James Oberstar: “Mr. Speaker, not to oversimplify this issue, but to put it in very plain terms, there is more money being collected in…”

“Mr. Speaker, not to oversimplify this issue, but to put it in very plain terms, there is more money being collected in taxes from workers in railroads than is necessary to pay out benefits under the current system. The agreement reached does equity for both the railroads and the workers. The railroads, on the one hand, get money they can invest in improving their infrastructure, rolling stock, and trackage, and the workers--specifically retirees, widows and widowers, get benefits that they would not otherwise receive. That is what this is all about. I want to point out that there was not 100 percent agreement between rail management and rail labor. Just after the agreement was reached, representatives of those labor unions, the majority, that supported the agreement and those labor unions, the minority, that opposed it, asked for my support, each on their terms, to support their viewpoint. I felt it would be in everyone's best interests if rail labor were united in support of the agreement.”