Donald Norcross: “It is ironic that we are having this discussion today. First, I want to thank the ranking member for yielding me time. I…”

“It is ironic that we are having this discussion today. First, I want to thank the ranking member for yielding me time. I was sworn in just a few weeks ago. Prior to that, my entire career has been working in a system that supported a multiemployer plan. I went home last night and opened my mail. I received my first pension check which happens to be from a multiemployer plan. I understand how it works, and I understand how it doesn't work, and that is what we are here to discuss today. The fact of the matter is the multiemployer is a very different animal than what most people traditionally think of as a pension plan. Multiemployer is the employee groups, the unions working together with management to make these decisions. In a perfect world--which I have been blessed with, with my plan-- that check arrives on time, and it will be there, but there are other plans that are certainly not in that condition and have not been that way for a very long time. We can continue to bury our heads in the sand and wait for that implosion--because it is going to happen--or we can do the right thing and give people their voice back. Let those plans have the ability to ask their memberships what they want to do. They got there through that cooperation. It might not be their own fault that the plan is failing. There are many conditions that cause that. But the way the rules are now, they have no voice. They are silent.…”