Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 2830, Pension Protection Act of 2005
MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON H.R. 2830, PENSION PROTECTION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - April 06, 2006)
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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, the middle class of this country is being assaulted in so many ways. Millions of Americans are working longer hours for low wages. In the last 5 years, 6 million Americans have lost their health care. We have lost 2.8 million good-paying manufacturing jobs. New jobs being created are low wage and low benefits.
But of all of the attacks taking place on the middle class, I think the most unspeakable is the assault by corporate America against the pensions that were promised to American workers. Just think about it. There are millions of people today who have worked for a company for 20 or 30 years, and one of the reasons they worked for that company is that they were promised that when they retire, they are going to have a certain pension. And then suddenly out of nowhere a company says thank you for working for us for 30 years, thank you for not going to another company when you had a better opportunity, but we have changed our mind and we are going to cut your pension by 20, 30, 50 percent. It is too bad you are 60 years of age and you have no place else to go, that is the reality. That is unspeakable, it is unacceptable. When those workers have no place else to turn to, it is the job of the United States Congress to stand up for them.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Miller motion to instruct, and I commend the gentleman from California for his leadership on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, pension anxiety is sweeping this country. Millions of Americans are worried that the pensions they have today will not be there for them when they retire, and with good reason.
Over the past two decades, large corporations have been breaking the retirement promises they made to their employees, and that is wrong. Some companies are declaring bankruptcy for the sole purpose of breaking those retirement commitments. Other companies are freezing pension plans in order to slash retirement benefits of older workers.
Congress must tell corporate America in no uncertain terms that when they make a promise to workers about their pensions, they must keep that promise. That is what Mr. Miller's motion is all about.
Mr. Speaker, last December the House passed a so-called pension reform bill that was hundreds of pages long. Included in that bill was an obscure provision to legalize age discrimination in cash balance plans prospectively. No floor amendments were allowed to strike this provision or offer any alternatives to it. Members were forced to vote up or down on the entire bill, but the Senate did the right thing. In their bill they provided important protections for older workers who would be negatively impacted by cash balance schemes. The Senate language is supported by the AARP, the AFL-CIO, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the National Legislative Retirees Network, and the Pension Rights Center.
Today, unlike last December, we have an opportunity to do the right thing for American workers. We can and should instruct the conference committee to adopt the Senate language on cash balance plans.
Mr. Speaker, there are some who support cash balance schemes. They argue that these plans benefit employees. Well, interestingly, a couple of years ago I asked the Congressional Research Service a simple question: What would happen if Members of Congress had their pensions converted to cash balances?
If it is a good idea for millions of American workers, it must be a good idea for us, right? We want to lead. Well, guess what, very few Members of Congress thought it was a good idea for this institution. So if it is not good for the Members of Congress, I think it is not good for the American working people, and I urge strong support for the Miller amendment.
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