Date: 2005-12-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself 3 minutes. Mr. Speaker. when United Airlines announced it was going to go into bankruptcy. the Democratic members of the Committee on Education and the Workforce planned an ehearing so those people who were most affected by the termination of that plan and the bankruptcy of that company would have an opportunity to talk to their representatives in Congress. We were. not going to have a hdaring on this problem. and these people could not come to. Washington and testify. So we opened up the Internet to them. and we received thousands of replies from people telling us their life stories. The amazing thing about it was how many of these people were Qsing their retirement to care for another member of their family. It could be *a spouse with an illness. it could be a child. a grandchild. and all of a sudden. half of their pensions were evaporated into the bankruptcy of United Airlines. Mr. Kenneth Schmidt. a longtime employee of United from Goodyear. Arizona. wrote. "Dear Congressman. I had worked at United for 38 years when I retired in February of 2003. My job as a mechanic was always a source of pride to me. I worked midnights for many years. and in doing so. I missed many of my family gatherings and holidays. This was what I chose to do in life. and I did it with no complaints. But now I am faced with large cuts in my retirement benefits. My retirement should be a time .for taking it easy. traveling and enjoying my golden years. If this cut happens. both my wife and I will be forced to reenter the work world. probably full time if our medical insurance is also affected. This is a sad time in this country for all the workers who are relying on a pensibn to ease their lives and make this time relaxing and enjoyable. The stress thatis being created by the turn of events is not healthy for anyone. Please try and help all retirees and future retirees out of this most unfortunate set of troubles." What the problem is is that this legislation does nothing for the Kenneth Schmidts of the world. he and his family. It does nothing to keep companies from simply making a business decision that they can throw the company into bankruptcy. get rid of the retirebment and health care obligations to retirees and move along. This is not some unusual practice to bring shame upon a company. The steel companies did it. The airlines have done it. There is a question of whether the automobile industry will go this way. It is really not completely about their pensions. It is about a decision of a business plan. It is about competitionand a change in the marketplace. But the fact of the matter is that. at the end of the day. there is no showing. United did not have to show that for these pension plans they would be a solvent company. In fact. the people from the PBGC wrote and said that they thought the flight attendant plan could be salvaged. and in fact. maybe the others could. But the decision was .made and -they went into bankruptcy without a hearing on that issue. Companies should have to exhaust all of their attempts to try to save the retirement plans of these Americans. these people who have worked hard. Remember. these pension plans. they traded pay. They traded health care benefits. They traded vacation days for this pension plan. That was the agreement and the guarantee. Now. unilaterally. the company gets up and walks away from it. And to rub salt into their wounds. there were pilots required by the laws of this Nation to retire earlier. They take an additional hit on their pension. because they are early retirees. not because they wanted to stop flying but because the law says they have to retire. So we have pension plans that could have been salvaged and people who are being punished because of the Federal law in terms.of their early retirements. and this bill does nothing to fix that. We do that in our motion to recommit. We address the concerns of the flight attendants. We address the concerns of the early retirees. and we address the concerns of the airlines. but it does not do that in the majority bill because they want to go off and use those people as trading chips. the retirement nest eggs of these hardworking Americans. in the conference committee. I urge Members to vote against this legislation. Mr. CAMP.of Michigan. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. H.R. 2830. the Pension Protection Act of 2005 strengthens retirement security for millions of Americans. Current pension funding laws and structures . are outdated and threaten the financial stability of the pension system. In fact. the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. PBGC. the government insurer of pension plans. estimates that single employer plans are underfunded by up to $450 billion. Furthermore. an increasing number of companies are using the bankruptcy system to dump massively underfunded pension plans on the PBGC. Since traditional pensions are a critical componerit of retirement security. it is essential to form law that modernizes and strengthens funding rules. H.R. 2830 ensures that companies fulfill their pension promises to working people. It requires employers" to fully fund their pension plans and rectify funding shortfalls more quickly. It also ensures that employees receive uptodate and accurate information about their pensions and prevents companies from making future promises when they cannot even meet current obligations. The bill strikes the right balance in ensuring the plans will begin - to be more appropriately funded while not being so strict that the companies providing pension plans are in danger of having to terminate them. To that end. H.R. 2830 provides transition relief to employers. giving them time and flexibility to get their pension funding in order. In addition. the Ways and Means Committee incorporated into this package a number of tax incentiveg to increase retirement savings for Americans. Included in H.R. 2830 are provisions to make permanent the savers credit and the increased contribution limits for IRAs and other 401(k) plans. The bill also increases savings opportunities for our. men and women in combat and provides increased pension flexibility for public safety officers. including firefighters. policemen and emergency medical service employees. Furthermore. this bill provides tax benefits to make health care and longterm- care more affordable. H.R. 2830 makes permanent bipartisan pension improvements established in 2001. While pension reform is a difficult area to make adjustments. given the unique needs of each employer. this legislation is a fair and balanced package that will provide economic security for millions of Americans. It has broad support for both the employer and labor communities. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.