mr. chairman , i rise today , with the gentleman from california ( mr. george miller ) xz4002780 and the gentleman from new york ( mr. crowley ) xz4000870 , to offer an amendment that would protect the retirement security of dedicated united airlines employees and retirees who support , and i want to underscore that , who support our amendment . 
our amendment would stop the pension benefit guaranty corporation from taking over united 's four pension plans in one fell swoop . 
our amendment would give congress a chance to work out a better solution than pension termination . 
i urge my colleagues to support this amendment because the threat to united 's employees is real . 
this is not a straight hand-off from united to the pbgc . 
although united 's pension liability is $ 9.8 billion , the pbgc is only assuming $ 6.6 billion of the debt to united workers . 
the takeover of the plans will result in pension benefit cuts averaging 25 to 50 percent , a loss of $ 3.2 billion , for men and women who have worked for years with the promise of a secure pension . 
and it is on top of the we are on the cusp of a pension crisis in this country . 
the pbgc , without united , has a $ 23 billion deficit , and other companies are waiting in line to dump their pension benefits . 
i urge my colleagues to support this measure . 
