Rob Andrews: “Mr. Speaker, I do want to begin by thanking the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) who very ably and fairly chaired this…”

“Mr. Speaker, I do want to begin by thanking the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner) who very ably and fairly chaired this conference and for all the participants and staff who worked very hard in the conference and did yeomen's work on both sides of the Capitol and both sides of the aisle. As the chair of the Committee on Ways and Means said a minute ago, this bill solves a problem. I think he is correct, that there is a problem. I think he is correct that it solves the problem for some people who suffer that problem, but I would respectfully say he is most decidedly incorrect when he says it solves the entire problem. The problem here is that people running pension plans, defined benefit plans, have suffered an unusual series of economic circumstances, declining stock prices, very low interest rates, which have given them great fiscal distress in their plans. Under the existing law, it is necessary for the employers who pay into those plans to make huge increases in their contributions in the very near future. This translates, in my view, into lost jobs, slower growth, and significant economic problems for many industries. Commendably, this conference tried to address that problem and has, in fact, done so for many of our employers, but the conference report fails miserably to help a number of employers who need this help, and those are the employers in what is called the multi-employer plans.”