Gilbert Gutknecht: “I know that we all have a lot of other issues going on and a lot of people are not paying attention, but this is a very…”

“I know that we all have a lot of other issues going on and a lot of people are not paying attention, but this is a very important point, because last year, about a year and a half ago, an awful lot of employees that worked for a great company that has been a great employer by the name of IBM, they woke up one morning and all of a sudden their pension benefits were cut by as much as 50 percent. The gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) is exactly right. This is a good bill. The underlying bill, the benefits, everything we do here is good, with one glaring exception: we do not define what the term ``vested'' means. I want Members to all think about that, what does ``vested'' mean? It means it is ours, it cannot be taken away. That is not what the law in the United States says today. Those pension benefits can be taken away. We have an opportunity in this bill to resolve that issue. If we do not do it today, then shame on us. What happened to the IBMers we may not be able to change, but remember this, Mr. Speaker, if it could happen to good people working at IBM a year ago, it can happen to an awful lot of people working in our districts tomorrow. The time is now to make this change. Give those people that choice. Let us vote for the motion to recommit.”