Court Opinion

ID: 9480916
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:02:45.249102+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:00.054787
License: Public Domain

FLAUM, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the judgment.
I concur in the judgment of the majority. I write separately because of my reluctance to join what, with all due respect, I view as an unnecessary excursion into areas of legislative motive and functioning.
As the arbitrator and the district court found, the plain meaning of the term “substantially all” used in 29 U.S.C. § 1381 favors the Pension Fund. While what “substantially all” means in numerical terms may not be clear, what is clear is that it does not mean a bare majority. In light of the plain meaning of the statute as it relates to the question posed in this case, it is questionable whether examination of the legislative history of the statute is appropriate, much less enlightening. See Davis v. Michigan Dept. of the Treasury, 489 U.S. 803, 109 S.Ct. 1500, 1503 n. 3, 103 L.Ed.2d 891 (1989) (“Legislative history is irrelevant to the interpretation of an unambiguous statute.”).
Moreover, any impact of the scant legislative history of § 1381 on the decision of this case is at best neutral. Continental’s case is based in part on a particularly disfavored form of legislative “history,” post-enactment statements. See Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. at 566-68, 108 S.Ct. at 2550 (1988); United States v. United Mine Workers, 330 U.S. 258, 281-82, 67 S.Ct. 677, 690, 91 L.Ed. 884 (1947); United States v. Marshall, 908 F.2d 1312, 1318-19 (7th Cir.1990) (en banc). Even the pre-en-actment statement of Senator Durenberger on which Continental relies conflicts with a contemporaneous statement made by Representative Thompson, to which we must accord equal weight.
Furthermore, the interpretation the arbitrator gave the term “substantially all” is consistent with the use of that term by the Internal Revenue Service in a variety of contexts. Turning to judicial interpretations, the view Continental propounds is inconsistent with the one taken by two *1161district courts in this Circuit. Central States Pension Fund v. Bellmont Trucking Co., 610 F.Supp. 1505, 1510-11 (N.D.Ind.1985), aff'd on other grounds, 788 F.2d 428 (7th Cir.1986); Peick v. PBGC, 539 F.Supp. 1025, 1060-61 (N.D.Ill.1982), aff'd on other grounds, 724 F.2d 1247 (7th Cir.1983). These reasons, taken together, suffice to dispose of this case.