[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 162 (Tuesday, October 15, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5783]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Unanimous Consent Request--S. 27

  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask 
unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from the 
further consideration of S. 27, the American Miners Act of 2019; that 
the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that the bill be 
considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
  The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, in reserving the right to object, let me 
give a short explanation.
  The issues facing miners' pension plans are of critical importance, 
but I have to tell my colleagues that so are the issues that face a 
large number of multiemployer plans, and one of the biggest that is of 
concern is the Central States Pension Plan.
  Since last year, the Committee on Finance has been working on a 
bipartisan basis to address the issues that face the multiemployer 
system. We are nearing the completion of a comprehensive proposal that 
will include financial assistance to the critical and declining 
multiemployer pension plans and will provide long-term solvency to 
these plans and to the longer term solvency of the Pension Benefit 
Guaranty Corporation, or, as we know it around here, the PBGC. That 
proposal will include financial relief for miners and mining companies 
because the situation with the miners' pensions should be handled in 
the context of these broader, multiemployer plan reforms.
  The Senator from West Virginia is a person with whom I work very 
often and like personally, but I must object to this and take the 
course of action of dealing with this in a larger context rather than 
just for miners' pensions, so I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, if I could respond briefly to the Senator 
from Iowa, the reason for my request, as far as its being urgent, is 
that we are on the cusp of having one major coal company go bankrupt. 
As we speak right now, it is out there trying to restructure, but if it 
declares bankruptcy, our timetable on our miners' pensions moves from 
2022 to 2020. If the miners go down first, it will create a whole 
tumbling effect with the others. This one can keep us from going into 
insolvency with the PBGC. All we are trying to do is to prevent that 
from happening because this is going to move very quickly, 
unfortunately, if this one large coal company goes bankrupt.
  That is why I brought it to the floor today, sir, with all due 
respect.
  I hope the Senator and I will talk some more about this and that he 
will understand the gravity of what we are dealing with because it is 
really concerning to me right now.
  I thank the Senator.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I heard what my friend said. I still 
stick by what I told him, which is that we are working on a plan to 
deal with multiemployers in many different situations of which the 
Senator's is a very important part.
  Mr. MANCHIN. I respect that, sir.
  I look forward to working with the Senator.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.