DPCC Co-Chair Jeffries Demands a Better Deal for American Workers

Calls for Passage of Proposal to Ensure 1.5 Million Retired Workers Across Country Keep Their Hard Earned Pensions

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy & Communications Committee (DPCC), today joined Congressional Democrats to call for the immediate passage of legislation to ensure pensions that hardworking Americans have earned over a lifetime of work are safeguard and protected into the future.

The legislation, the latest tenet of the A Better Deal economic agenda, was unveiled in November and would ensure Teamsters, miners, and thousands of other American workers can keep the retirement they have earned so their families and livelihoods are not put at risk.

Democrats are working to build A Better Deal for all Americans by creating better jobs, better wages, and a better future.

Below are excerpts from the press conference and a link to the video.

Click here to watch the video

"In America, if you work hard and play by the rules you should be able to retire with grace and dignity. In America, if you work hard and play by the rules you should be able to retire and continue to provide food on the table, clothing on your back and shelter for your loved ones."

"But for far too many hard-working Americans that basic contract has been broken. That is not acceptable, the American worker deserves a better deal. Louis Brandeis one of our nation's leading Supreme Court Justices' said that ‘in this country, you can have democracy or you can have wealth concentrated in the hands of the very few, but you can't have both.' In America, we know that rich continue to get richer, corporate profits are at an all-time high, the stock market is surging but the pension plan for teamsters, miners and other hard-working Americans is in distress."

"The American worker deserves a better deal – focused on better jobs, better wages, and a better future. That means a secure pension, that means passage of the Butch Lewis Act of 2017 and making sure hard-working Americans get every single dime of what they deserve and not a penny less."