December 16, 2019

Manchin Leads Bipartisan Effort To Secure Miners' Pensions And Healthcare

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) today announced a bipartisan agreement to secure pensions and healthcare for nearly 100,000 coal miners, their widows, and their families. Senator Manchin's Bipartisan American Miners Act (S. 2788) has been included in the final funding package that will keep the government open beyond December 20th when the current temporary funding measure expires. This bill secures lifetime healthcare benefits for the 13,000 miners who would have lost their benefits entirely and the 92,000 miners who would have seen their pensions gutted next year without Congressional action.

“Today we came to an agreement that will finally secure pensions and healthcare for our coal miners and their families. We have honored the promise this country made to them back in 1946. This would not have happened without the UMWA and the thousands of coal miners who invested their time and energy, year after year, coming to Washington, walking the halls, and fighting for their brothers and sisters. It has been the honor of my life to lead this fight and bring together the coalition that made this possible. I want to thank my colleagues in Congress, Democrats and Republicans, for making this a truly bipartisan effort. I look forward to voting for this crucial bill later this week and sending it to the President so he can sign it into law and provide some well-deserved peace of mind to these great Americans that have done everything this country has asked of them,” said Senator Manchin.

Senator Manchin has introduced legislation to secure lifetime healthcare and pension benefits for coal miners and their families since 2015. A full timeline of his work can be found here.