[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 126 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H6864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   COAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND RETIRED EMPLOYEE ACT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3813) to modify requirements relating to allocation of 
interest that accrues to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3813

       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 ``Coal Accountability and 
     Retired Employee Act for the 21st Century''.

     SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF ABANDONED MINE RECLAMATION FUND 
                   INTEREST.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, any interest credited to the fund established by section 
     401 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 
     (30 U.S.C. 1231) shall be transferred to the Combined Fund 
     identified in section 402(h)(2) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 
     1232(h)(2)), up to such amount as is estimated by the 
     trustees of such Combined Fund to offset the amount of any 
     deficit in net assets in the Combined Fund.
       (b) Prohibition on Other Transfers.--Except as provided in 
     subsection (a), no principal amounts in or credited to the 
     fund established by section 401 of the Surface Mining Control 
     and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1231) may be 
     transferred to the Combine Fund identified in section 
     402(h)(2) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 1232(h)(2)).
       (c) Limitation.--This section shall cease to have any force 
     and effect after September 30, 2004.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen).
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 3813 the Coal Accountability and Retired Employee Act for the 
21st Century introduced by the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. 
Rahall) transfers any interest credited to the Abandoned Mine 
Reclamation Fund established under the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act of 1977 to the Combined Benefit Fund for 2 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. RAHALL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, enactment this year of the pending 
legislation will stave off any potential reduction in health care 
coverage for 54,000 retired coal miners and their widows, whose average 
age is 78 years old. These miners bravely served their country through 
both war and peace, many of them working deep within the bowels of this 
Earth to produce the coal that powered this Nation through both the 
industrial and now the technological revolution. We owe them a debt of 
gratitude and as a society would be ill-served by not keeping the 
promise to them of lifetime health care.
  In this regard I do want to express my sincere appreciation to the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen), chairman of the Committee on 
Resources, for his support of this legislation. He has not only been of 
tremendous help on this, but a great many other pieces of legislation 
that this committee has produced. I salute him for his leadership.
  I also want to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney), who is an 
original cosponsor of this bill, who does care very deeply about our 
Nation's coal miners. I salute him for his work as well.
  Finally, I want to say to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Cubin), 
I thank her for working with me on this bill and for helping to make it 
possible for this legislation to be considered on the floor today.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 3813, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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