Barbara Boxer: “I am voting for this pension conference report, but I do so with serious reservations. There are 35 million workers…”

“I am voting for this pension conference report, but I do so with serious reservations. There are 35 million workers nationwide who participate in single-employer pension plans and who will benefit from this legislation. They need help now. Many of their pension plans are in trouble. Some are teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. This bill will help ensure greater retirement security for these hard working Americans. Unfortunately, this bill does not help all pension plans and all workers. More than 9 million workers in multi-employer pension plans will not be covered by this bill. All of these workers were covered in the bill that passed the Senate, which I supported and which passed the Senate with 86 votes. Leaving them out was a partisan and ideological decision that leaves us with a truly sub-par solution to the pension plan crisis in America. There is nothing wrong with what is in the bill. The problem is what has been left out. Senator Kennedy is absolutely right on the merits. We should help all workers. We should not be picking winners and losers. I will work with Senator Kennedy and the rest of my colleagues to pass the Senate provision on assisting multi-employer plans at the first and every available opportunity.”