 1920s more than 80 percent of all rail-
road workers in the United States were employed by com-
panies with existing pension plans, but the benefits pro-
vided by these plans were generally inadequate, liable to 
capricious termination, and of little assistance to disabled 
employees; 
Whereas when the Great Depression drove the already unsta-
ble railroad pension system into a state of crisis, the rail-
road industry was beset by retirees who needed imme-
diate assistance but the planned Social Security system 
would not cover work performed prior to 1937 and was 
not scheduled to begin paying benefits until 1940; 
Whereas railroad workers sought a separate railroad retire-
ment system which would continue and broaden the exist-
ing railroad programs under a uniform national plan; 
Whereas, on August 29, 1935, President Franklin D. Roo-
sevelt signed into law the Railroad Retirement Act, estab-
lishing the beginnings of a new social insurance system 
for the Nation’s rail industry that today protects working
•HRES 1463 EH 
families against loss of income due to the retirement, dis-
ability, or death of a wage earner and assists in meeting 
the medical expenses of the elderly and long-term dis-
abled; 
Whereas the Railroad Retirement Act was amended numer-
ous times between 1937 and 2002, including a major re-
structuring in 1974 and most recently by enactment of 
the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’ Improvement Act 
of 2001, the most significant railroad retirement legisla-
tion in almost 20 years; 
Whereas the benefit and financing provisions of the legisla-
tion, like those provisions of most previous railroad re-
tirement legislation, were based on joint recommenda-
tions negotiated by a coalition of rail freight carriers and 
rail labor organizations; 
Whereas the Act liberalized early retirement benefits for 30- 
year employees and their spouses, eliminated a cap on 
monthly retirement and disability benefits, lowered the 
minimum service requirement from 10 years to 5 years 
of service if performed after 1995, and provided in-
creased benefits for some widows and widowers; 
Whereas the Act reduced tier II tax rates on rail employers 
in calendar years 2002 and 2003 and beginning with 
2004 provided automatic adjustments in the tier II tax 
rates for both employers and employees, and also re-
pealed the supplemental annuity work-hour tax rate; 
Whereas as a result of this provision, the tier II tax rate on 
employers has decreased from 16.1 percent in 2001 to 
12.1 percent in 2010 and the tax rate on employees has 
decreased from 4.9 percent in 2001 to 3.9 percent in 
2010;
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Whereas the law also created the National Railroad Retire-
ment Investment Trust, which manages and invests rail-
road retirement funds in nongovernmental assets, as well 
as in governmental securities; 
Whereas since creation of the Trust, its assets have grown 
from $20,700,000,000 in 2002 to $25,200,000,000 as of 
March 31, 2010, and that amount does not include an 
additional $8,900,000,000 transferred by the Trust to 
the Treasury to pay railroad retirement benefits during 
this period; 
Whereas, during the past 75 years, railroad retirement bene-
fits have been paid by the Railroad Retirement Board to 
more than 2,000,000 retired workers, 1,100,000 spouses, 
and 2,400,000 survivors; 
Whereas the first retirement annuities awarded under the 
1935 Railroad Retirement Act averaged $60 a month 
with no monthly benefits for spouses or survivors; 
Whereas today employee annuity awards average about 
$2,700 a month, annuities for spouses average over $900 
a month, and annuities to aged and disabled widows and 
widowers just over $1,700 a month; 
Whereas in 2010, nearly 600,000 beneficiaries will receive re-
tirement and survivor benefits and about 42,000 persons 
will receive unemployment and sickness benefits; 
Whereas today more than 200,000 people work in railroad 
employment and pay railroad retirement taxes; 
Whereas the rail industry and its workers continue to be an 
integral part of our Nation’s transportation system and 
vital to our economy; and 
Whereas the Railroad Retirement Board has designated Au-
gust 29, 2010, as ‘‘Railroad Retirement Day’’ to cele-
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brate the success and importance of the railroad retire-
ment system to America’s working families: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the goals and ideals of Railroad Retire-
ment Day as designated by the Railroad Retirement 
Board; 
(2) recognizes the important contributions that the 
rail industry, rail workers, and retirees make to the na-
tional transportation system; and 
(3) urges the people of the United States to recog-
nize such a day as an opportunity to celebrate the im-
portance of the railroad retirement system to America’s 
working families. 
Attest: 
Clerk.