[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 176 (Wednesday, December 7, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H7273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PROTECTING PENSIONS OF COAL MINERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West 
Virginia (Mr. Jenkins) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, miners and their widows in 
West Virginia and across the country are asking us to protect their 
pensions and health care, families like Robin Workman of Boone County, 
who wrote to me about how she and her husband depend on these benefits. 
These are the benefits that they earned.
  She said: ``My husband put in 35 years underground, a promise made to 
them shouldn't be broken. West Virginia helped keep the lights on back 
then as well as today. Please don't forget about us.''
  This promise dates back to 1946 when the Truman administration signed 
an agreement with coal miners, an agreement that guaranteed their 
pensions and health care would be there for them when they retired. Now 
that agreement--no, that promise--is in jeopardy.
  In just a few weeks, tens of thousands of miners and widows will lose 
their health insurance. These miners have back problems, knee problems, 
and breathing problems, all from their work in the mines. They simply 
cannot go without insurance.
  Kenny Meade's father is one of those retired miners. He lives in 
Chapmanville and reached out to me to share the story of his parents. 
Kenny wrote about his father. He said: ``He worked 31 years in the 
mines and often for less than other miners so he could bargain for 
their right to health care and pensions.''
  This is an issue we can fix, but it is not an issue that arose 
overnight. The war on coal has decimated coal jobs in West Virginia and 
across the country. An onslaught of overreaching Federal regulations 
have made it harder to mine coal and harder to burn coal. Coal-fired 
power plants have shut down, making electricity more expensive and 
reducing the market for coal.
  As demand has decreased and regulations have made it harder to mine 
coal, mines are closing and companies are filing for bankruptcy. A 
company in bankruptcy isn't going to have the resources to meet its 
pension obligations.
  All of these market forces, regulations, and the war on coal have had 
devastating impacts on our miners and their families. It is time for 
Congress to act to keep the promise and protect the benefits the miners 
worked their entire life to earn.
  The Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act won't cost taxpayers 
anything. It uses existing funds paid for by mining companies to 
provide for retired miners. This is not a tax. Taxpayers won't be on 
the hook for these pensions. This is about ensuring a promise made is a 
promise kept.
  Mr. Speaker, as we approach the holiday season, I hope we will 
remember the retirees and widows worried about what the new year will 
bring. We must act now to pass a solution to this crisis to keep our 
word.

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