WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 15) - Thirty U.S. Senators - including 17 Democrats and 13 Republicans - have joined together in a spirit of bipartisanship and asked their leadership in a letter to support and quickly act on passage the Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2000.

And, as of Thursday, 38 Senators have now pledged to support this legislation.

In the letter sent this week to Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth (R-Del.) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), the ranking minority member, the 30 Senators said they "are writing to express support for and quick action on the Railroad Retirement Reform proposal."

They continued, "This proposal reflects an historic agreement reached between rail labor and rail management, which modernizes the investment policies of the Railroad Retirement System thereby permitting increased benefits for rail workers and retirees…"

The senators concluded that the limited number of legislative days left in Congress made it important that the Finance Committee "move this legislation expeditiously, to ensure that beneficiaries of Railroad Retirement can received improved benefits and the tax burden on the industry can be reduced while assuring the financial integrity of the system."

UTU International President Charles L. Little thanked the senators for publicly supporting Railroad Retirement Reform in such strong bipartisan numbers so quickly after it passed the House.

"It is gratifying that there is such a strong groundswell of bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate for passing this railroad retirement legislation," said Little. "It goes to show that the undivided unity of the now 13 unions in the Railroad Retirement Labor Coalition, with its more than 3 million stakeholders, is helping drive this bill forward to a successful conclusion."

The Republican Senators who signed the letter include: John Ashcroft (Mo.), Sam Brownback (Kan.), Jim Bunning (Ken.), Conrad Burns (Mon.), Thad Cochran (Miss.), Larry Craig (Id.), Mike Crapo (Id.), Michael DeWine (Oh), Charles Hagel (Neb.), Orrin Hatch (Ut.), Jesse Helms (N.C.), Rick Santorum (Pa.), John Warner (Va.),

The Democratic Senators who signed the letter include: Max Baucus (Mon.), Joseph Biden (Del.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Zell Miller (Ga.), Christopher Dodd (Con.), Bryon Dorgan (N.D.), Richard Durbin (Ill.), Tom Harkin (Ia.), Bob Kerrey (Neb.), John Kerry (Mass.), Patrick Leahy (Ver.), Carl Levin (Mich.), Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Chuck Robb (Va.), Paul Wellstone (Minn.), Ron Wyden (Ore.).

The other Senators who now support the retirement bill include: Daniel Akaka (D-Ha.), Robert Bennett (R-Ut.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Diane Feinstein (D-Cal.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Blanche L. Lincoln (D-Ariz.), Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), Richard Shelby (R-Al)