[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5353-5354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      CENTRAL STATES PENSION FUND

  Ms. HEITKAMP. Mr. President, across the United States, hundreds of 
thousands of workers and retirees are scared. They are scared for the 
future, they are scared for their families, and they are scared for 
themselves. These workers and retirees did everything right. They 
played by the rules. They worked for years, if not decades, often in 
labor-intensive jobs, and they responsibly planned for the future by 
putting money into their pensions, only to have their retirement 
security ripped away.
  This is a story happening across North Dakota and across America. 
Harsh and senseless proposed cuts to Central States Pension Fund--a 
multiemployer pension fund--could rip away the retirement of workers 
and retirees in the trucking, UPS package and delivery, and grocery 
supply industries. These cuts could impact more than 2,000 North Dakota 
families and 400,000 retirees across the country who could see their 
pensions slashed up to 60 percent. Many of these workers have been 
forced to retire because of decades of lifting packages over 100 pounds 
every day. These jobs took hard tolls on their bodies, but they were 
able to earn a living, support their families, and put food on the 
table each night. They knew that because they were saving for 
retirement through their pensions, they would be taken care of in later 
years, they would be able to enjoy their later years hunting and 
fishing with their grandchildren, and they would be able to enjoy their 
later years by taking care of their family and their loved ones. 
Unfortunately, that security is evaporating.
  I recently met with Teamsters and union workers and retirees in 
Bismark and Fargo. Quite honestly, their stories were heartbreaking. 
They couldn't understand how, if they did everything right, their 
retirement could be taken away from them. They can't live in a country 
that just enables these workers and retirees to be left behind. They 
can't understand who was fighting for them.
  They and we must stand up and say: This is wrong. We must stand up 
for hard work, and we must protect their pensions and make sure all 
North Dakotans have a secure retirement.
  I want to tell just a few of their stories today. I will start with 
Dennis Gainsforth from Jamestown. He worked for UPS for 31 years. He 
needs surgery on one of his knees because of working decades as a night 
mechanic. Dennis is also helping financially take care of his son, who 
had a stroke, and his wife, who needs back surgery. Under the proposed 
cuts, his pension would be slashed by 50 percent. As a result, Dennis, 
who is 72 years old, is now back at work driving a public bus in 
Jamestown.
  Tina Kramer from Mandan was a member of the Teamsters. She worked as 
a secretary for the local union for 25 years, throughout which time she 
earned a pension. Her husband was a member of the steelworkers union 
and worked for Bobcat for about 30 years as a forklift driver. He also 
earned a pension. Several years ago, both of them retired, and soon 
after, Tina's husband suddenly passed away. Tina lost her husband's 
pension and now has to rely solely on her pension. Under these proposed 
cuts, Tina's pension would be cut by almost 60 percent. Tina has just a 
little bit of savings, which she has already had to dip into every 
month to pay her bills and for groceries and to pay her property taxes. 
Under the proposed pension cuts, it could only get worse for Tina.
  Bob Berg, from just north of Fargo, worked at UPS for over 30 years 
delivering packages, many of which could weigh up to 150 pounds. 
Because of the hard labor of his job, he had surgery on both knees, his 
hands, five hernia operations, and back problems, forcing him into 
early retirement. Now his medical bills are skyrocketing. He receives 
$2,200 a month under the pension plan, but with the cuts, he would 
receive just $1,150, which is a 50-percent reduction.
  Mark Rothschiller from Mandan worked as a UPS driver for 28 years 
delivering packages to rural communities in North Dakota. Because of 
the intensity of his job, he had five back surgeries and two rotator 
cuff surgeries. After the last surgery, Mark's doctor told him to stop 
working or he might lose his ability to walk. He now walks with a cane. 
He relies on his pension--the pension that he earned--to help pay his 
medical bills. Under the proposed cuts, Mark's pension would be cut by 
more than 50 percent.
  You hear these stories about men and women who worked hard all their 
lives and who did the right thing. They bargained for a pension because 
they knew the work they did was not work you could do your entire life, 
and they knew they wanted time in retirement to enjoy their golden 
years. Yet, today, the benefit they earned and that security is 
threatened.
  I had a man approach me after one of the meetings where I asked 
people to tell me what the impacts were from the cuts, and many were 
able to give public testimonials. This man came up to me afterward, and 
I won't use his name because quite privately he wanted to tell me that 
he was going to lose his house, that he was going to lose all the 
security he had in the world, and that he was a grandfather helping to 
take care of his grandchildren because his daughter couldn't afford 
daycare.
  These pension cuts don't affect just the worker, they affect the 
worker's family, they affect the extended family, and, quite honestly, 
they affect our communities. But more than that, they affect our 
general sense of security, our general sense that you ought to be able 
to rely on the goodness of your hard work and on the rewards of your 
hard work. Today, all of that is being threatened.
  Some might say: Well, that is just the way it is. Pension funds are 
in trouble.
  I want everyone to remember that many of these workers were basically 
prevented from managing their pension fund. In fact, the Federal 
Government took it away, took that pension fund away and gave it to 
private investment firms that squandered and wasted the principal. 
These workers wonder why in the world, in a country where we would bail 
out Wall Street bankers who made bad decisions, they never get listened 
to.
  We cannot let this happen. I have been pressing Treasury Secretary 
Lew about this issue, and I recently met

[[Page 5354]]

with Ken Feinberg, the Treasury official overseeing the reconstruction 
of this pension fund. We have to reinforce this point. We had a good 
conversation, and I hope the Treasury Department does the right thing 
by rejecting this devastating proposal and seeking a fairer option. We 
can and must find a solution that doesn't jeopardize retirement 
security or present long-term insolvency issues to the Central States 
Pension Fund.
  This deal has threatened the livelihood of so many of my fellow North 
Dakotans, people who work hard for a living, the kind of people we brag 
about on floor of the Senate, whom we are here to represent--the hard-
working, good Americas who build our country. Yet when this happens, 
they wonder who is listening to them. Who do we really represent here?
  This deal has to be rejected. We have to create an opportunity that 
enables all North Dakotan and American families to have the secure 
retirement they have earned. Dennis, Tina, Bob, Mark, and so many other 
North Dakotans whom I have met deserve as much. They deserve the same 
kind of consideration and interest that we gave to AIG and all of the 
organizations we bailed out during the 2008 crisis at a time when we 
saw record bonuses for Wall Street executives. We wonder all the time 
why people are mad. We don't need to look any further than this example 
to know that sometimes the priorities are just plain wrong.
  I urge all of my colleagues to become aware of this problem, to 
become invested in this problem, and to work with us to solve this 
problem. The first and most significant and important step we can take 
is to urge the Department of Treasury to reject the current plan and 
take this back to the drawing board.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.

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