BLE:  Railroad Retirement Legislation Now Has 165 Co-sponsors

CLEVELAND, March 28 -- Rail labor lobbyists continue their hard work on Capitol Hill as they have secured 165 co-sponsors for H.R. 1140, the Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001.

To temper the success rail labor lobbyists have enjoyed in the House of Representatives, statements contained in President George W. Bush's 2001 budget proposal threaten timely passage of H.R. 1140.

"The railroad retirement system's pension program is not fully funded like other private industry pension plans; indeed, there is a $39.7 billion unfunded liability," Bush states in his budget proposal. "Any examination of the program should set as first priorities ending taxpayer subsidies to the program and ensuring the industry funds its workers' pensions."

In a strongly worded letter, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure defended H.R. 1140 and questioned the accuracy of Bush's statements.

"The Committee is disappointed by the statement concerning the Railroad Retirement system in the FY 2002 President's Budget," the letter states. "This statement implies that the Railroad Retirement system is receiving massive federal subsidies and is not capable of meeting its future pension obligations. This is not true."

Regardless of the dubious validity of the statements contained in the Bush budget proposal, it is clear that rail labor lobbyists will need to secure more than the 165 co-sponsors currently supporting H.R. 1140.

A copy of the bill is available on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee website at:
http://www.house.gov/transportation/rail/retirement.pdf
A summary of H.R. 1140 is available here:
http://www.house.gov/transportation/rail/summary.html
A section-by-section review of H.R. 1140 is available here:
http://www.ble.org/pr/news/www.house.gov/transportation/rail/section.html

BLE members are urged to contact their member of Congress and ask that they co-sponsor H.R. 1140, the Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001. Correspondence should be addressed to:

What follows is a list of co-sponsors of H.R. 1140, as of March 28, 2001:

