Brian Birdnow

Dear Senator McCaskill,

You claim to be fighting for the little guys like the coal miner mentioned in your letter. Why, then, have you supported your Party and your President in their efforts to kill the coal industry. I might add, while we are on the subject, that you enthusiastically supported a Presidential candidate who swaggeringly stated that when she was president she would put the coal companies out of business and put tens of thousands of coal miners out of work. Where do you stand on this issue now?

Brian E. Birdnow

Senator Claire McCaskil

That's the question Americans should always be asking their members of Congress—who are you fighting for?

For the record, here's who I'm fighting for...

Billy Hull. He's a retired coal miner with nearly 30 years working at the Peabody Coal Power Mine near Montrose, Missouri, who wrote me a letter earlier this year:

"My Wife and I, married 59 years fall under the Patriot Coal Companies Voluntary Employees Beneficial Association (VEBA.). My wife Earlene is a 2 time cancer survivor and I suffered a stroke in 2012. If we lose our benefits it will be hard for us to afford our medicine cost. Due to the bankruptcy of both Peabody Coal Co. and the Patriot Coal Company the Patriot VEBA fund will be exhausted in late 2016 leaving us without pension and healthcare benefits..."

Mr. Hull isn't alone. He's one of thousands of retired coal miners and their widows whose pensions and healthcare—promised to them decades ago—are in jeopardy. They were made a promise and, through no fault of their own, are about to have the rug pulled out from under them. A handful of my colleagues and I have been trying to fix this crisis for months, with our bipartisan Miners Protection Act. And I figured we'd have some big-time help from President-elect Donald Trump, who's vowed to help these miners.

But instead of seizing the last chance Congress had to fix the problem this year, U.S. House Republicans put a temporary bandage on these miners' benefits and then left town for their Christmas vacations. Meanwhile, retired miners, widows, and their families across Missouri are left in limbo. I don't know who these U.S. House Republicans are fighting for, but it's not working Americans.

Our own Harry Truman—whose Senate seat I hold today—made a promise to these coal miners when he was President. I'm fighting to keep his promise. And I'm fighting for Missouri's working families.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 08:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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