Additional information submitted for the record by-Continued Poff, Hon. Richard H., letter from, transmitting information from Railroad Retirement Board to correct figures given in previous Bills to amend the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unem- ployment Insurance Acts pending before the House of Repre- sentatives, 84th Congress, March 1956. Letter from Raymond J. Kelly, Chairman, transmitting statistics 115 RAILROAD RETIREMENT LEGISLATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1956 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS, The Subcommittee on Transportation and Communications is meeting this morning to begin hearings on the many bills pending before the committee proposing to amend the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. There are over 50 such bills pending before this committee, and there may be other bills introduced during the course of these hearings. As it will be remembered, the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce held hearings in the last session of Congress on the bill H. R. 4744, which was introduced by our distinguished chairman, the Honorable J. Percy Priest, and about 15 other bills that were identical to it, or encompassed by it. You will remember that the bill passed both Houses of Congress and became Public Law 383 of the 84th Congress. The principal provisions of the law are: 1. It increased the maximum spouse's annuity payable under the Railroad Retirement Act from the then existing $40 a month to the highest amount which could be paid to anyone as a wife's insurance benefit under the provisions of the Social Security Act, as amended from time to time. In effect, it will be recalled that this amendment established a new maximum of $54.30, beginning with January 1956. Further increases in the maximum will automatically take place if and when the Social Security Act is further amended to provide for higher benefits. 2. The law repealed the dual-benefit restriction on survivor annuities; that is, it repealed the second sentence of section 5 (g) (2) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, as amended. The effect of this repeal is to permit a widow, dependent widower, child, or parent of a deceased railroad employee to receive the full amount of his or her survivor annuity without any deductions because he or she may be eligible to receive simultaneously a social-security benefit under the Social Security Act. 3. The bill had to do with Railroad Retirement Board personnel. The bill as it became law provides that practically all positions, with certain exceptions, to which individuals are appointed by the Railroad Retirement Board shall be in and under the classified [competitive] civil service and it provided that they should not be removed or excepted therefrom. At the time of the hearings last year, which culminated in the report by this committee of the bill just referred to, and its passage, I announced that this committee during this coming session, during this session of Congress, would hold hearings on the remaining bills pending before the committee as soon as we had received the sixth actuarial valuation report of the railroad retirement system. This report is now available for members of the committee. The 53 bills introduced by our distinguished colleagues in the House, and pending before the committee, in which there has been so much interest manifested by so many Members and their constituents, and all railroad people, will be inserted at this point into the record by number and sponsor. I think this is appropriate because now we have at the outset of the hearings the number of the bill and the sponsor of each bill available for anyone who would like to see it. (The bills and sponsors are as follows:) H. R. 182, by Mrs. St. George, of New York; H. R. 306, by Mr. Wickersham, of Oklahoma; H. R. 738, by our colleague on this committee, Mr. Williams of Mississippi; H. R. 757, H. R. 760, H. R. 2573, and H. R. 3416, by Mr. Cunningham of Iowa, H. R. 856, H. R. 858, H. R. 859, H. R. 861, H. R. 2443, H. R. 7982, H. R. 7983, H. R. 7984, H. R. 7985, H. R. 7986, H. R. 7987, H. R. 7988, H. R. 7989, and H. R. 7990, by Mr. Van Zandt, of Pennsylvania; H. R. 2026 and H. R. 4301, by Mr. O'Konski, of Wisconsin; H. R. 3087, by Mr. Bennett of Florida; H. R. 3209, by Mr. Dorn of South Carolina; H. R. 3401, H. R. 8230, H. R. 8231, and H. R. 8587, by Mr. Boyle, of Illinois; H. R. 3590, by our colleague on this committee, Mr. Friedel, of Maryland; H. R. 3607, by Mr. O'Brien, of New York; H. R. 3612, by Mr. Rogers of Colorado; H. R. 3719, by Mr. Winstead, of Mississippi; H. R. 3795, by Mr. Poff, of Virginia; H. R. 3826, by Mr. Powell, of New York; H. R. 3938, by Mr. Radwan, of New York; H. R. 4305 and H. R. 4306, by Mr. Smith, of Mississippi; H. R. 4555 and H. R. 6833, by Mr. Bentley, of Michigan; H. R. 4787, by Mr. Broyhill, of Virginia; H. R. 5218, by Mr. Zelenko, of New York; H. R. 5272, by Mr. Denton, of Indiana; H. R. 5361, by Mr. Blatnik, of Minnesota; H. R. 5426, by Mr. Hyde, of Maryland; H. R. 5702, by our colleague on this committee, Mr. Bennett of Michigan; H. R. 5801, by Mr. Cretella, of Connecticut; H. R. 6838, by Mrs. Harden, of Indiana; H. R. 8338 and H. R. 8339, by Mr. Davis, of Georgia; H. R. 8399, by Mr. Sikes, of Florida; H. R. 8492, by Mr. Siler, of Kentucky; and H. R. 8702, by Mr. Perkins, of Kentucky. The 53 bills on which we will hold hearings can be grouped into a few principal categories. I think this will be helpful to all of us and to the hearings. There are some 14 bills which provide for retirement. at age 60 and/or after 30 years of service, or after 35 years of service, with an annuity of not less than half of the employee's monthly compensation during his 5 years of highest earnings. We have some 5 bills which provide for retirement on a full annuity at age 60 and/or after 30 years of service, without changing the present formula for computing annuities. We have another category of about 10 bills which provide for a flat percentage increase in benefits, ranging from 10 to 25 percent. There is still another category containing some 12 bills which provide for the repealing of certain restrictions on the right of spouses and/or survivors to receive full benefits simultaneously under both the Railroad Retirement Act and the Social Security Act, or