December 18, 2019

Manchin: Coal Miners Of America Made Us Look Beyond Politics

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) delivered remarks on the Senate Floor thanking coal miners, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts, his colleagues in the House and Senate and the White House for putting politics aside and passing the Bipartisan American Miners Act. This bill secures lifetime healthcare benefits for the 13,000 retired coal miners and their families who would have lost their benefits entirely and the 92,000 retired coal miners and their families who would have seen their pensions gutted next year without Congressional action. By working together across party lines, since 2016, Senator Manchin has secured lifetime healthcare benefits for 36,000 and pensions for 92,000 miners and their families.

Click here to watch his full remarks.

Senator Manchin said in part: “On Monday, after four long years of working hard through many uncertainties, Congress came together, Democrats and Republicans, to secure healthcare and pensions for our nation’s coal miners. We did our job. It was the coal miners of America that made us look beyond politics. And I want to give my sincere thanks to all of my colleagues for putting partisan politics aside and for rising above the divineness and tribalism in order to keep the promise we made in 1946. Over seventy years ago, President Harry Truman recognized the importance of the workers that produced the coal for this country and promised that the government would guarantee our brave coal miners’ benefits in return for their service.”

He continued: “This agreement was a sacred promise between worker and country, and it captured the very best of our American values. This week, we kept that promise by including the Bipartisan American Miners Act in the end of year funding bill. We kept our promise to the 13,000 retired coal miners and their families who won’t lose their healthcare by the end of the year. We kept our promise to the 92,000 retired coal miners and their families who won’t lose their pension next year. Coal miners are the most patriotic people in America. They have done the heavy lifting. They have done everything that has been asked of them by this country. They provided the energy that made us the greatest country on earth. The super power of the world.”