madam speaker , i rise in strong support of h.r. 2830 , and i thank chairmen boehner and thomas and johnson for their great work in getting us to this point . 
this bill represents a responsible approach that will protect the retirement benefits of millions of american workers and help ensure that their pension benefits will be there when they retire . 
in recent years , our important retirement security system has come under strain from the increased aging of the workforce and from dishonest employers who made promises they could not keep . 
many workers and retirees have been misled into believing that they will have a secure retirement only to see their pension plan terminated due to plan underfunding . 
this bill includes reforms to ensure employers more accurately measure and fund their short-term and long-term pension promises . 
it includes tough new funding requirements to ensure plans are adequately and consistently funded , and it provides meaningful disclosure provisions about the financial status of pension benefits . 
in addition , this bill is important to protect taxpayers from a multibillion dollar bail-out of the pension benefit guaranty corporation . 
when the pbgc can not pay benefit for plans where they have assumed planned liabilities , taxpayers are on the hook for the difference . 
in fact , in november the pension benefit guaranty corporation reported a long-term liability deficit of $ 22.8 billion . 
that is billion with a b. the pension protection act will reasonably increase employer-paid premiums to help shore up the pbgc and protect taxpayers from this potentially large liability . 
this bill contains commonsense reforms that will help protect the pensions of millions of americans ; and this bill is supported by a broad array of unions , employers , and other organizations . 
passage of the pension protection act is important to the retirement security of millions of americans , and it is important to help protect taxpayers from an expensive bail-out . 
i strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill . 
