mr. speaker , i strongly support this important legislation to address pending funding issues for america 's workers , and i applaud the work of chairman thomas and chairman boehner on this bill .  as my friend from north dakota , on the other side of the aisle , just pointed out , relief for the pension plans of america 's struggling airlines is not in the current house bill .  certainly important to my district , but i have been assured , mr. speaker , that as this bill moves to conference with the senate version , the special challenges facing airlines will be addressed .  it is important to the people of my district .  northwest airlines is the largest employer in the third congressional district of minnesota , and thousands of northwest employees are counting on congress to rescue their pension plan .  no one wants to see another pension plan fail and be turned over to the pension benefit guarantee corporation .  northwest airlines is struggling to emerge from bankruptcy and is trying to do the right thing for its employees by maintaining its pension plan .  so as this bill moves through the process , i agree , we must provide relief to this fragile industry .  but we must pass this bill today to get it to conference so we can take care of the airlines .  we must act today by passing this bill so employees can get the benefits they were promised and so the pbgc and taxpayers will not be on the hook .  so let & lt ; center & gt ; & lt ; pre & gt ; [ page : h11763 ] & lt ; /pre & gt ; & lt ; /center & gt ; 