[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 19 (Monday, January 31, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       REMEMBERING KAREN FERGUSON

 Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
honoring the life of a lifelong champion for American workers across 
the country, the founder and longtime president of the Pension Rights 
Center, Karen Ferguson.
   Karen came to Washington, DC, in the early 1970s to work with Ralph 
Nader as a public interest lawyer, fighting for consumers and workers 
against unchecked corporate power. As one of ``Nader's Raiders,'' she 
found her calling. Recognizing the void of public advocacy for retirees 
and pensioners, Karen founded the Pension Rights Center in 1976. This 
marked the beginning of a crusade that lasted more than four decades, 
on behalf of pensioners who so often did not have much of a voice in 
their own government. Over the next 45 years, Karen personally assisted 
thousands of workers who were denied the retirement benefits they 
earned, and she advocated for retirement security for millions more.
   As one of our country's leading experts on pension law and a 
passionate advocate for workers and their families, Karen was a source 
of strength and guidance to her allies in Congress for decades. She was 
instrumental to the passage of a number of reforms that improved the 
cause of retirement security, including the Retirement Equity Act of 
1984, a critical law that provided benefits to millions of widows and 
divorced women.
   Most recently, Karen was a leader in the fight to protect and 
restore multiemployer pension benefits for millions of union members 
across the country, including 100,000 Ohioans. She worked directly with 
my office to help draft the Butch Lewis Act and fought for years 
alongside Mr. Lewis, his widow and leader in her own right, Rita Lewis, 
and other workers, families, and small businesses, for its passage. 
Because of their advocacy, we were finally able to pass the Butch Lewis 
Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act into law as part of the American 
Rescue Plan in 2021. We were successful in no small part due to the 
unwavering support she provided. Now, more than a million Americans who 
have worked hard all their lives and gave up raises at the bargaining 
table in order to put that money toward retirement are no longer at 
risk of losing the benefits they earned. And many American businesses--
often small, family-owned businesses--will be able to continue to 
support their workers and grow and create more good, union jobs.
   Karen Ferguson will be remembered for a lifetime of service on 
behalf of workers and their families, and the compassion and skill she 
brought to our efforts. Her legacy will continue through the millions 
of past, current, and future workers and their families who will have a 
more secure retirement thanks to her work.

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