House Committee to Tackle Retirement Issues in Feb. 6 Hearing

The House Ways and Means Committee under the lead of the new Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) will hear testimony Wednesday morning on “Improving Retirement Security for America’s Workers.”

Among those testifying will be Cynthia McDaniel, the wife of a retired Missouri truck driver who suffered a near-fatal heart attack soon after learning that his hard-earned and promised pension benefits were at risk of being cut by 57 percent. Following her husband’s illness, McDaniel joined the movement to save financially-troubled multiemployer plans. She is now Co-Director of the Missouri-Kansas City Committee to Protect Pensions, which is part of the National United Committee to Protect Pensions (NUCPP).

The Pension Rights Center is a nonprofit consumer organization that has been working for more than four decades to protect and promote the retirement security of American workers and their families. The Center has been working with the Missouri-Kansas City Committee, the NUCPP, and other groups to find a solution to an insolvency crisis affecting 130-150 multiemployer pension plans. The PRC supports the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act (H.R.397), legislation recently reintroduced by Congressman Neal. The bill is a fair and effective way to resolve a crisis affecting more than 1.2 million workers and retirees.

Also testifying will be Nancy J. Altman, chair of the PRC’s Board of Directors and president of Social Security Works, an organization committed to safeguarding the economic security of those dependent, now or in the future, on Social Security.

Diane Oakley, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Research will be testifying on the economic impact of the nation’s retirement crisis.

The full list of those testifying can be found on the committee’s website.

Karen Friedman, the PRC’s executive vice president and policy director, will be available directly after the hearing to field press inquiries.