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LETTERS TO U.S. GOVERNMENT
LEADERS |
Herb Zydney Expresses
Concerns To Senator Nelson For Safe Drug Imports
LRO Member Herb Zydney wrote to
Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson to express his
concerns that a prescription drug importation
bill had no inspection requirements, opening
wide the door for unscrupulous foreign exporters
to prey on unsuspecting seniors--with no
penalties if they shipped counterfeit or
substandard prescriptions to the USA.
Click
here
to read Senator Nelson's response.
LRO Regional Director Hal
Worley Writes To U.S. Senator Max Baucus
Hal Worley, the LRO's Mid-Atlantic
Regional Director, has written a letter to U.S.
Senator Max Baucus to call his attention to what he
considers excessive compensation to corporate
executives and the faulty process for recording
votes on proxy proposals.
Click here
to read Hal's letter.
Judy
Stevanovich Asks Members Of Congress For Help On Health
Care Costs
Judy Stevanovich, an LRO member from
Anderson, SC, has sent a letter to her two U.S. Senators
and her Congressman on the issue of the high costs of
health care for retirees. She has asked her elected
representatives to delay the Lucent and Alcatel merger
until the companies commit to honor their oblations to
retirees. She urged the three members of Congress to
support legislation to provide access to health care
insurance for retirees who are not Medicare eligible and
to propose legislation making health care premiums and
out-of-pocket costs fully tax deductible.
Click here
to read Judy's entire letter.
LRO Member Ed Prescott Sends Follow-Up Letter After Meeting With Congressman Dent.
After a face-to-face meeting with Pennsylvania Congressman Charles W. Dent (15th
District), Ed Prescott, Zionsville, PA, has sent a letter to the U.S. Representative.
The letter thanks him for the time he listened to Ed's concerns regarding the
Pension Reform legislation currently under consideration in the joint House and
Senate conference committee. In addition, the letter expresses Ed's concerns
about Lucent's treatment of retirees and the impending Lucent and Alcatel merger.
Vestal Fulp Expresses Concerns
To Members of Congress About Possible
Impact of Lucent-Alcatel Merger
On Lucent Retirees' Pension and Benefits
LRO Member Vestal Fulp has written to his
North Carolina U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Elizabeth
Dole and Representative Howard Coble to express his
concerns for pension and benefits security for Lucent
retirees because of the Lucent-Alcatel merger
announcement.
Click here
to read Vestal's letter.
Alabama Retiree Urges Senator Richard
Shelby To Address Disclosure Issues With Pat Russo
Joseph George, a Lucent retiree in Birmingham, Alabama, has
written a letter to U. S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL)
calling his attention to the lack of disclosure that
retirees receive from Lucent about their pension, health
care and life insurance benefits. He requested that Senator
Shelby write to Pat Russo on this matter.
Click here to read the letter to Sen. Shelby.
Charles Vinoski Writes To North Carolina's
U.S. Senators
Charles Vinoski, LRO Member from Greensboro has
written a letter to his North Carolina U.S. Senators Richard Burr
and Elizabeth Dole. Charles told the LRO that the letter to Senator
Dole did not include the opening compliment that was written in the
letter to Senator Burr.
Click here to
read the letter.
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Judith Stevanovich Shares
Response Received From South Carolina Congressman
Judith Stevanovich, an LRO member from
Anderson, SC, has received a response to her letter to U.S.
Representative J. Gresham Barrett about the need for pension reform
legislation. Congressman Barrett cited H.R. 2830, the Pension
Protection Act, as a bill intended to fix outdated worker pension
laws and protect the interests of workers, retirees, and
taxpayers. The LRO supports the National Retiree Legislative
Network's position that many provisions in H.R. 2830 are not in the
best interest of retirees. Instead, the NRLN supports S.1783, the
Pension Security and Transparency Act of 2005, in the U.S. Senate.
Click here
to read Congressman Barrett's letter.
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Fred Pflueger Receives Response From Congresswoman On EEOC
Rule
Lucent retiree Fred Pflueger wrote to his U.S. Representative about
his concerns over the EEOC Rule that would allow employers to reduce
or eliminate benefits for Medicare-eligible retirees.
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Roger Bullock Speaks His Mind In Letters To
North Carolina's U.S. Senators
Roger Bullock, Conover, NC LRO member, responded to the
request from the NRLN to send letters to his U.S. Senators urging them
ask Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to schedule a Senate vote on
S.1783, the Pension Security and Transparency Act of 2005. Roger
opened his letter to Senators Dole and Burr with this sentence: "I am
appalled, shocked and dismayed at the attitude of some legislators who
don't give a damn about the situation America's retirees find
themselves in as the corporations they spent their lifetimes serving
deprive them (legally, much of the time) of their rightful pensions."
Click here
to read Roger's entire letter.
