[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 18, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1614-E1615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MUSEUM COMMEMORATIVE COIN ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. VIRGINIA FOXX

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 17, 2019

  Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to 
the inclusion of S. 2788, a taxpayer bailout of a failing multiemployer 
pension plan, in the FY 2020 appropriations package.
  There is bipartisan consensus that Congress must address the current 
multiemployer pension crisis, but this particular provision is a 
fiscally irresponsible and shortsighted approach that sets a dangerous 
precedent for future attempts to address the dire predicament facing 
certain multiemployer pension plans.
  Unfortunately, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) 1974 Pension 
Plan has failed the hardworking miners, retirees, and their families 
who sacrificed pay during their working years with the expectation that 
they would receive a modest retirement income.
  The UMWA Pension Plan covers 96,000 participants, the vast majority 
of whom, 92,500 to be specific, are retired. That leaves a mere 3,500 
active participants paying into the plan. What's more, the pension plan 
is underfunded by $6.5 billion as its liabilities far exceed assets. 
That's $6.5 billion that the UMWA's Pension Plan trustees, both union 
and employer officials, promised workers, but will not deliver.
  Let me be clear, my opposition to S. 2788 does not diminish my belief 
that miners and retirees should receive the benefits they were promised 
and rightfully deserve. Instead, I oppose how these benefits will be 
paid and administered.
  Under current law, when a multiemployer pension plan becomes 
insolvent, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) provides 
financial assistance to the plan to pay benefits up to the guaranteed 
amount. S. 2788 circumvents that process and allows unprecedented 
federal funding for one specific plan.
  S. 2788 is deceptive in its approach. The bill funnels interest 
earned on the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund (AML Fund) to the 
UMWA Pension Plan. If the AML Fund does not sufficiently cover retiree 
benefits, money from the U.S. Treasury will make up the difference.
  Under current law, UMWA retiree health plans already receive funding 
transfers from interest earned on the AML Fund and Treasury to pay for 
retiree health benefits. The combined transfers are capped at $490 
million annually. S. 2788 makes these transfers available to the UMWA 
Pension Plan and raises the cap to $750 million. In FY 2019, the UMWA 
health plans received $54 million from the AML Fund and a whopping $225 
million from Treasury.
  The AML Fund is insufficient to pay the UMWA retiree health benefits, 
which it is already obligated to pay. Any additional funding will come 
from Treasury. To put it simply Madam Speaker, the American people will 
foot the bill for this bailout. For the first time ever, taxpayer money 
will be used to prop up a failing, privately-negotiated retirement 
plan.
  As the Republican Leader of the Education and Labor Committee, I 
would be remiss if I

[[Page E1615]]

didn't consider S. 2788 in the context of the broader multiemployer 
pension plan system.
  The UMWA Pension Plan is just the tip of the iceberg; it is just one 
of dozens of ailing multiemployer plans at risk of insolvency and 
breaking their pension promises. The passage of S. 2788 sets an ill-
advised and irreversible precedent for future multiemployer pension 
plan solutions.
  Multiemployer pension plans are currently underfunded by $638 
billion; PBGC's multiemployer insurance program is operating with a $65 
billion deficit and is expected to become insolvent by the end of FY 
2025.
  The responsibility for these broken promises lies exclusively with 
the union and employer representatives who negotiated and managed these 
plans. The UMWA Pension Plan is no exception.
  Plans and trustees promised benefits without putting aside the 
adequate funds to meet these promises, all to the detriment of workers 
and retirees.
  It should not be the role of Congress to address funding shortfalls 
one pension plan at a time. That is not responsible legislating. 
Instead, we should work together to address the faults of the entire 
multiemployer pension system.
  S. 2788 sends the wrong message to other unions and employers who 
have failed adequately to fund their pension promises. It puts us on a 
dangerous path that could ultimately result in Congress burdening 
American taxpayers with billions of dollars in future bailouts, no 
questions asked.
  If Congress is serious about protecting the hard-earned retirement 
benefits, which are at risk because of failing multiemployer plans, it 
should address a system that is plagued with chronic underfunding, 
dependency on rosy economic assumptions and expectations, and passively 
accepts that plan trustees and actuaries will continue to underestimate 
pension promises.

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