Angie Craig: “I rise in support of railroad retirement and have been a cosponsor of that legislation for the last several years. There…”

“I rise in support of railroad retirement and have been a cosponsor of that legislation for the last several years. There is adequate time to deal with this issue. We can deal with it now following the stimulus package or certainly we can deal with it next year. The Democratic leadership has chosen to bring it up and force the issue at this time. It is an important piece of legislation. There are 75 cosponsors in the Senate. The Senate Finance Committee has worked some on it. The House has worked on it and passed it. Is it a perfect piece of legislation? No. It goes a long way to fix a flawed system, a system at this time that is in deep trouble, a 65-year-old system that has been treated poorly in the past in many respects and will not serve the retirees or the railroad system effectively well in the future. As a result of an effort on the part of management and labor to bring this issue together, they have worked hard to do so.”