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Jerry Webster Writes Letter To Congresswoman
Kay Granger
The LRO news release critical of Lucent's increase in
health care premiums for 2006 prompted Jerry Webster, an LRO member
from Weatherford, Texas, to send a letter to Texas U.S.
Representative Kay Granger.
Click here
to read Jerry's letter to the Congresswoman.
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Hal Worley Gets Response From
U.S. Senator Richard Burr
Hal Worley, the LRO's Mid Atlantic
Regional Director from Winston Salem, NC wrote a
letter to North Carolina U.S. Senator Richard Burr to
express his concerns about what is happening to
defined pension plans.
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Hal Worley Writes Letter To
Congressman Richard Burr
Hal Worley, the LRO Mid-Atlantic Regional
Director, has written a letter to U.S. Representative
Richard Burr from North Carolina.
Click here
to read Hal's letter.
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John Adams
Received Reply From Department of Labor
John Adams, a Lucent
retiree in Barnegat Light, New Jersey, has received a
reply from Ann L. Combs, Assistant Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Labor. John had written to Secretary of
Labor Elaine Chao after a DOL spokesperson was quoted in
a newspaper as saying retirees were not longer a
constituency of the DOL.
Click here to
read Ms. Combs' response.
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Paul And Linda Richter Send
Letter To Secretary of Labor
Paul Richter, a Silver City, NM Lucent
retiree, and his wife, Linda, have sent a letter to
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. They expressed their
concerns about the integrity of Lucent's pension and
medical plans; the solvency of the PBGC, and the
stability of Social Security.
Click here to
read the letter.
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North Carolina Retiree Writes To
Senator Richard Burr
Garner Jones, a Jamestown, NC retiree, has
sent a letter to Senator Richard Burr. He concluded the
letter by telling the Senator it is time federal
representatives stepped up and protected private pension
plans as zealously as they protect their own.
Click here to
read the letter.
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Lou Palazzo Gets Response From
Senator Sununu's Staff Member
LRO Member Lou Palazzo from Salem, New
Hampshire wrote to New Hampshire Senator John E. Sununu
about the erosion of his Lucent benefits. Senator
Sununu took up this issue with the Employee Benefits
Security Administration in the Department of Labor.
Click
here to read the response to Lou from Senator
Sununu's Director of Constituent Services and the EBSA response
and DOL brochure on "Can The Retiree Health Benefits
Provided By An Employer Be Cut?"
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Richard Gonzales Tells Members Of
Congress That Lucent "Preying On Retirees"
Richard Gonzalez, an LRO member in Issaquah,
WA, has written a letter to Washington's two US Senators and
eight US Representatives saying that Lucent appears to have
become a "corporation with no social conscience preying on
the very retirees whose loyalty, dedication and sacrifice
built a successful world class company." Click here to read
the entire letter.
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Larry Buynak Tells President Bush
Secretary Chao "Must Go!"
Columbus Works retiree, Larry Buynak has
sent an email to President George W. Bush in which he says
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao "Must Go!."
Click here to
read Larry's email to President Bush.
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Senator Richard Lugar Responds To
Indiana Retiree
Lucent retiree Roger Powell of Solsberry,
IN wrote several letters to various elected officials in
support of the LRO objective to gain an independent audit
to determine that Lucent's pension and health care trust
funds are secure. Indiana Senator Richard Lugar was the
only member of Congress who responded and requested action
from the Department of Labor.
Click here
to read Roger's letter, the reply from Senator Lugar and
the response from DOL.
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Barry Posterick Points Out To
President Bush The Error Of DOL's Ways
Barry Posterick has sent an email to
President Bush pointing out the statement by a Department of
Labor spokeswoman saying that retired workers "aren't our
constituents anymore." He sent to the President the DOL's
Mission Statement that includes retirees.
Click here to
read Barry's letter.
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Elizabeth Dudley Sends Email To
President Bush
Elizabeth Dudley, LRO member from Boca
Raton, FL, has sent a brief and directly to the point
email to President George W. Bush.
Click here to read her letter.
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Mike Bard Receives Response From
Congressman Mike McIntyre
Mike Bard, LRO Board Member, has received a
response to his letter to U.S. Representative Mike
McIntyre, 7th District of North Carolina. Congressman
McIntyre notes that he is a co-sponsor of H.R. 1322 and
that the EEOC rule has not become law.
Click here
to read Congressman McIntyre's letter.
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Oklahoma City LRO Member Sends
Email To President Bush
Troy Segler, an Oklahoma City LRO member,
has responded to the LRO's request to send a letter to
President Bush.
Click here
to read Troy's email sent to the White House with a copy
to Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe.
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Donald Boulter Gets
Response From Senator Durbin
Donald Boulter, Westmont, Ill. LRO
member, sent a letter to a number of political leaders in
Washington, DC. He has received a response from U.S.
Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois.
Click here to read
Donald's letter and the response from Senator Durbin.
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Congressman Isakson Responds To Danny
Stanley
Danny Stanley, a Marietta, GA Lucent retiree,
has received a response to his email to U.S.
Representative Johnny Isakson.
Click
here to read the reply from the Congressman.
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Letter
From Paul Bayliss Causes Congressman Tierney To Raise Questions
With Lucent
Paul Bayliss, LRO New England Region
Director, has demonstrated the value of opening
channels of communications with members of Congress.
Recently, Paul sent letters to all members of Congress
in his five state region expressing his concern about
Lucent's actions and possible future plans to reduce
or eliminate health care benefits.
Paul's letter caused U.S.
Representative John F. Tierney, Massachusetts 6th
District, to write to Lucent Chairman and CEO Patricia
Russo with some pointed questions about Lucent's plans
for prescription drug benefits.
One of Ms. Russo's sentences stated: "Lucent
determined that the prescription drug benefit included
in its retiree healthcare plan is at least actuarially
equivalent to the benefit to be provided under
Medicare Part D." The LRO intends to look into the
accuracy of this statement.
In another sentence, Ms. Russo pointed
out that "As you know, the percentage of companies
with more than 200 employees who offer any form of
retiree health benefits has declined from 66% in 1988
to 38% in 2003. The LRO believes this is a deliberate
attempt by Ms. Russo to mislead Congressman
Tierney. It would have been more honest to use
data for Lucent-sized firms (5,000 or more workers)
that shows 60% of these firms still offer retiree
health benefits--not the 38% percent that Ms. Russo
wants the Congressman to believe.
Congressman Tierney is a champion for
protecting retirees' health care benefits. He is the
author of H.R. 1322, the Emergency Retiree Health
Benefits Protection Act. Also, he is a co-sponsor of
H.R. 4978, the Prescription Plan Preservation Act of
2004 which would ensure that Lucent continue to offer
prescription drug benefits at their current level in
order to take advantage of Medicare subsidies.
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Joe Mascitti Receives Email
From Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss
Maretta, GA retiree Joe Mascitti
has received a detailed email from Georgia Senator
Saxby Chambliss.
Click here to
read about Senator Chambliss' support for
retirees.
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Don Baske Gets The
Attention of New Jersey Congressman Steven R.
Rothman
Don Baske, an LRO member from
Palisades Park, NJ, has gotten the attention of
New Jersey Congressman Steven R. Rothman.
Click
here to read Congressman
Rothman's response to Don which is followed by the
letter he sent to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. The
Congressman asked the head of the Department of
Labor to respond to Ken Raschke's letter
requesting an independent audit of the Lucent
pension trust fund.
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Congressman Responds To West
Region Director's Letter
In August, Howard King, LRO West
Region Director, sent letters to every member of
Congress from his three-state region--California,
Nevada and Hawaii. Howard asked them for a pledge
to support the passage of legislation that will
protect the pensions and benefits of millions of
retired Americans.
Click
here to read Howard's letter.
Click here to read the response from
California Congressman Zoe Lofgren.
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New Jersey Congressman
Rodney Frelinghuysen Responds To LRO Member
In response to a letter from LRO
member Bob Ardis, Congressman Rodney
Frelinghuysen, who represents New Jersey's 11th
Congressional District, has written to Secretary
of Labor Elaine Chao requesting an investigation
into the Lucent pension fund.
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Indiana Congressman Dan
Burton Asks Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao
To "Clear The Air" On
Stability Of Lucent's Pension Fund
Recently, John Woodruff, the LRO's
North Central Region Director, met with a senior
staff member to Indiana Congressman Dan Burton.
John presented a whitepaper and supporting news
articles to show the actions that Lucent has taken
against retirees benefits. He also documented
Lucent's refusal to allow an independent audit of
the pension trust fund.
Congressman Burton has written a
letter to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao
requesting the head of the U.S. Department of
Labor clear any air of uncertainty surrounding the
stability of the Lucent pension fund, and reassure
both Lucent retirees and the American taxpayer
that the plan has sufficient assets to guarantee
payment of promised benefits in the event of a
corporate default or failure. Click
here
to read the Congressman's letter.
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John
Bellefeuille Receives Response From Senator Leahy
LRO member John
Bellefeuille of Chelesa, VT sent the September 9
Associated Press article on more health care
cutbacks for Lucent retirees to U.S. Senator
Patrick Leahy.
Click here to read Senator Leahy's
email response.
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Exchange Of Letters On
Eliminated Death Benefit
After LRO member Bob Ardis
received a response from New Jersey U.S. Senator
Frank Lautenberg expressing his sympathy
about Lucent's elimination of the Death Benefit,
Bob wrote back. Bob told the Senator that
"sympathy alone really isn't very helpful" and
asked what the Senator proposed to do about the
elimination of the Death Benefit.
