The Pension Crisis

Floor Speech

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss the pension crisis facing American workers and businesses across the country and the urgent need for Congress to act.

Men and women in my home State of Michigan and across the country worked a lifetime to retire with the dignity and security promised by their pensions. They earned their retirement with blood, sweat, tears, and many sacrifices along the way. They played by the rules, they put money into their pension, and now they are scared to death about how and what they will live on. They are worried about whether they will have a safe and secure retirement.

A few months ago, we created the Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans with the goal of coming up with a bipartisan solution to the pension crisis by year's end. This is an urgent task because, if we do not act this year, the major multiemployer plans will start going under, and it could drag the entire economy down with it. Not only would we face staggering benefit cuts for retirees, but it will mean less money flowing in local economies and more people relying on the social safety net for support. It could be the perfect storm.

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