[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 110 (Monday, July 26, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6246-S6247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mr. Goodwin):
  S. 3649. A bill to amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation 
Act of 1977 to provide for use of excess funds available under that Act 
to provide for certain benefits, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the 
Coalfield Accountability and Retired Employee Act of 2010, CARE Act. 
Senator Goodwin joins me in introducing this important legislation. It 
is the first bill we have worked together on, and I look forward to 
many more as partners in the Senate fighting for West Virginians.
  The CARE Act protects the pensions for over 100,000 mineworkers. It 
takes excess funds from the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program and 
transfers that money to the United Mine Workers of America, UMWA, 
pension plan. These are AML funds that go unused and are not needed, 
according to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 
and the UMWA. So what our legislation does is put that money to good 
use, and protects the pensions of our hardworking mineworkers.
  Congress needs to act because the UMWA pension fund is on the road to 
insolvency. It has been hit by the perfect storm--the recent financial 
crisis, the small number of active mineworkers who provide the funding 
base for the pension plan, and the large number of ``orphans'' who 
receive their pensions under the plan. These ``orphans'' are retired 
mineworkers for whom a company no longer makes contributions to the 
pension fund, typically because the company is out of business.
  So Congress and the Federal Government have to act in order to make 
sure that the pensions of our mineworkers

[[Page S6247]]

are protected. Dating back to President Harry Truman, the Federal 
Government has assumed a responsibility to our mineworkers. In 1992, I 
was extremely proud to work on the passage of the COAL Act, where we 
recommitted to our miners. That bill allowed the transfer of interest 
accruing to the unappropriated balance of the Abandoned Mine 
Reclamation Fund to be used to provide health care for a large number 
of orphaned miners and their widows. This Federal commitment was once 
again affirmed in the 2006 amendments to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation 
Program which sought to again protect the health care plans of miners 
from insolvency.
  Now, 18 years after passing the COAL Act, Senator Goodwin and I are 
again renewing our commitment to the nation's miners with the CARE Act. 
This bill will protect the solvency of our miners' pension plans.
  In West Virginia, we revere our miners--the men and women who put 
their lives on the line every single day to provide for their families 
and bring light and heat to millions. Their tenacity, their courage and 
their determination is an inspiration to us all. The work they do 
everyday provides nearly half of our nation with power to light and 
heat our homes. We should all thank them for the service they provide 
this country, and continue protecting our miners' retirement benefits 
going forward.
                                 ______