1. Young (R-AK-AL)*#
2. Bachus (R-AL-6)#
3. Pastor (D-AZ-2)
4. Berry (D-AR-1)#
5. Snyder (D-AR-2)
6. Hutchinson (R-AR-3)#
7. Ross (D-AR-4)
8. Dolittle (R-CA-4)
9. Matsui (D-CA-5)+
10. Tauscher (D-CA-10)#
11. Pombo (R-CA-11)#
12. Roybal-Allard (D-CA-33)
13. Napolitano (D-CA-34)
14. Horn (R-CA-38)#
15. DeGette (D-CO-1)
16. Udall, M (D-CO-2)
17. Simmons (R-CT-2)#
18. Norton (D-DC-AL)#
19. Brown, C (D-FL-3)#
20. Crenshaw (R-FL-4)
21. Thurman (D-FL-5)+
22. Mica (R-FL-7)#
23. Foley (R-FL-16)+
24. Meek (D-FL-17)
25. Collins (R-GA-3)+
26. McKinney (D-GA-4)
27. Lewis (D-GA-5)+
28. Isakson (R-GA-6)#
29. Abercrombie (D-HI-1)
30. Simpson (R-ID-2)#
31. Rush (D-IL-1)
32. Jackson (D-IL-2)
33. Lipinski (D-IL-3)#
34. Blagojevich (D-IL-5)
35. Schakowsky (D-IL-9)
36. Weller (R-IL-11)+
37. Costello (D-IL-12)#
38. Johnson (R-IL-15)#
39. LaHood (R-IL-18)
40. Phelps (D-IL-19)
41. Shimkus (R-IL-20)
42. Visclosky (D-IN-1)
43. Leach (R-IA-1)
44. Boswell (D-IA-3)#
45. Latham (R-IA-5)
46. Moran (R-KS-1)#
47. Moore (D-KS-3)
48. Whitfield (R-KY-1)
49. Fletcher (R-KY-6)
50. Tauzin (R-LA-3)
51. Cooksey (R-LA-5)#
52. Baker (R-LA-6)#
53. Baldacci (D-ME-2)#
54. Gilchrest (R-MD-1)#
55. Ehrlich (R-MD-2)
56. Cardin (D-MD-3)+
57. Wynn (D-MD-4)
58. Hoyer (D-MD-5)
59. Bartlett (R-MD-6)
60. Cummings (D-MD-7)#
61. McGovern (D-MA-3)#
62. Tierney (D-MA-6)
63. Delahunt (D-MA-10)
64. Ehlers (R-MI-3)#
65. Barcia (D-MI-5)#
66. Upton (R-MI-6)
67. Kildee (D-MI-9)
68. Bonior (D-MI-10)
69. Conyers (D-MI-14)
70. Kilpatrick (D-MI-15)
71. Dingell (D-MI-16)
72. McCollum (D-MN-4)
73. Sabo (D-MN-5)
74. Luther (D-MN-6)
75. Peterson (D-MN-7)
76. Oberstar (D-MN-8)*#
77. Shows (D-MS-4)
78. Skelton (D-MO-4)
79. Blunt (R-MO-7)
80. Bereuter (R-NE-1)#
81. Terry (R-NE-2)
82. Berkley (D-NV-1)#
83. Andrews (D-NJ-1)
84. LoBiondo (R-NJ-2)#
85. Saxton (R-NJ-3)
86. Smith, C (R-NJ-4)
87. Roukema (R-NJ-5)
88. Ferguson (R-NJ-7)#
89. Payne (D-NJ-10)
90. Menendez (D-NJ-13)#
91. Udall, T (D-NM-3)
92. Grucci (R-NY-1)
93. Israel (R-NY-2)
94. King (R-NY-3)
95. McCarthy (D-NY-4)
96. Meeks (D-NY-6)
97. Nadler (D-NY-8)#
98. Towns (D-NY-10_
99. LaFalce (D-NY-29)
100. Owens (D-NY-11)
101. Velazquez (D-NY-12)
102. Maloney (D-NY-14)
103. Rangel (D-NY-15)+
104. Kelly (R-NY-19)#
105. Gilman (R-NY-20)
106. McNulty (D-NY-21)+
107. Sweeney (R-NY-22)
108. Boehlert (R-NY-23)#
109. Hinchey (D-NY-26)
110. Quinn (R-NY-30)*#
111. Clayton (D-NC-1)
112. Hayes (R-NC-8)#
113. Gillmor (R-OH-5)
114. Boehner (R-OH-8)
115. Kaptur (D-OH-9)
116. Tubbs-Jones (D-OH-11)
117. Pryce (R-OH-15)
118. Traficant (D-OH-17)
119. LaTourette (R-OH-19)#
120. Carson (D-OK-2)#
121. Watkins (R-OK-3)+
122. Watts (R-OK-4)
123. Istook (R-OK-5)
124. Wu (D-OR-1)
125. Walden (R-OR-2)
126. Blumenauer (D-OR-3)#
127. DeFazio (D-OR-4)#
128. Hooley (D-OR-5)
129. Borski (D-PA-3)#
130. Hart (R-PA-4)
131. Peterson (R-PA-5)
132. Holden (D-PA-6)#
133. Kanjorski (D-PA-11)
134. Murtha (D-PA-12)
135. Hoeffel (D-PA-13)
136. Doyle (D-PA-18)
137. Platts (R-PA-19)#
138. Mascara (D-PA-20)#
139. Duncan (R-TN-2)#
140. Clement (D-TN-5)*#
141. Sandlin (D-TX-1)#
142. Turner (D-TX-2)
143. Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18)
144. Reyes (D-TX-16)
145. Frost (D-TX-24)
146. Bentsen (D-TX-25)
147. Johnson (D-TX-30)#
148. Matheson (D-UT-2)#
149. Scott (D-VA-3)
150. Goode (I-VA-5)
151. Moran (D-VA-8)
152. Boucher (D-VA-9)
153. Davis, T (R-VA-11)
154. Sanders (I-VT-AL)
155. Inslee (D-WA-1)
156. Larsen (D-WA-2)
157. Nethercutt (R-WA-5)
158. Dicks (D-WA-6)
159. Mollohan (D-WV-1)
160. Capito (R-WV-2)#
161. Rahall (D-WV-3)#
162. Kind (D-WI-3)
163. Kleczka (D-WI-4)+
164. Petri (R-WI-6)
165. Green (R-WI-8)
* Original Sponsor
# Member, T&I
+ Member, Ways and Means