Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I take this time first to assure my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, that we do not believe this is a budget-busting bill. We received estimates from the CBO that, yes, the trust fund owes the Federal Government $3.4 billion. It is not $4 billion or $3.9 billion; it is $3.4 billion. Most of that was incurred as a result of instituting the benefits following 1972. At the present time the coal operators will pay in more than enough to pay current benefits by the extent of $20 million to $25 million more than the cost to administer the program and pay the benefits. The interim benefits that were previously paid, and now, since 1981 and 1982, the amounts the claimants have been required to repay have not been going back to reduce the $3.4 billion that is owed by the trust fund; they are going into the general treasury. We would hope that the Treasury Department would give us credit for that, but they have not. In addition to that, on the $3.4 billion that we owe the Treasury, the trust fund is being assessed 10 rac{1}{2} ext{ percent interest.} I would submit to the Treasury that I hope we can work that out with the Committee on Ways and Means in the coming months before we start paying benefits on this, so that they would refloat the $3.5 billion that the trust fund owes. Today they could sell the Treasury bonds in the open market for 4.2 percent, for a savings of almost $200 million a year.”