{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cleaver.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cleaver-joins-house-and-senate-democrats-in-sponsoring-new", "Congressman Cleaver Joins House and Senate Democrats in Sponsoring New Proposal for Retired Workers", "2017-11-21", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Emanuel Cleaver", "C001061", "cleaver.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II joined Democratic leaders from the House and Senate in sponsoring a new proposal to help pension retirees. The proposed legislation would ensure that retired workers keep the pensions they have earned. Specifically, the legislation would allow the Treasury Department to loan money through the sale of U.S. Treasury bonds to pension plans to ensure that retirees and their families are guaranteed their promised benefits.\n\u201cIt was time for Congress to act. Millions of pensions are at risk. I listened to thousands of retirees in my district, and across the Midwest, who were worried about their pensions being cut, some by as much as 60 percent. I believe this plan is a practical, common-sense solution that will ensure retirees continue to receive the pensions they have worked for,\u201d said Congressman Cleaver.\nPension plans \u2013 including the massive Teamsters\u2019 Central States Pension Fund, the United Mine Workers Pension Plan, and over 200 more plans impacting workers in every state in the country \u2013 are on the brink of failure. If nothing is done, these 200 multiemployer plans are projected to fail, many within the next 10 years. The result would be economically devastating, as the retirement benefits of 1.5 million plan participants could be at risk.\nCongressman Cleaver has been working on behalf of retirees on this issue since 2015 when over 800 retirees began contacting his office.\n\u201cIn my district alone, there will be over 3,500 people affected. For the state of Missouri, an estimated 32,000 people are impacted with a total of $3 billion dollars\u2019 worth of pensions,\u201d said Congressman Cleaver.\nThe proposal would:\n\u2022 Provide financing to put failing pension plans back on solid ground to ensure they can meet their commitments to retirees today and to workers for decades to come.\n\u2022 Prevent cuts to benefits retirees have already earned.\n\u2022 Put safeguards in place so pension plans remain strong for today's workers when they retire.\nIn 2016, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver held a town hall meeting for retired workers who are affected by the massive cuts to the Central States Pension Fund (CSPF) and led efforts to bring the U.S. Treasury Department\u2019s Special Master, Kenneth Feinberg, to hear their concerns about the proposed steep cuts to the Central States Pension Fund. Over 1,500 people showed up at the Downtown Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri to share their concerns, regarding the implementation of the Kline-Miller Act.\nThis year, Congressman Cleaver sent a letter, which can be found here, to President Donald Trump to address the crisis involving multi-employer pensions and in 2016 Congressman Cleaver sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting a formal investigation into the management of the Central States Pension Fund to determine if there was any fraudulent or mishandling of funds. He also joined other U.S. House members in requesting a full accounting of the CSPF by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). That study is currently ongoing.\n\u201cIt\u2019s time to protect the promise we made to retirees. Protect their pensions,\u201d said Congressman Cleaver.\nEmanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri\u2019s Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee\u2019s Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee, the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, and also a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. For more information, please contact Heather Frierson at 816-842-4545 or Heather.Frierson@mail.house.gov.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cleaver.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cleaver-joins-house-and-senate-democrats-in-sponsoring-new"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.234510913491249, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}