Tim Ryan: “I want to speak for 1 minute on the Central States Pension Fund, which right now, because of its demise, is going to gut…”

“I want to speak for 1 minute on the Central States Pension Fund, which right now, because of its demise, is going to gut the pensions of thousands and thousands of workers in Ohio, over 4,000 in my district alone. I want to thank Marcy Kaptur of Ohio for spearheading this legislation in which we ask the wealthiest people in the country, those who are trading art, to help us raise the $29 billion we need to put back into this pension fund. We have senior citizens who have spent 30 or 40 years as Teamsters or Machinists, working their rear ends off, earning a pension, saying: We don't want the money now--as they negotiated contracts--you take this wage that we could have and you save it for later, but we want it back. This bill, these pieces of legislation, help to restore some respect and dignity for those workers in Ohio and across the country. I ask my colleagues to help us with the Keep the Pension Promises Act and the Pension Accountability Act. People need to be respected, and these pensions need to be secured. ____________________”