to receive more than 1 annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act. And then there are other measures. Some bills would lower the eligibility age for spouses from 65 to 60 years. Two bills would repeal RAILROAD RETIREMENT LEGISLATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1956 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS, The Subcommittee on Transportation and Communications is meeting this morning to begin hearings on the many bills pending before the committee proposing to amend the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. There are over 50 such bills pending before this committee, and there may be other bills introduced during the course of these hearings. As it will be remembered, the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce held hearings in the last session of Congress on the bill H. R. 4744, which was introduced by our distinguished chairman, the Honorable J. Percy Priest, and about 15 other bills that were identical to it, or encompassed by it. You will remember that the bill passed both Houses of Congress and became Public Law 383 of the 84th Congress. The principal provisions of the law are: 1. It increased the maximum spouse's annuity payable under the Railroad Retirement Act from the then existing $40 a month to the highest amount which could be paid to anyone as a wife's insurance benefit under the provisions of the Social Security Act, as amended from time to time. In effect, it will be recalled that this amendment established a new maximum of $54.30, beginning with January 1956. Further increases in the maximum will automatically take place if and when the Social Security Act is further amended to provide for higher benefits. 2. The law repealed the dual-benefit restriction on survivor annuities; that is, it repealed the second sentence of section 5 (g) (2) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, as amended. The effect of this repeal is to permit a widow, dependent widower, child, or parent of a deceased railroad employee to receive the full amount of his or her survivor annuity without any deductions because he or she may be eligible to receive simultaneously a social-security benefit under the Social Security Act. 3. The bill had to do with Railroad Retirement Board personnel. The bill as it became law provides that practically all positions, with certain exceptions, to which individuals are appointed by the Railroad Retirement Board shall be in and under the classified [competitive] civil service and it provided that they should not be removed or excepted therefrom. At the time of the hearings last year, which culminated in the report by this committee of the bill just referred to, and its passage, I announced that this committee during this coming session, during this session of Congress, would hold hearings on the remaining bills pending before the committee as soon as we had received the sixth actuarial valuation report of the railroad retirement system. This report is now available for members of the committee. The 53 bills introduced by our distinguished colleagues in the House, and pending before the committee, in which there has been so much interest manifested by so many Members and their constituents, and all railroad people, will be inserted at this point into the record by number and sponsor. I think this is appropriate because now we have at the outset of the hearings the number of the bill and the sponsor of each bill available for anyone who would like to see it. (The bills and sponsors are as follows:) H. R. 182, by Mrs. St. George, of New York; H. R. 306, by Mr. Wickersham, of Oklahoma; H. R. 738, by our colleague on this committee, Mr. Williams of Mississippi; H. R. 757, H. R. 760, H. R. 2573, and H. R. 3416, by Mr. Cunningham of Iowa, H. R. 856, H. R. 858, H. R. 859, H. R. 861, H. R. 2443, H. R. 7982, H. R. 7983, H. R. 7984, H. R. 7985, H. R. 7986, H. R. 7987, H. R. 7988, H. R. 7989, and H. R. 7990, by Mr. Van Zandt, of Pennsylvania; H. R. 2026 and H. R. 4301, by Mr. O'Konski, of Wisconsin; H. R. 3087, by Mr. Bennett of Florida; H. R. 3209, by Mr. Dorn of South Carolina; H. R. 3401, H. R. 8230, H. R. 8231, and H. R. 8587, by Mr. Boyle, of Illinois; H. R. 3590, by our colleague on this committee, Mr. Friedel, of Maryland; H. R. 3607, by Mr. O'Brien, of New York; H. R. 3612, by Mr. Rogers of Colorado; H. R. 3719, by Mr. Winstead, of Mississippi; H. R. 3795, by Mr. Poff, of Virginia; H. R. 3826, by Mr. Powell, of New York; H. R. 3938, by Mr. Radwan, of New York; H. R. 4305 and H. R. 4306, by Mr. Smith, of Mississippi; H. R. 4555 and H. R. 6833, by Mr. Bentley, of Michigan; H. R. 4787, by Mr. Broyhill, of Virginia; H. R. 5218, by Mr. Zelenko, of New York; H. R. 5272, by Mr. Denton, of Indiana; H. R. 5361, by Mr. Blatnik, of Minnesota; H. R. 5426, by Mr. Hyde, of Maryland; H. R. 5702, by our colleague on this committee, Mr. Bennett of Michigan; H. R. 5801, by Mr. Cretella, of Connecticut; H. R. 6838, by Mrs. Harden, of Indiana; H. R. 8338 and H. R. 8339, by Mr. Davis, of Georgia; H. R. 8399, by Mr. Sikes, of Florida; H. R. 8492, by Mr. Siler, of Kentucky; and H. R. 8702, by Mr. Perkins, of Kentucky. The 53 bills on which we will hold hearings can be grouped into a few principal categories. I think this will be helpful to all of us and to the hearings. There are some 14 bills which provide for retirement at age 60 and/or after 30 years of service, or after 35 years of service, with an annuity of not less than half of the employee's monthly compensation during his 5 years of highest earnings. We have some 5 bills which provide for retirement on a full annuity at age 60 and/or after 30 years of service, without changing the present formula for computing annuities. We have another category of about 10 bills which provide for a flat percentage increase in benefits, ranging from 10 to 25 percent. There is still another category containing some 12 bills which provide for the repealing of certain restrictions on the right of spouses and/or survivors to receive full benefits simultaneously under both the Railroad Retirement Act and the Social Security Act, or to receive more than 1 annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act. And then there are other measures. Some bills would lower the eligibility age for spouses from 65 to 60 years. Two bills would repeal |