madam speaker , millions of americans who work in the private sector are relying on having an employer-sponsored pension plan when they retire . 
an important part of the american dream is to have a nest egg that people can tap into during their golden years so that they are not forced to literally work until they die . 
american workers have fought for and earned the right to pay into a pension system that will provide an income once they retire . 
unfortunately , there are serious problems with america 's private pension system . 
madam speaker , pension security is an important issue , one indeed which should be addressed by this congress , but pension security must be addressed in the right way and it deserves to be addressed in a democratic way . 
bankruptcies in the airlines , steel , and the auto parts industries , for example , are straining the abilities of the pension benefit guaranty corporation , or the pbgc , to guarantee the private pensions of workers in these industries . 
the pbgc was created as an insurance system for america 's private pension plans . 
it exists to make sure that america 's workers will receive a pension when they retire , even if the company they work for can not pay that pension . 
now , while there are real problems in some industries , like the steel industry , there are also serious cases of pension dumping , where a corporation claims it can not fulfill its obligations and dumps its pension onto the pbgc . 
the net effect is a real strain on the pbgc and ultimately a crisis in the pension system . 
the pbgc is an insurance policy for america 's workers . 
it is a safety net should a company not be able to pay its pension obligations . 
but it is not supposed to be a dumping ground for corporations who want to boost their bottom line and just do not feel like paying the pensions they promised their workers . 
it is this looming crisis in america 's pension system that brings us here today . 
now , no one believes we should sit and wait while america 's pension system crashes around us , but we need to address this problem in the right way , and regrettably , madam speaker , the pension protection act the republicans have concocted is not the right way . 
mr. boehner , one of the authors of this bill , told the rules committee yesterday that this bill is tough medicine . 
what he did not say is that it is tough medicine for america 's workers . 
madam speaker , this bill will have a real effect on millions of americans ' lives and on the quality of their lives as they grow older . 
the fact is that this bill that chairman thomas and chairman boehner have brought before us will make the problem worse , not better . 
this is the wrong prescription for what ails america 's pension system . 
both the congressional budget office and the pbgc estimate that the pension protection act will actually lead to an increase in pension plan terminations and an increase in the pbgc 's liabilities by billions of dollars . 
clearly , that simply can not be what anyone in this chamber really wants . 
the goal should be to enact legislation that guarantees workers their full pensions . 
instead , passage of this bill will allow corporations to turn their backs on their loyal employees and shirk the responsibilities they face to provide a real pension to their employees . 
there exists in this country a culture of corporate corruption , where companies like enron and worldcom squander billions of dollars in retirement funds , and this legislation does not do anything , nothing , to fix that . 
congressman george miller , a strong champion of the american worker and working families , recently released a report entitled : broken promises -- america 's pension plans at risk . 
this report shows that pension plans are underfunded by $ 450 billion ; that the pbgc is $ 23 billion in the red , with more obligations coming in every day , and that the current pension and bankruptcy laws allow companies to dump their unwanted pension obligations on to the pbgc . 
proving that this bill makes things worse and not better , the report documents that the boehner-thomas bill could , and i quote , `` cause as many as half of all large pension plans to freeze benefits. '' ranking member miller , along with ranking member on the ways and means committee rangel , have an answer . 
they have crafted a substitute that actually protects workers ' pensions . 
the substitute also reforms the bankruptcy laws so that corporations can not hide behind bankruptcy in order to dump their pension obligations onto the pbgc . 
in addition , the miller-rangel bill addresses a serious inequity where rank and file pension plans are at risk of being dumped onto the pbgc but somehow the corporate executives continue to receive golden parachutes . 
a ceo should not receive millions of dollars in bonuses and other incentives if they have terminated the pension plan for their rank-and-file workers . 
now , i am sure my friends on the other side of the aisle will boast about how their legislation they have crafted is fabulous . 
i disagree , but i respect their right to have their say and to have their views debated . 
those of us on this side of the aisle believe we have a better approach , one that is fair to millions of americans and their families who get up every morning , put in a hard day 's work and are the very backbone of america 's economy and our communities . 
unfortunately , madam speaker , we will not have an opportunity to present our proposal . 
the republicans on the rules committee late last night said , no , an alternative viewpoint will not be tolerated , can not be presented to the members of this house , and it certainly will not be debated and voted on on this floor . 
apparently , the republican definition of democracy is my way or the highway . 
they have decided that the united states house of representatives is really not a deliberative body , it is a place that does not respect differing viewpoints , and it is unreasonable to have a full and open debate on an issue as important as pension protection . 
last night , chairman boehner , to his credit , said he had no problem with democrats having an ability to offer a substitute . 
so what happened ? 
i will tell you what happened . 
the republican leadership , in yet another display of arrogance and disrespect , decided to close the process , to gag us , to use the rules committee as a weapon to stifle debate . 
once again the rules committee is where democracy comes to die . 
now , let me say , with all due respect to my friends on the other side of the aisle , it is the majority that is responsible for creating a climate in this house that is devoid of bipartisanship and civility . 
it is beyond my comprehension why the majority would deliberately choose to shut us out of being able to offer an alternative . 
this is not the house of only republicans , this is the people 's house , where serious issues should be debated and voted on . 
this rule is anti-democratic , this rule is closed , and this rule should be defeated . 
