[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 178 (Thursday, November 7, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             COAL INDUSTRY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on another matter, one of the untold 
stories of the Obama administration was the dramatic geographic 
inequality that deepened on the Democrats' watch.
  From 2010 to 2016, the Nation's largest metro areas captured nearly 
75 percent of the new jobs and 90 percent of the population growth. Big 
cities did OK, but unfair and regressive policies, like the War on 
Coal, left many other communities--smaller cities, small towns, and 
rural areas--literally in the dust.
  Homegrown American energy, including coal, has supported entire 
communities in Kentucky and throughout the country for generations, but 
even before he took office, President Obama declared a war on coal. 
Here is what he said: ``If somebody wants to build a coal-fired power 
plant, they can; it is just that it will bankrupt them.''
  Of course, that approach didn't only hurt American businesses, it 
hurt American workers. In 2009, 23,000 Kentuckians made their living 
mining coal. By the end of 2016, that number had dropped to barely more 
than 6,500. It went from 23,000 to 6,500 during the Obama years. Nearly 
three-quarters of the State's coal jobs were gone in the span of one 
Presidency.
  So since the earliest days of the Trump administration, we have 
prioritized ending the War on Coal and trying to repair the damage. We 
have repealed hostile regulations and created tailwinds instead of 
headwinds for America's energy dominance. But 8 years of damage is not 
easy to unwind. Many coal communities are still suffering. There are 
more mine closures and more bankruptcies. Workers' paychecks and 
retirees' pensions are thrown into uncertainty. So our work continues.
  A few years back, I worked to secure permanent health benefits for 
thousands of retirees. Yesterday, a bipartisan group here in the 
Senate, led by Senators Capito, Manchin, and me, took a major step 
toward addressing the emergency of underfunded pensions for thousands 
of miners, retirees, and their families. We introduced new legislation 
to expand that healthcare fix to include 13,000 more miners and protect 
the pensions of nearly 92,000 miners into the future.
  Earlier this week, I personally raised the subject with President 
Trump. We discussed the importance of working toward a solution for 
these retirees.
  Just yesterday, I hosted Kentucky miners here in the Capitol to hear 
their concerns and discuss a potential path forward.
  I have spent my entire career in the Senate fighting for all 
Kentuckians. I have worked to protect coal communities from bad ideas 
and to promote their future, and I will keep working with the Trump 
administration and my colleagues on both sides to support our mining 
families.

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