[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 155 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 155

        Protecting Social Security beneficiaries from COLA cuts.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2003

 Mr. Specter (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Alexander, Mr. 
 Allard, Mr. Allen, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Biden, Mr. 
Bingaman, Mr. Bond, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Bunning, 
   Mr. Burns, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. 
  Chafee, Mr. Chambliss, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Coleman, Mr. 
Conrad, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Craig, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Daschle, Mr. 
Dayton, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Dodd, Mrs. Dole, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. 
     Durbin, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Feingold, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Frist, Mr. Graham of Florida, Mr. Graham 
of South Carolina, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Harkin, Mr. 
   Hatch, Mr. Hollings, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Inouye, Mr. 
 Jeffords, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Kyl, Ms. 
  Landrieu, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs. 
Lincoln, Mr. Lott, Mr. Lugar, Mr. McCain, Mr. McConnell, Ms. Mikulski, 
  Mr. Miller, Ms. Murkowski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. 
  Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Reed, Mr. Reid, Mr. 
Roberts, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
Sessions, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Smith, Ms. Snowe, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Stevens, 
Mr. Sununu, Mr. Talent, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Warner, and Mr. 
  Wyden) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
                               agreed to

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                               RESOLUTION


 
        Protecting Social Security beneficiaries from COLA cuts.

    Resolved, That the Senate finds that:
            (1) Social Security provides a relatively modest insurance 
        benefit for seniors--many of whom rely on Social Security for 
        part or all of their monthly income. Without Social Security, 
        forty eight percent of beneficiaries would be in poverty today.
            (2) In order to protect benefit levels against inflation, 
        Social Security beneficiaries receive an annual cost-of-living 
        adjustment (COLA) based on Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage 
        Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
            (3) The January 2003 COLA provided only a 1.4 percent 
        increase in Social Security benefits, increasing the average 
        monthly benefit for all retired workers by only $13 (from $882 
        to $895).
            (4) Annual growth in Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket 
        health care costs for retired individuals on fixed incomes far 
        exceeded the small COLA increases provided to Social Security 
        beneficiaries.
            (5) Reducing COLAs will disproportionately harm low-income 
        Social Security beneficiaries and push millions of seniors into 
        poverty.
    Sec. 2. Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that 
Social Security cost-of-living adjustments should not be reduced.
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