Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - December 18, 2007)

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Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the air travel industry has suffered tremendous economic hardship. In particular, airline workers have been forced to take cuts in pay and benefits which have dramatically reduced their financial security now and in their retirement years.

Airline pilots and other union airline employees have lost in excess of $30 billion in pay and over $7 billion in defined benefit pension benefits. In addition, many airline workers have lost their jobs. For example, on September 11, 2001, there were 10,500 active Delta pilots. Today, there are 6,700.

Since the attacks, many of our Nation's airlines were forced to file for bankruptcy--and terminate or freeze their defined benefit pension plans. The largest of these airline bankruptcies involved United Airlines, U.S. Airways, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines. In all of these bankruptcies, a huge share of the cost savings was borne by the airline employees, who suffered massive cuts in pay and benefits.

In 2001, Congressional relief focused on the airline carriers, offering loan packages and other economic relief. In 2004 and 2006, Congress provided additional assistance to those airline carriers that were able to avoid termination of their defined benefit plans. However, past Congressional actions will never restore the lost retirement benefits for those airline workers whose defined benefit plans were terminated or frozen.

This is an important point to emphasize. The actions already taken by the Congress to provide economic relief to the airlines and to reduce their future pension contributions for the continuing plans do not restore benefits to those airline workers who lost pension benefits in plans that were terminated or frozen.

Therefore, I rise to introduce the Lost Retirement Savings Act of 2007 to provide for a retirement savings option to those airline workers whose defined benefit plans were terminated or frozen in bankruptcy proceedings.

Under the bill, these airline workers would benefit to the extent that they would individually choose to rollover specified bankruptcy payments into a traditional or Roth individual retirement account. The intent is to provide this retirement savings opportunity only to those airline employees for whom the bankruptcies imposed an economic burden through the substantial loss of wages and retirement benefits.

In closing, I urge my Senate colleagues to take a close look at this bill and join me in passing this legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill and a bill summary be printed in the Record.

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