CLEVELAND, November 29 — After difficult behind the scenes lobbying, members of the Rail Labor Coalition were able to convince Senators to overturn die-hard Republican opposition to the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’ Improvement Act of 2001.
This morning, the Senate voted 96-4 in favor of cloture on the Railroad Retirement bill, which basically limits the amount of time Senators can debate the bill and prevents opponents from killing the bill by filibustering. The four Senators who voted against cloture are Phil Graham (R-TX), Don Nickels (R-OK), Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ).
The battle is not over, however. BLE International Vice-President & U.S. National Legislative Representative Raymond Holmes described the current situation on Capitol Hill as follows:
“Look at today’s victory on the cloture vote this way,” he said. “It’s the first quarter and we’re ahead, but we still have three quarters left to play.”
The next step will probably come this afternoon when supporters of the bill are expected to file a motion to proceed. Depending on what happens at that point, a final vote could come as early as this afternoon or sometime next week.
BLE President Don M. Hahs thanked the BLE lobbyists who are in Washington working for passage of this bill, and acknowledged the efforts of the GIA throughout the lobbying process. GIA Legislative Representative Becky Schneider is on Capitol Hill today lobbying with Brother Holmes and the rest of the Rail Labor Coalition.
Sister Schneider described the current situation as “do or die,” and urged BLE and GIA members to call and/or e-mail their Senators every day until the Railroad Retirement bill has been passed. When contacting Senators, members should convey the following message:
“Thank you for voting for cloture on Railroad Retirement reform. We know the battle isn’t over and we appreciate your continued support in moving the bill to passage, and your opposition to all amendments.”
It is expected that opponents of the Railroad Retirement bill may attempt to kill it by attaching unrelated amendments to it, such as a cloning amendment or the energy package, which is why it is so important to urge Senators to oppose any amendments to the bill.
Members can go to the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department’s (TTD) website to e-mail their Senators,