(Washington, DC) - U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens/L.I.) today delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing into the collection of disability pensions by retired Long Island Rail Road retirees.  The hearing was held at the State University of New York at Old Westbury by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the five members of Long Island’s Congressional Delegation which include Ackerman, Peter King, Carolyn McCarthy, Steve Israel and Tim Bishop.

“I would like to thank Attorney General Cuomo for putting together today’s hearing. The issues surrounding the alarmingly-high proportion of Long Island Railroad (Long Island RR) retirees seeking federal Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) disability pensions are complicated. More examination yields less certainty, more questions, finer distinctions and concern as to whether we can clearly determine if this circumstance was an ‘anomaly,’ or the abuse of a federal-benefits system. While all railroad workers must be treated fairly, the public must be as well. As a former journalist, I am heartened that solid investigative reporting brought this issue to the public’s attention. However, as a federal public official, I am deeply concerned and disappointed that everyone—labor, management and the RRB—somehow failed to react to the overwhelming majority of eligible Long Island RR retirees applying for, and receiving, federal disability benefits.  Someone, somewhere, should have raised a red-flag of concern.
 
As a result, Attorney General Cuomo, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Inspector General’s office of the RRB, are all conducting investigations to find out what happened and whether there was any illegal wrongdoing. In addition, the RRB has taken the very positive step of implementing five corrective measures solely for Long Island RR retirees. 
 
However, the results of the four ongoing investigations, and full implementation of the RRB’s proposed new Long Island RR plan will take time. The final outcome of these investigations and actions will only be known to the public when they are complete. In the interim, it is vitally important that we, the Long Island Representatives in Congress, make certain that our constituents’ interest in rightful distribution of federal benefits is protected, and most importantly, get to the bottom of what happened in full view of the public.  
 
Congress should not forgo our own oversight responsibilities just because other investigations are taking place, or because the individuals that did not address the problem in the first place, say they are fixing it. Exploring how so many Long Island RR retirees received federal-disability pensions is necessary, but it does not necessarily mean that the entire system is broken. Several factors could have contributed to such a high percentage of retirees applying for federal-disability pensions, including a labor agreement unique to the Long Island RR that permitted 20-year employees starting at age 50 to receive both a Long Island RR retirement pension and a RRB disability pension without an offset. Accordingly, that arrangement is already being phased-out over time.
 
However, that reason alone does not fully explain why over 90 percent of these retirees since 2000 knew how to successfully apply to the RRB for disability pensions and did so. While every railroad worker should receive disability benefits if they’re disabled, it is more than curious that almost all retiring 20-year Long Island RR employees sustained physical disabilities exactly when they were able to retire with a full pension. And it certainly doesn’t answer the question as to why no one cared enough to thoroughly look into the issue and bring it to our attention until a newspaper article was written about it. 
 
I greatly appreciate Attorney General Cuomo’s concurrence that representatives from the LIRR, two railroad-labor unions, the RRB and the insurance industry participate today so that all sides of this complex issue would be properly presented. Unfortunately, I have to note that the RRB declined the opportunity to send a representative who could have discussed their new Long Island RR policy with us and the public today. I look forward to hearing from all of the panel members and having a constructive dialogue about the Long Island RR retiree disability issue. Thank you.”

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