Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I rise today to call for immediate action on the American Miners Act. We have an obligation to the miners across America who have served our Nation by providing us with energy through our greatest advancements. They deserve to know that their pensions, which they rightfully worked for, will be funded fully, and they deserve to have accessible healthcare, which was guaranteed to them as well.

As the Senate fails to act, we continue to put our retired miners' healthcare and pension benefits in jeopardy yet again. I have been working with everyone from every angle in order to prevent our miners from losing their healthcare and benefits. But, once again, they are facing a deadline that puts their whole livelihood at risk.

This has been a long fight, and it is far from over. Everyone who has joined me in this journey understands that fighting for working people is what we were sent here to do. These retired miners are walking the halls and fighting for what is rightfully theirs. I am doing this for them. I promised them that this body will not abandon them, and I refuse to let them down.

To give you some background, the 1974 pension plan will be insolvent by 2022 if we do not act. We needed to act a year ago or so, and we haven't done it. It is a shame. Miners who receive their healthcare through companies that went bankrupt in 2018 are at risk of losing coverage in the coming months if we fail to act soon.

How did we get here? Unlike many other public and private pension plans, in 1974, the miners' pension plan was well managed and 94 percent funded prior to the crash of 2008. However, the financial crisis hit at a time when this plan had its highest payment obligations. If the plan becomes insolvent, these beneficiaries will face benefit cuts, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation will assume billions of dollars in liabilities.

To address these issues, the American Miners Act would shore up the 1974 pension plan, which is headed for insolvency due to coal company bankruptcies and the 2008 financial crisis. It would ensure that the miners who are at risk due to 2018 coal company bankruptcies will not lose their healthcare and extend the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund tax at $1.10 per ton of underground-mined coal and 55 cents per ton of surface-mined coal for 10 years.

West Virginia has more retired union coal miners than any other State. More than 27,000 retirees live in West Virginia alone.

I am going to read a letter to give you perspective on what we are dealing with. Richard from Morgantown, WV, said:

I am writing this letter with respect and concern to preserve our pension. My name is Richard. I live in Morgantown, West Virginia. My career as an underground coal miner lasted 35 years. I am soon to be 68 years old. Working underground all those years, the physical labor tends to take a toll on a person's body. I receive a monthly pension of $1,466 a month from the UMWA Pension Fund. This monthly pension is used to pay utility bills, purchase groceries, and everyday necessities. I am also helping to support my five year old grandson and his mother, who doesn't earn enough for them to live on their own. You see, my daughter became addicted to prescription opioids after having serious medical problems. She has been clean for five years and is trying to rebuild her life, but we are supporting her and her son. My pension is a major source of income for my family and it would be devastating if I were to lose any of it. I can't imagine how we would survive. Our county and surrounding counties are heavily dependent on the coal miners' pension. Should we lose our pension, the economy in this area would plummet. I am also writing as a voice for those who are unable to write to you. I am asking your committee to carefully consider the bill to preserve our pensions.

I have another one from Gary from Southern West Virginia who wrote:

I have worked in the [United Mine Workers] since 1973 at Cannelton Coal. I worked about 13\1/2\ years, then had a lay- off in the early 80's, had to find work in another field, and got a job driving a school bus for 25 years. I'm retired now, but I still sub-drive for the county, was in [a] . . . bus driver association, and also drive a bus for Ace Adventure Resort. I am 74 now and still very active in the work force. I thank God for my health. I am still married to a wonderful woman, had 4 kids, 3 of them have passed away, one from cancer, one [from] allergy, my daughter died from a drug overdose. I am still paying on my daughter's funeral expenses. This retirement check that I get every month is a big help getting this bill paid, also had to pay on one of my son's funeral expenses. Since 2011 it has been very hard trying to keep your head above water. I only get $261 a month but I am so thankful for what I get. It really helps out a lot. Please find a way so we can keep our retirement check. We will keep on praying for all you guys who are fighting for us.

I just want to finish by saying that these are people who have gone to work every day. They didn't take the money home because they were letting that go into their retirement pension, and they thought that was being taken care of and managed properly. It wasn't their fault. They have already paid, and now because of bankruptcies and financial collapses, they can't get the money. It is wrong. It is not who we are as a country.

Through the bankruptcy laws that we have in America today, you can be in line if you are a financial institution--somebody that basically is in line before the person we are basically here to serve. The miners who get these pensions average $460 a month. That is the average pension they receive. That is not much. Most of these are widows, too, because the husbands have passed away.

So I am asking--this has been a bipartisan bill. I appreciate all of my colleagues on the Republican side, all of my Democratic colleagues, and everybody for working and really trying to take care of the people whom we made a promise to. This was a pension that was guaranteed by Harry S. Truman with John L. Lewis at the time. It is in stone. It is there for us, and it is basically one we cannot walk away from.

I thank the Presiding Officer.

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