Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1614-E1615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MUSEUM COMMEMORATIVE COIN ACT
______
speech of
HON. VIRGINIA FOXX
of north carolina
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to
the inclusion of S. 2788, a taxpayer bailout of a failing multiemployer
pension plan, in the FY 2020 appropriations package.
There is bipartisan consensus that Congress must address the current
multiemployer pension crisis, but this particular provision is a
fiscally irresponsible and shortsighted approach that sets a dangerous
precedent for future attempts to address the dire predicament facing
certain multiemployer pension plans.
Unfortunately, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) 1974 Pension
Plan has failed the hardworking miners, retirees, and their families
who sacrificed pay during their working years with the expectation that
they would receive a modest retirement income.
The UMWA Pension Plan covers 96,000 participants, the vast majority
of whom, 92,500 to be specific, are retired. That leaves a mere 3,500
active participants paying into the plan. What's more, the pension plan
is underfunded by $6.5 billion as its liabilities far exceed assets.
That's $6.5 billion that the UMWA's Pension Plan trustees, both union
and employer officials, promised workers, but will not deliver.
Let me be clear, my opposition to S. 2788 does not diminish my belief
that miners and retirees should receive the benefits they were promised
and rightfully deserve. Instead, I oppose how these benefits will be
paid and administered.
Under current law, when a multiemployer pension plan becomes
insolvent, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) provides
financial assistance to the plan to pay benefits up to the guaranteed
amount. S. 2788 circumvents that process and allows unprecedented
federal funding for one specific plan.
S. 2788 is deceptive in its approach. The bill funnels interest
earned on the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund (AML Fund) to the
UMWA Pension Plan. If the AML Fund does not sufficiently cover retiree
benefits, money from the U.S. Treasury will make up the difference.
Under current law, UMWA retiree health plans already receive funding
transfers from interest earned on the AML Fund and Treasury to pay for
retiree health benefits. The combined transfers are capped at $490
million annually. S. 2788 makes these transfers available to the UMWA
Pension Plan and raises the cap to $750 million. In FY 2019, the UMWA
health plans received $54 million from the AML Fund and a whopping $225
million from Treasury.
The AML Fund is insufficient to pay the UMWA retiree health benefits,
which it is already obligated to pay. Any additional funding will come
from Treasury. To put it simply Madam Speaker, the American people will
foot the bill for this bailout. For the first time ever, taxpayer money
will be used to prop up a failing, privately-negotiated retirement
plan.
As the Republican Leader of the Education and Labor Committee, I
would be remiss if I
[[Page E1615]]
didn't consider S. 2788 in the context of the broader multiemployer
pension plan system.
The UMWA Pension Plan is just the tip of the iceberg; it is just one
of dozens of ailing multiemployer plans at risk of insolvency and
breaking their pension promises. The passage of S. 2788 sets an ill-
advised and irreversible precedent for future multiemployer pension
plan solutions.
Multiemployer pension plans are currently underfunded by $638
billion; PBGC's multiemployer insurance program is operating with a $65
billion deficit and is expected to become insolvent by the end of FY
2025.
The responsibility for these broken promises lies exclusively with
the union and employer representatives who negotiated and managed these
plans. The UMWA Pension Plan is no exception.
Plans and trustees promised benefits without putting aside the
adequate funds to meet these promises, all to the detriment of workers
and retirees.
It should not be the role of Congress to address funding shortfalls
one pension plan at a time. That is not responsible legislating.
Instead, we should work together to address the faults of the entire
multiemployer pension system.
S. 2788 sends the wrong message to other unions and employers who
have failed adequately to fund their pension promises. It puts us on a
dangerous path that could ultimately result in Congress burdening
American taxpayers with billions of dollars in future bailouts, no
questions asked.
If Congress is serious about protecting the hard-earned retirement
benefits, which are at risk because of failing multiemployer plans, it
should address a system that is plagued with chronic underfunding,
dependency on rosy economic assumptions and expectations, and passively
accepts that plan trustees and actuaries will continue to underestimate
pension promises.
____________________
