[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 87 (Wednesday, June 26, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6129-S6130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER:
  S. 2685. A bill to amend the Black Lung Benefits Act, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, coalminers in this country have 
risked their lives and limbs, making enormous sacrifices to fuel our 
nation. We owe them the respect and benefits they have earned. Sadly, 
these miners' families are being abandoned in their time of greatest 
need: when they are coping with the devastating loss of a loved one 
from black lung disease. Current policy arbitrarily forces some widows 
of black lung victims to wade through bureaucracy to prove and reprove 
their spouse's illness, and this simply is not right.
  The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund was created to assist miners who 
were terminated prior to 1970, or who worked in mines where no mine 
operator can be assigned health care liabilities. The Black Lung 
Benefits Act, BLBA, was amended in 1981 to strengthen the finances of 
the Trust Fund, but it made it extremely difficult for those suffering 
from black lung to qualify for benefits.
  Currently, there are two very different standards governing 
entitlement to benefits for the spouses of deceased black lung victims. 
In the event that a Trust Fund beneficiary died prior to

[[Page S6130]]

January 1, 1982, benefits rightly continue uninterrupted to the 
surviving spouse. But if the beneficiary died or dies after January 1, 
1982, the surviving spouse must file a new claim to benefits and must 
prove that the miner was already deemed eligible to receive benefits.
  This issue affects more than 11,000 West Virginia retirees and their 
survivors, as well as another 51,000 black lung families across the 
country. I have introduced legislation that would begin to rectify the 
failures of the Black Lung Benefits Act. It is a companion to 
legislation Representative Rahall introduced in the House. The Black 
Lung Benefits Survivors Equity Act of 2002 would give benefits to 
widows of black lung victims, benefits that these women rightfully 
deserve.
  Linda Chapman, one very strong and courageous woman from Spencer, WV, 
tragically lost her husband, Carson, to black lung disease last 
January. On top of this tragedy, she was denied survivor benefits 
simply because of the BLBA's double standards. But rather than giving 
up, Linda stood up.
  On behalf of the surviving widows of black lung victims, she walked 
several hundred miles from Charleston, WV, to Washington, DC, to 
generate public interest and to get the attention of lawmakers as well. 
I applaud Mrs. Chapman's efforts, and was pleased to meet her when she 
arrived in Washington.
  I hope this Senate will act quickly to remedy this problem for Mrs. 
Chapman and other black lung widows like her. After all that they have 
endured, these women should not have to fight against bureaucracy 
simply to obtain the survivors' benefits due them.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2685

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Black Lung Benefits 
     Survivors Equity Act of 2002''.

     SEC. 2. EQUITY FOR CERTAIN ELIGIBLE SURVIVORS.

       (a) Rebuttable Presumption.--Paragraph (4) of section 
     411(c) of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 921(c)(4)) 
     is amended by striking the last sentence.
       (b) Continuation of Benefits.--Section 422(l) of the Black 
     Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 932(l)) is amended by striking 
     ``, except with respect to a claim filed under this part on 
     or after the effective date of the Black Lung Benefits 
     Amendments of 1981''.
                                 ______