broken promises -- america 's pension plans at risk : independent analysis finds that republican plan makes pension crisis worse americans are worried sick about their retirement nest-egg , and they are demanding decisive action by congress . 
they saw what happened at enron and worldcom and at other companies -- where billions of hard earned investments by employees disappeared forever in only months due to corporate fraud and mismanagement . 
today employees and retirees are watching as some employers like united and usair have rushed to dump their pension promises onto the taxpayer and other employers , at the expense of employees and retirees who face billions in uninsured pension promises . 
traditional pension plans , once the sturdy pillar of retirement security , are very much at risk unless congress takes immediate action . 
here are the serious warning signs that threaten our nation 's pension plans : pension plans are now underfunded by $ 450 billion , up over 1 , 000 % since 2000 . 
the agency that insures traditional pension plans ( the pension benefit guaranty corporation ) is $ 23 billion in the red , and is facing billions more in possible claims from companies such as delta airlines , delphi , and northwest airlines . 
pension and bankruptcy laws allow companies to dump their unwanted pension promises onto the pbgc , leaving taxpayers , employees and retirees to foot the bill . 
like the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s , taxpayers are at risk of having to pay billions of dollars due to broken promises , this time by company-sponsored pension plans . 
many employees and retirees face severe reductions in their promised pension benefits as their plans are turned over to the federal government , or frozen by companies when their sponsor falls behind in their obligation to fund promised benefits . 
employees are blindsided when their plan is dumped onto the federal government because they are not provided up-to-date information on the real financial condition of their pension plan . 
employees and retirees in such cases are not only cheated out of promised pension benefits , but sometimes suffer further injury and insult by company executives who cut their own sweetheart golden parachute deals . 
now delta and northwest are in bankruptcy and very well could dump their pension plans onto the pbgc . 
according to the pbgc , delta airlines is underfunded by $ 10.6 billion . 
the pbgc loss would be $ 8.4 billion , and the employees and retirees would lose $ 2.2 billion in promised benefits . 
northwest airlines is $ 5.7 billion underfunded . 
the pbgc loss would be $ 2.8 billion , and the employee loss even greater -- $ 2.9 billion . 
and now more dominos are falling . 
delphi auto parts has filed for bankruptcy -- the largest such filing in the history of the auto industry . 
according the pbgc , the delphi claim on the pbgc would be $ 4.1 billion . 
the hit on employees -- estimated over $ 10 billion in uninsured losses -- would be the largest ever . 
that tops the $ 6 billion in worker losses that pbgc estimates occurred from its 4 previous largest pension plan terminations . 
according to the congressional budget office , the republican house bill ( h.r. 2830 ) passed by the education and workforce committee and ways and means committee would increase the pbgc 's red ink by $ 9 billion over the next ten years . 
the pbgc also analyzed the house bill and found it would increase the agency 's deficit bill billions more than current law projections . 
specifically , it found that republican house bill would permit pension sponsors to slash required contributions by $ 75 billion over the next ten years compared to contributions required under current law . 
the pbgc 's 35 page study released on october 26 , 2005 analyzed detailed information of 400 pension plans , representing 50 % of the liabilities and underfunding in the pension system . 
the republican proposal could cause as many as half of all large pension plans to freeze benefits . 
the pbgc estimates that more than 50 % of a sample h.r. 2830 fails to reform pensions in several other respects . 
the bill fails to stop companies from dumping their obligations on to the federal government , fails to provide employees with accurate information on the financial condition of pension plans , fails to stop executives from cutting and running with their own sweetheart pension deal while slashing employee pensions , fails to protect older employees when a company converts to `` cash balance '' plans , permits conflicted investment advice , and punishes employees for plan underfunding by curtailing benefits . 
democrats are fighting to save and strengthen pension plans by : stopping companies like united from dumping their unwanted pension promises onto the taxpayers and employees . 
because the congress did n't lift a finger to stop united from unloading its pension plan , we have a new group of companies ready to dump and run . 
the government should not be a cookie jar for companies who failed to keep their fiduciary promise to set aside funds for their employee pension plans . 
requiring pension plans to follow a clear and fair plan to restore their pension funds . 
the pension bills going through congress right now actually make underfunding worse according to the congressional budget office and the pbgc government pension insurance agency . 
requiring pension plans to give employees accurate , up-to-date information on their pension plans financial condition . 
employees should never have to wake up one morning and read in the papers that their pension plan has failed . 
today , sponsors of pension plans are permitted to keep two sets of books , one set of books make available to the public and one set of more accurate books that is kept secret by the federal government . 
prohibiting company executives in charge of underfunded pension plans from entering into sweetheart retirement deals while they 're moving to dump their employees pension plan on to the taxpayers . 
millions of americans have worked hard to earn the retirement promised by their company . 
without urgent , decisive action by congress , millions of americans face the loss of billions in irreplaceable like savings due to the broken promises of their plan sponsor . 
the republican answer to this crisis is to hasten the unraveling of pension plans by allowing companies to skip out on over $ 75 billion in contributions over the next 10 years , and increasing pbgc 's red ink by billions of dollars . 
at the same time , republicans are refusing to stop companies from dumping their unwanted pension promises onto the pbgc at the expense of taxpayers , employees , and other employers . 
madam speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
