{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398637", "Griffith Statement on H.R.2403", "2016-10-21", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Friday, October 21, 2016 \u2013 Congressman Morgan Griffith\u2019s statement on the Coal Healthcare and Pension Protection Act of 2015, H.R.2403:\r\n\u201cProtecting the health benefits and pensions of coal miners is important.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe coal industry has been under attack by the Obama Administration, unlike any other industry.\u00a0 Because of these attacks, and the low price of natural gas, many coal companies have been forced either into bankruptcy or to reduce benefits including pensions. \u00a0Because of these bankruptcies, historic principles established to secure some coal miners\u2019 pensions, which date back as far as the Truman Administration, may no longer be sufficient. \u00a0\u00a0In order to keep our commitment to coal miners covered under such deals, I agreed to cosponsor the Coal Healthcare and Pension Protection Act of 2015, H.R.2403, in June 2015.\u00a0 Critics of this bill have appropriately pointed out that the funding for this bill comes from the interest on Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund money, which comes from all coal mines, not just a select few.\u00a0 While I am in favor of the introduced\u00a0 bill, there are several amendments being discussed which may make the bill better.\u00a0 Both the House and the Senate bills are designed to be fair to our miners and amendments may be necessary in order to achieve this overall goal.\u00a0 I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Coal Caucus, led by Representative David McKinley (R-W.Va.), and I look forward to working with the Senate sponsor of this bill, \u00a0Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).\u201d\r\n\u201cIt is important to note that because this bill uses interest from the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund money, it does not negatively impact efforts by myself, Representative Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), and others, to pass the RECLAIM Act.\u00a0 The RECLAIM Act uses some Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund money in an effort to simulate economic development in the coalfields of Central Appalachia.\u201d\r\n\u201cWhile I will continue to fight unreasonable regulations that unfairly target the coal industry, I support the effort to ensure coal miners receive the benefits they earned.\u00a0 The reduction of unreasonable regulations, along with H.R.2403 and S.1714, will have the effect of bolstering our coal miners\u2019 pension and health benefit plans.\u201d", 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": ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398637"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8659251034259796, "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"}