{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-calls-for-passage-of-miners-protection-act-before-end-of-year", "Donnelly Calls for Passage of Miners Protection Act Before End of Year", "2016-11-22", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "IN", "Joe Donnelly", "D000607", "www.donnelly.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Donnelly Calls for Passage of Miners Protection Act Before End of Year\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tSenator continues push to ensure retired Hoosier miners receive pension and health care benefits they earned\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTuesday, November 22, 2016\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tGranger, Ind. \u2013 U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly and a bipartisan group of Senators sent a letter late yesterday to leaders in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives calling for consideration and passage of the Miners Protection Act before the end of the year. The bipartisan\u00a0Miners Protection Act, which Donnelly has continuously supported, would protect the health and pension benefits of thousands of American miners, including more than 4,500 retired Hoosier miners. Without action, their benefits are at risk.\r\nThe letter said, in part, \u201cThis bill is simple \u2013 it is the continuation of a longstanding commitment by our government to lifetime health and retirement benefits for our miners\u2026 The Miners Protection Act is a responsible, bipartisan solution to an immediate problem\u2026 We strongly encourage you to pass the Miners Protection Act of 2016 (S. 1714) by the end of this year.\u201d\r\nTo read the full letter, click here, or see below.\r\nNovember 21, 2016\r\nThe Honorable Paul Ryan\r\nSpeaker\r\nU.S. House of Representatives\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\nThe Honorable Mitch McConnell   Majority Leader   United States Senate\r\nThe Honorable Harry Reid\r\nDemocratic Leader\r\nUnited States Senate\r\nThe Honorable Nancy Pelosi    Democratic Leader    U.S. House of Representatives \r\nDear Senator McConnell, Senator Reid, Speaker Ryan and Representative Pelosi:\r\nDuring the month of October, approximately 12,500 of our nation\u2019s retired coal miners received notices informing them that their healthcare benefits will be terminated at the end of this year.\u00a0The funding provided for Patriot Retirees Voluntary Employee\u2019s Beneficiary Association (Patriot VEBA) will be exhausted by December 31, 2016, leaving these miners and their families without the essential healthcare benefits they earned through a lifetime of hard work.\u00a0 On November 1st, another 3,600 miners began to receive notices.\u00a0 And next year, 6,500 more will suffer the same fate.\u00a0 Additionally, the pension fund that these miners and their widows rely on for life\u2019s basic necessities will reach the point of no return shortly thereafter.\u00a0 Therefore, we ask that you pass the Miners Protection Act of 2016 (S. 1714) by the end of this year.\u00a0\r\nIn March of this year, the Miners Protection Act was the subject of a legislative hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance.\u00a0 On September 21st, S. 1714 was approved by the Committee with a strong bipartisan vote of 18 to 8.\u00a0 We worked closely with our colleagues to ensure that the bill was fully offset and that no funding was diverted away from either abandoned mine reclamation efforts or annual payments to certified states.\r\nThis bill is simple \u2013 it is the continuation of a longstanding commitment by our government to lifetime health and retirement benefits for our miners.\u00a0 The Krug-Lewis Agreement was signed in 1946 at the White House in front of President Truman by UMWA president John L. Lewis and Secretary of the Interior Julius Krug.\u00a0 This agreement ended a government seizure of the nation\u2019s coal industry after a widespread strike by coal miners.\r\nWhile the agreement itself was not drafted in perpetuity, Congress essentially codified the promises made in that agreement by subsequently passing the Coal Act.\u00a0 The Coal Act and its 2006 amendments re-committed the government to the health and retirement security of our nation\u2019s miners and their families.\u00a0 In fact, prior to passage of the 1992 Coal Act, the Dole Commission (appointed by President George H.W. Bush) issued a report stating that, \u201cThe UMWA Health and Retirement Funds is as much a creature of government as it is of collective bargaining. There is a line running from the original Boone Report to the present system. In a way, the original Krug-Lewis agreement predisposed, if not predetermined, the system that evolved.\u201d\r\nThe Miners Protection Act is a responsible, bipartisan solution to an immediate problem that is fully offset and has gone through regular order.\u00a0 We strongly encourage you to pass the Miners Protection Act of 2016 (S. 1714) by the end of this year.\r\nSincerely\r\nU.S. Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN)\r\nU.S. Senator Joe Manchin III (D-WV)\r\nU.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)\r\nU.S. Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA)\r\nU.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)\r\nU.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA)\r\nU.S. Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA)\r\nU.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)\r\nU.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN)\r\nU.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)\r\nU.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)\r\nU.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)\r\nU.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC)\r\nU.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH)\r\nU.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL)\r\nU.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)\r\nU.S. Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT)\r\nU.S. Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL)\r\nU.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)\r\nU.S. Senator James E. Risch (R-ID)\r\nU.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)\r\nU.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS)\r\n###", 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://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-calls-for-passage-of-miners-protection-act-before-end-of-year"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4505779836326838, "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"}