Click here to
read Senator Lautenberg's letter and Bob's
response.
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Manuel Munguia Sends Medical
Care Ideas to President Bush
Manuel Muguia tells President Bush in
a letter (click
here) that he is interested in solving
the medical care quandary and provides seven ideas
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Lauri Vena has received an email
response from New Jersey U.S. Senator Frank
Lautenberg.
Click here
to read the Senator's concerns about the Medicare
Improvement and Prescription Drug Act and the EEOC's
ruling that makes it likely that employers will reduce
or eliminate health care for Medicare-eligible
citizens.
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Lou Palazzo Receives
Response From Kerry/Edwards Campaign
Lou Palazzo has received a response
to his letter from the Kerry/Edwards Presidential
Campaign. A key sentence in the response (click
here) states: "I can assure you that you are
not alone in your desire to see corporate
responsibility approached in a serious way."
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Indiana Senator Responsive
To Lucent Retiree's Concerns
Indiana Senator Evan Bayh has
responded to Lucent retiree Maurice Johnson that
he has relayed Maurice's concerns about the
security of his pension and benefits to the
Department of Labor. Click
here to read Senator Bayh's email.
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Two Massachusetts
Congressmen Respond To LRO New England Region
Director
Paul Bayliss, LRO New
England Region Director, sent letters on August
23 to all members of Congress in his
five-state region. As of August 31, he has
received responses from U.S. Representatives
Barney Frank, Massachusetts 4th District, and
Marty Meehan, Massachusetts 5th District.
Congressman Frank sent two
letters (click
here) to Paul and it appears he
particularly identifies with issues important to
retirees. He notes in one response that he
has sent a letter to Lucent Chairman and CEO
Patricia Russo (click
here) asking what Lucent is planning for
prescription drug benefits for retirees.
Congressman Meehan's policy
director responded to Paul, saying he would bring
Paul's letter to the Congressman's attention.
He said Congressman Meehan is a co-sponsor of HR
1322, a bill to protect retirees' benefits, and
voted against HR 4520, a bill to extend 2005 until
2013 the ability of corporations to remove
"surplus" funds from pension trust funds. He
promised to review prescription drug benefit
issues and get back to Paul.
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NRLN Commends Senator Dorgan
On Prescription Drug Import Bill - S.2328
Jim Norby, President of the National
Retiree Legislative Network, has written a letter to
Senator Byron Dorgan commending him for sponsoring
S.2328. The bill would
allow U.S. licensed pharmacies, drug wholesalers and
American consumers to take advantage of the global
marketplace by importing safe, FDA-approved
prescription drugs from Canada and Europe for lower
prices.
Click here to read Mr. Norby's letter.
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New Hampshire LRO
Member's Letter Gets Action From Senator Sununu
A letter from Louis Palazzo, a New
Hampshire LRO Member, has gotten the attention of
Senator John E. Sununu, Deputy Whip of the U.S.
Senate. Senator Sununu's Director of
Constituent Services responded (click
here) to Louis' letter saying the
Senator has requested that top Department of Labor
officials look into Lucent's pension trust funds.
This is another example of how a
letter to a member of Congress during this
election year can result in action.
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LRO Member's Letter Shows
You Can Get The Attention Of Political Candidates
Frank Embon, a LRO member from
Allentown, PA, has demonstrated that a retirees'
letter to a politician during this election year
can generate action. Frank sent a letter
to Charles W. Dent, a Senator for the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, who is a candidate for the U.S.
House of Representatives. Frank requested
that Senator Dent send a letter to the Secretary
of Labor requesting an independent audit of the
Lucent pension trust fund. Click
here to read Senator Dent's response to Frank,
followed by Senator Dent's letter to Secretary of
Labor Elaine Chao.
Frank
is awaiting responses to letters he sent to the
Bush-Cheney Campaign, the Kerry-Edwards Campaign,
and U.S. Senators Santorum & Specter.
If all LRO members will contact their
elected representatives--state and
national--before Election Day on November 2, we
can build some momentum to get members of Congress
to focus their attention on helping safeguard
retirees' pensions and benefits.
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Links To
Information On Your United States Congress |
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U.S. SENATE
This is the official website of the U.S. Senate.
U.S. HOUSE
This is the official website of the U.S. House of Representatives
The National Retiree Legislative Network
The LRO is a member of this organization that lobbies for issues
important to retirees.
THOMAS WEB SITE
This website provides federal legislative information
CONGRESS VOTES
This website provides information on how U.S. Representatives and
Senators voted on important legislation.
KAISER NETWORK
This website provides a Medicare Drug Benefit Calculator.
These websites are alternative sources that can be used to find contact
information on members of Congress:
CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTORY
GOVSPOT
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