{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/video/view/mccaskill-i-wont-support-this-bill-that-leaves-retired-miners-and-their-widows-out-in-the-cold", "McCaskill: ‘I won't support this bill that  leaves retired miners and their widows out in the cold’", "2016-12-12", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As 16,300 retired American coal miners and their families face a loss of healthcare and pensions promised to them, Republican leaders in the U.S. House and Senate have refused to act on a bipartisan plan to address the crisis. Now time has run out, and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today announced she will vote against Congress\u2019 final legislation this year\u2014a government spending bill\u2014after Republican leaders refused to include the bipartisan Miners Protection Act in the legislation.\nMcCaskill cited a letter she received from Billy Hull, a retired coal miner with nearly 30 years working at the Peabody Coal Power Mine near Montrose, Missouri. Mr. Hull wrote to McCaskill earlier this year, saying in part: \u201cMy wife Earlene is a 2 time cancer survivor and I suffered a stroke in 2012. If we lose our benefits it will be hard for us to afford our medicine cost. Due to the bankruptcy of both Peabody Coal Co. and the Patriot Coal Company the Patriot VEBA fund will be exhausted in late 2016 leaving us without pension and healthcare benefits\u2026\u201d\n\u201cHere\u2019s the question Americans should always be asking every member of Congress: who are you fighting for?\u201d McCaskill said. \u201cBilly Hull is who I\u2019m fighting for. Passing a bipartisan fix for these miners would mean they won\u2019t have to spend the holidays terrified of losing their healthcare. Missouri\u2019s own Harry Truman\u2014whose Senate seat I hold today\u2014made a promise to these coal miners when he was President. I\u2019m fighting to keep his promise.\n\u201cI\u2019ve been hearing Republican leaders in the U.S. House complain that they\u2019ve already left Washington, D.C. to get home early for Christmas\u2014so the government funding bill they approved and sent to the Senate, though it only includes a 4-month extension for these miners\u2019 healthcare, will just have to be good enough,\u201d McCaskill added. \u201cWell, I don\u2019t know who these U.S. House Republicans are fighting for, but it\u2019s not working Americans like Billy Hull and the thousands like him whose blood, sweat, and tears powered our nation for generations, and yet don\u2019t have the peace of mind that those members of the U.S. House are blessed with.\u201d\nOn December 31, thousands of retired miners and their widows are scheduled to lose their health insurance. Congressional Republicans included a four-month extension of this insurance in the spending bill\u2014barely giving the miners another month of coverage before they would receive a 90-day notice of cancellation. McCaskill is pushing for certainty for these retirees and their families with the permanent health insurance solutions in the Miners Protection Act, so they aren\u2019t facing the loss of their insurance every few months.\nMcCaskill also highlighted President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s repeated statements of support for America\u2019s coal miners, and called on him to urge Republican leaders in the U.S. House and Senate to address the pending crisis. \nTwo years ago, McCaskill was the only member of the Missouri Congressional delegation to vote against a sprawling, $1 trillion end-of-year spending package. Tucked into that \u201comnibus\u201d spending bill was a provision allowing for deep cuts to retiree benefits for 32,000 Missourians participating in the Central States Pension Plan. McCaskill is a strong supporter and cosponsor of the Keep Our Pension Promises Act, which would repeal the law that allows for massive pension cuts.", 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.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/video/view/mccaskill-i-wont-support-this-bill-that-leaves-retired-miners-and-their-widows-out-in-the-cold"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.113578073680401, "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"}