[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 32 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
H. J. RES. 32


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 3, 1999

     Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

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                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the Congress that the President and the 
   Congress should join in undertaking the Social Security Guarantee 
 Initiative to strengthen the Social Security program and protect the 
   retirement income security of all Americans for the 21st century.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This joint resolution may be cited as the ``Social Security 
Guarantee Initiative''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Social Security program provides benefits to 
        44,000,000 Americans, including more than 27,000,000 retirees, 
        5,000,000 people with disabilities, and 2,000,000 surviving 
        children, and is essential to the dignity and security of the 
        Nation's elderly, disabled, and their families;
            (2) the Social Security program's progressive benefit 
        structure is of particular importance to women, due to their 
        (A) longer life expectancies than men, making the Social 
        Security program's lifetime, inflation-adjusted benefits a 
        critical income support especially for widows; (B) lower 
        average earnings; and (C) lower pension and other retirement 
        savings, stemming in part from their lower incomes and their 
        spending an average of 11 years out of the paid workforce 
        caring for families;
            (3) the approaching retirement of the Baby Boom Generation 
        will result in the Social Security program's benefit costs 
        exceeding its tax revenues beginning in 2013;
            (4) the Social Security program faces looming insolvency 
        and instability in the next century so that by 2032 the Social 
        Security Trust Funds will be fully depleted and the program 
        will be able to honor less than 75 percent of benefit 
        commitments; and
            (5) prompt action is necessary to restore Americans' 
        confidence that their retirement benefits will be protected.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    The President and the Congress should join in strengthening the 
Social Security program and protecting the retirement income security 
of all Americans for the 21st century in a manner that--
            (1) ensures equal treatment across generations to all 
        Americans, especially minorities and other low-income workers;
            (2) recognizes the unique obstacles that women face in 
        ensuring retirement, disability, and survivor security and the 
        essential role that the Social Security program plays in 
        protecting financial stability for women;
            (3) provides a continuous benefit safety net for workers, 
        their survivors, their dependents, and individuals with 
        disabilities;
            (4) protects guaranteed lifetime benefits, including cost-
        of-living adjustments that fully index for inflation, for 
        current and future retirees; and
            (5) does not increase taxes.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 2, 1999.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.