[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1463 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1463

      Supporting the goals and ideals of Railroad Retirement Day.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 22, 2010

Mr. Perriello submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
           the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
      Supporting the goals and ideals of Railroad Retirement Day.

Whereas the rail industry established the first formal industrial pension plan 
        in North America on the Grand Trunk Railway in 1874;
Whereas by the late 1920s more than 80 percent of all railroad workers in the 
        United States were employed by companies with existing pension plans, 
        but the benefits provided 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 unstable railroad pension 
        system into a state of crisis, the railroad industry was beset by 
        retirees who needed immediate 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 retirement system which 
        would continue and broaden the existing railroad programs under a 
        uniform national plan;
Whereas, on August 29, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the 
        Railroad Retirement Act, establishing the beginnings of a new social 
        insurance system for the Nation's rail industry that today protects 
        working families against loss of income due to the retirement, 
        disability, or death of a wage earner and assists in meeting the medical 
        expenses of the elderly and long-term disabled;
Whereas the Railroad Retirement Act was amended numerous times between 1937 and 
        2002, including a major restructuring in 1974 and most recently by 
        enactment of the Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 
        2001, the most significant railroad retirement legislation in almost 20 
        years;
Whereas the benefit and financing provisions of the legislation, like those 
        provisions of most previous railroad retirement legislation, were based 
        on joint recommendations 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 increased 
        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 
        repealed 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;
Whereas the law also created the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust, 
        which manages and invests railroad 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 benefits 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 retirement 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 August 29, 2010, as 
        ``Railroad Retirement Day'' to celebrate the success and importance of 
        the railroad retirement system to America's working families: Now, 
        therefore be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of Railroad Retirement 
        Day as designated by the Railroad Retirement Board;
            (2) recognizes the important contributions that the rail 
        industry, rail workers, and retirees make to the national 
        transportation system; and
            (3) urges the people of the United States to recognize such 
        a day as an opportunity to celebrate the importance of the 
        railroad retirement system to America's working families.
                                 <all>